Culture of Lies & Hypocrisy

From the Los Angeles Times: Turns out Tom DeLay “murdered” his own father in the same way his supporters say Michael Schiavo and his henchmen on Florida bench are “murdering” Michael’s permanently incapcitated wife, Terri.

Sixteen years ago, as a result of household accident, Charles Ray DeLay lay in a coma, kept alive by intravenous lines and oxygen equipment. Faced with the prospect of his father living in a vegetative state for who knew how long, Tom DeLay, who was in his third term in Congress, faced a difficult decision.

[Today] DeLay is among the strongest advocates of keeping [Terri Schiavo], who doctors say has been in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years, connected to her feeding tube. DeLay has denounced Schiavo’s husband, as well as judges, for committing what he calls “an act of barbarism” in removing the tube. In 1988, however, there was no such fiery rhetoric as the congressman quietly joined the sad family consensus to let his father die.

“His father wouldn’t have wanted to live that way,” says Tom DeLay’s 81-year-old mother today. DeLay’s aunt says doctors advised that he would “basically be a vegetable.”

When his father’s kidneys failed, the DeLay family decided against connecting him to a dialysis machine. “Extraordinary measures to prolong life were not initiated,” said his medical report, citing “agreement with the family’s wishes.” His bedside chart carried the instruction: “Do not resuscitate.”

On Dec. 14, 1988, the DeLay patriarch “expired with his family in attendance.”

And there’s more. The DeLays sued the manufacturer of the equipment that they said had caused Charles Ray’s accident. DeLay is a noted critic of “frivolous lawsuits” and “predatory, self-serving litigation.”

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