Mixed Emotions: Where Do I Stand?

Should a child's parents have the right to choose what they feel is best for their child even if conventional wisdom balks at their choices? 13 year old Daniel Hauser and his family have exhausted the Minnesota courts with their plea to cease their son's chemotherapy and radiation cancer treatments in lieu of homeopathic medicine. The courts do not agree with Danny and the Hausers. Doctors and pathologists have given testimony with grim realities regarding Daniel's future without the continuation of the treatments. Medical science simply does not concur with the Hauser family. Vitamins do not cure lymphoma. Without chemo, Danny will die. His parents, in the face of all of this information, wish to discontinue his treatment. The courts, as of last Friday, have ordered Danny to resume treatment via scientific medicine.

I have mixed emotions in regards to this story. First of all, let me say without any sort of hesitation that I believe this family (the parents of Danny) to be nuts. If this were my child, I would be exhausting every medical avenue to give my child the best possible chance for survival. I do not believe that they are acting in their child's best interest. However, my opinions on their family's personal decisions does not take away the fact that they are his parents.

If a child is in danger, child social services and the legal system should step in. After all, the welfare of our children should be the most important consideration. They are just kids. Kids need advocates if their immediate family or caregivers do not put these values first. In this case, the lines are not exactly black and white. There is some definite grey area.

Are Danny's parents unfit to raise their child due to their religious beliefs regarding scientific medicine? Should the government step in and intervene when bureaucracies disagree with the family's position? Do we want to live in a state where courts can order that certain avenues must be taken, even if these avenues are against our wishes?

I believe in a limited government. I do not want an ideological bureaucrat to make decisions regarding the well being of myself or those I love. However, I also believe that in this instance, Danny needs these treatments to survive. This is the grey area. If I say, "Well, in this instance, YES!"... than am I involving the government in places where I they do not belong? Is this case an exception to the rule, that will become the standard? Will my family be impacted by the Hauser case in the future? How would I feel if I were the Hausers? The Hauser family seems to be a functioning entity. It is clear that they love their child. But is their religious viewpoints clouding their ability to choose what is best for their son?

Daniel and his mother have not been seen since Monday. Daniel's father believes that they are out of the country, or are en route to Mexico. He is pleading for their return. He is clearly upset by the court's decision, but is also concerned for his wife and son. Is Daniel's mother out of line running for the border with her son, when she feels that she is in serious jeopardy of losing him? What would I do if I were in her shoes? I do not know. I pray I am never in this situation. I pray that nobody has to endure the burden of choosing between what one wholly believes is what is best for their son or daughter and what is sanctioned by the legal system.

Although I whole-heartedly disagree with the Hauser viewpoint on conventional medicine. I do respect their rights to parent the way in which they choose. I also believe that the state has a responsibility to step in and intervene when a child's welfare is in question. Danny's well-being is in peril. Without court intervention and treatment, he will die. Do Danny's parents have the right to choose death for their son if the very fabric of their beliefs are shrouded in those principles? Or, do we wish to extend the governments reaching arms to save this child... but at what cost to our personal freedoms?

Would perhaps this decision affect parents who choose not to vaccinate their sons and daughters against government recommendation? At what point are a parent's choices trumped by government policies? The last thing I would wish for is government raised children. It does not take a village to raise a child. IT TAKES PARENTS. At what point are a parents wishes no longer valid in the eyes of those in power? This case is an important one for all Americans. The ability to freely choose for oneself is at stake. There is a family and a child involved in this one instance. On a larger scale we are all impacted by this case. To intervene or not to intervene, that is the million dollar question. On this one, I am at a total loss.

I Heart Faces Blurb Book

I took this photo in St. Thomas USVI. I love the lines on his face. He looks as though he has weathered a few hurricanes, indulged in a painkiller or two, and has many great stories to tell.



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Pelosi Endures More Torture At Press Conference Than Wack Job Does At GITMO. (Side Note: Diddy Bop Is A Hungry Idiot)

Side Note: I bought my very hungry Labrador a $98 Popsicle this morning after he swallowed that thing whole... stick and all. Reminding my self to invest in pet insurance, vet bills are expensive. That is correct, $98 dollars down the drain (along with the contents of my baby's belly) all because he is what I can only describe as an eager eater. Seriously, he may be part billy goat. Alas, all is well that ends well... he vomited like a champ, releasing the Popsicle stick in question, making that thing the most expensive Popsicle I have ever heard of. Hope it was tasty. Although with the swiftness of his swallow I doubt he even tasted it.

