Frist Defends Remarks on Schiavo Case (appeared on 3 TV networks)

[rodeodance]

the man is is damage control mode.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/16/AR2005061600501.html?referrer=email
Frist Defends Remarks on Schiavo Case

By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 17, 2005; Page A17

Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader and a heart surgeon, acknowledged yesterday that Terri Schiavo had suffered devastating brain damage and said his assertion three months ago that she was "not somebody in persistent vegetative state" did not amount to a medical diagnosis.

Frist (R-Tenn.), appearing on three network TV shows, agreed with this week's autopsy conclusion that the Florida woman had suffered severe, irreversible brain damage. "I never, never, on the floor of the Senate, made a diagnosis, nor would I ever do that," he told NBC's "Today" show.
Some Democrats and doctors criticized Frist's March 17 Senate speech in which he said he was commenting on Schiavo's highly publicized case "more as a physician than as a United States senator."

In that speech, Frist said he had reviewed videotapes of Schiavo and noted that her brother "said that she responds to her parents and to him. That is not somebody in persistent vegetative state. . . . There just seems to be insufficient information to conclude that Terri Schiavo is persistent vegetative state."

"I question it based on a review of the video footage, which I spent an hour or so looking at last night in my office here in the Capitol," Frist said in the speech. He said his comments were also partly based on a conversation with one of several neurologists who had evaluated Schiavo........

[janx]

1. Good. Let him keep talking. n/t

[proud patriot]

2. B.S.

Frist you should not call yourself doctor

[AlCzervik]

3. backpedal-seperate himself from all things Schaivo.

[Ysolde]

4. Keep talking Frist!

Please, please keep talking. Hopefully, the lapdog media will at least have the decency to contrast what you're saying now and what you said then. The public needs to have this one hammered into them. It's just another example of the lies of the Rethugs in power.

[SnowGoose]

11. John Stewart already has!

And while he's not a 'journalist' per se, he's probably more important in formation of public opinion than most 'journalists' are.

[Hamlette]

24. Countdown had a great spot on Frist's lies too

Someone else was sitting in for Keith, can't remember her name. She nailed Frist with the videos of his statements now and then.

[Viking12]

25. Video on the Daily Show Website

See: "Act Two"

http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/videos/most_recent/index.jhtml

[NeoConsSuck]

38. We all know the media will do no such thing..

they've given more attention to the Gov. Bush rantings about Schiavo, then they did to the DSM. Doesn't that tell you anything?

[Mythsaje]

5. What he should have said

had he been an upright human being, was--

"I was wrong. As simple as that. I made statements I should not have made based on preconceptions and a video-tape I should never have taken at face value.

"My apologies."


Yeah, like THAT'LL happen.

:sarcasm:

[wallwriter]

6. ...Pants on fire!

[Debi]

9. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:rofl:

[Webster Green]

7. We all heard him make the diagnosis...

These are some wierd mofo's we're dealing with.
:shrug:

[ixion]

17. that's the point... he's on VIDEO using the word DIAGNOSIS

he should also be held accountable for the threats he made to the so-called 'activist judiciary'.

[MidwestTransplant]

8. Frist: "I have put cats in a PVS so I know PVS."

[TahitiNut]

13. Most of Frist's supporters are in a Persistent Vegetative State

That'd be the State of Tennessee, I guess. :dunce:

[Supersedeas]

23. a 1% mandate from the votes that are 'actually' counted is all he needs

[RalphReedsWreckedEm]

10. "I never even heard of Terri Schiavo"

"Who are you talking about? I never said any such thing. I never even heard of this woman. This is the first time I have ever heard the name. I never said what you have me on camera saying. That's not me on the videotape. That's R. Kelly."

[pacalo]

12. LOL!

[habitual]

21. very funny

but then i thought that half of america would buy it. I just love talking with people that have heard a talking point and use it blindly in any discussion. I envision actually talking to somebody who would respond "oh, well we know now that he doesn't even know who she is..."

[kskiska]

32. "I never said that…"

[many a good man]

14. Then he should turn in his license

and give back his M.D. This is a violation of medical ethics that's even greater than his violation of political ethics.

[LiberalFighter]

35. His license expires in 2/28/2006

License #17379

He is board certified in Thoracic Surgery and Surgery

He lists himself as a heart and lung surgeon.

If someone were in need of brain surgery or neurological problems I don't think anyone would put him at the top of the list.

[Jack Rabbit]

15. Baloney

Dr. Frist is a trained physician and much more qualified to make such a judgment than most people on either side of the issue running off their mouthes. He made a statement that was categorical and unqualified, albeit absurd in that it was based on observations of a video tape of the patient. If Dr. Frist did not intend for his remarks to be taken as a solid professional opinion, he should have qualified his remarks. He, of all people, had a obligation to do so.

[rocktivity]

16. And now many networks have Durbin's defense of HIS remarks appear on?

:shrug:
rocknation

[Elidor]

18. It's a miracle. Frist seems to respond to visual stimuli

Though he is obviously brain-dead himself.

[highnooner]

19. Liar! Liar!

Pants on fire!

[ernstbass]

26. Yep - he's smoking!!

[Roland99]

20. So transparent! He's like a piece of glass held by Dobson.

[UCLA Dem]

22. Say bye-bye to prez Billy boy!!!

[zbdent]

27. JFK and Teddy Roosevelt are alive!

I saw video of them on the History Channel . . .

Used the same diagnosis ability as "Doctor" Frist . . .

[Selteri]

28. Great ammunition for whoever runs against him.

Would you want him as your doctor? Then whywould you want him as your congressman?

[Miss Chybil]

29. These "neurologists" who supposedly evaluated Mrs. Schiavo, Frist is

talking about, worry me more than he does. They're still treating patients.

[LiberalFighter]

34. There was only one so called neurologist that promised recovery

but his methods are in dispute and he is essentially a quack

[Ian David]

30. Here's the clip from The Daily Show

http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/media_player/play.jhtml?itemId=15734

The Daily Show: June 16, 2005
Posted Jun 17, 2005, 12:59 AM ET by Annie W.
Filed under: Late Night, Cable, The Daily Show


Welcome to The Daily Show.

We start off with Terry Schiavo news.

Right after we thought the chaos was over, the autopsy reports are released. The report shows that there was no saving Schiavo (her brain was already half the normal size) and confirmed that she was, indeed, in a vegetative state.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-schiavo16.html

This has caused some politicians that were against removing the feeding tube to turn to denial (y'know, the ones that were pretty much saying that Schiavo, with a little help, could've been in Flashdance 2).

For example, Senator Bill Frist recently appeared on Good Morning America to deny he ever said Schiavo was not in a vegetative state when he clearly said just a few months earlier, after watching a tape of Schiavo for a full hour... a whole hour, he said there was no signs of her being in a vegetative state.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/16/AR2005061600501.html


Hmm... Do I smell the disctinct odor of pants on fire?

More:
http://www.tvsquad.com/2005/06/17/the-daily-show-june-16-2005/

[slackmaster]

31. More like "brain damage control mode"

:dunce:

[daleo]

33. He seems pretty worried about this.

I wonder if he is worried about a lawsuit. Perhaps he can be sued for malpractice? Or possibly Micheal Shiavo is hinting at a defamation suit.

[damntexdem]

36. If it weren't for the idiocy of the media, ...

I'd say that Frist has a death wish: getting up in public and lying about what he said a few months ago, even though what is said is in the public record. All it would take would be for the media to show what he says now and then what he said then, making it clear that he is lying now, and was irresponsible then.

[Dr Fate]

37. QUACK.

n/t