Here is Purple Scare's obligatory post on the fracas going on in Florida. If you too are sick of hearing about it, I won't be offended if you scroll past this. There is something funny in the next post down, I promise.

Ahem: Amid all the sturm und drang, everyone seems to forget that 99.9% of the persons bloviating on the subject don't even know the person they're talking about.

Her legal next-of-kin is asking to fulfill what he says (and a court has adjudicated accordingly, based on the testimony of several people) were her wishes. Nobody else has a right to get involved, so leave the woman and her family alone; let them have a fragment of peace.

So where do I get off weighing in on the subject? Personal experience: fourteen years ago I watched my grandfather, whom I loved more than life itself, rage against the dying of the light. If you've ever seen someone fight liver cancer, you know it isn't pretty. Grandpa was a doctor; he knew what he was up against and he knew that suffering would be a big part of it. He could have asked to pull the plug, but he wanted nature to run its course. He wanted to die at home in his own bed when the Powers That Be saw fit to take him. It was absolute hell to watch this, but we honored his wishes because we loved and respected him.

Ten years later, I watched my grandmother, whom I also loved more than life itself, linger in the throes of Alzheimer's. Her last months were not particularly pleasant ones, but as a devout Catholic she believed that it was proper for her to wait it out. Similar to my grandfather, Grandma was a nurse who understood what she was up against and could have asked for plugs to be pulled. She too wanted no heroic measures, she wanted to be kept comfortable, but she wanted nature to run its full course. Is it what I would have chosen? No. But those were her wishes, her choice, based on her beliefs and her conscience. We are her family, and we would honor her decisions, as painful as they were to us, because we loved and respected her.

And anybody who thinks they deserve to butt in at a time like this can go straight to Hell. Do not pass "Go", do not collect $200.

Here endeth the lesson.