Illustrating my point

Reader Walter E. Wallis writes,

Terri is dead. Get over it.

Well, if she's dead, why has her husband not inherited their joint property?

Why is he not free to marry the mother of his two youngest children?

What is the fight over?

Obviously, there are those who differ over whether Terri is dead.

More to the point, as I wrote yesterday, the question is not whether Terri is alive or dead, but whether the part of Terri that matters is alive or dead.

A month ago, I'd have said it was definitely dead.

Now, I'm not so sure.

One side of the fight has been very vocal, and has lined up a number of arguments that sound compelling. The other side either hasn't cared to present its case, hasn't been able to (what, no "michaelsfight.org"?), or has no case to present.

After witnessing this fight on the news for a solid month, I no longer know what to believe, but my instinct is to pick the choice that can always be corrected later.

Walter's assertion, on the other hand, is that the part that matters is unambiguously and unarguably dead. It has to be this part that matters, since he can't be basing his statement on legal death.

Unfortunately, his assertion is just that. It's a statement of his opinion, with no support. He cites no experts, nor any evidence nor data. Given the statements on the "terri's fight" website, it would be nice if he could show why one set of experts is more authoritative than any other. (Can he rebut the charges that Michael is cherry-picking experts to hurry his wife out the door?)

To any statements that the whole thing is a private matter between Terri, her husband, and their families, I have a response:

When someone brings private matters into the public realm, or pulls them out in front of me in any way, they invite me to express my opinion thereon. As far as I'm concerned, this applies to a couple who have a fight in the middle of a crowded restaurant, to private individuals who are suing each other in open court, to people who appeal to the media for help with some personal tragedy, and to people who lobby government to assist them with one or more of their problems.

If you throw your private life in other peoples' faces, don't be surprised when it's no longer private. It just doesn't work that way.