Poor Nancy. She looked so flustered and miserable at the press conference she held yesterday. The wounded little dove had to resort to accusing the CIA of gross negligence and misleading...lying to those that were briefed. Even the mainstream media is onto her. Her democratic comrades no longer have her back. Today she finds herself a lone wolf scrapping for what little self respect she has left. I see her political career careening into a sure disaster and ending in a pile of rubble faster than Mine that Bird runs a mile and a quarter.

I guess you reap what you sow. Ms. Pelosi, your integrity is in serious question. There are a few agencies you don't mess around with because you surely will not get away with it. The CIA is at the top of this list. Even a simple Yankee girl such as myself understands this. I find it all together curious that an issue that was once a liberal slam dunk on all of the elephants principles has reared its ugly head and exposed the vacuous black holes in the liberal agenda on national security. Somewhere in an undisclosed location Dick Cheney is smiling. In a distant undisclosed local, Ms. Pelosi is shaking in her boots!

The bottom line is quite simple. American citizens are no longer in the dark in regards to her motivations. I believe that 98% of her left wing constituents would water board (without hesitation) any crazy jerk who was truly a threat to their (or their loved ones) national security. The fact that the left takes issue with setting standards of "torture" for those who have no standards is not lost on myself, or the rest of the rest of the nation. The nation seems to be slowly awakening from its kool-aid induced nap. She is washed up. Finished. Political career over. The CIA will not stand for it. They will release the proof that is, unfortunately for Nancy, in the pudding. Her days as #3 are numbered. And for that, I am truly thankful. This speaker of the house will self destruct in not time at all, inspector gadget memo style. CIA memos on the other hand, at this juncture, seem to be made of kryptonite.

Nancy Pelosi's Pants Are On Fire!

Due to the fact that I have been in an undisclosed location for the past 10+ days, I have a lot to say... but I will make it short and sweet for all of my ADHD readers. First things first: I do not have the swine flu...sweet! Now that I don't have to worry about my untimely demise due to the H1-N1 virus, I can focus on more future house queenie things. What has me up in arms these days you ask? My answer... Lots. However, nothing has enraged me more in the past 1/3 month than Speaker Pelosi. Typical and predictable I know.

I assume that she (Ms. Pelosi) spent some time recently in Santa Barbara (perhaps she took her private jet) and somehow her polyester suit pants became a little too close to the blazing wildfires. This woman is a liar. She adamantly stated that she did not ever hear of water boarding in any briefing by the Bush administration. Whoops, Ms. Nancy! Apparently the CIA has different attendance sheets. Madam Speaker, you were briefed. Perhaps, instead of lying to your constituents and the American public you should keep things simple... tell the truth. I don't know, maybe that is too much to ask of our elected officials. I know they think this is the case... an inconvenient truth can easily be "handled" by bold faced lies. This sort of behavior is not tolerated in any kindergarten classroom, and should not be acceptable in congress.

Pelosi's fabrications in their own right are enraging. However, the most maddening part of the entire snafu is the very way she has handled the much deserved "heat" for her statements. Ms. Pelosi, if you cannot stand the heat, you had better get out of the kitchen. Her careful twisting of words, telling of half-truths, and overall smug attitude is disheartening at best. In fact, it falls far closer to disgusting. Clearly she assumes the American people are dim-witted and well, rather dumb. She has under estimated those who have given her the privilege to be the current queen of the house. Perhaps she should be a little less contrite, and a whole lot more conciliatory. Her job is on the line... and in the end, we the people hold the cards to her political future in our sweaty palms.

I hope that she resigns. We the people deserve better. At the very least, we deserve honesty. We should demand it. Without the burden of truth, our republic is in danger. Franklin, Washington, and Jefferson were adamant about truth. Lincoln was too. Pelosi, apparently not so much! Alas, much like my childhood dreams of living in a home constructed of sweet confections, or having 100 pet dogs who are of course all toilet trained, or being gifted all the royal gems by the queen of England for being the most queen-like person in the world, I presume that her resignation is just another one of my pipe dreams. But, a girl can still dream can't she?!?!