I cannot attest to the truth of who you are nor will I accuse you of lying, but from where I stand, you sound like a civilian through and through.

Ah, yes, Instruction #173 from the Little Red Book of Chairman Rove. Whenever a vet says anything that might possibly cast doubt on the moral perfection of Our Brave Troops (God Bless 'Em) Fighting To Defend Our American Way Of Life, immediately deny that he's actually a vet. Or, if the fact of his service is irrefutable (e.g. John Kerry) then deny that his service was in any way honorable.

Also, Republicans are the only people who can possibly know what it's like to be one of OBT(GBE)FTDOAWOL, even if they've never served. Perhaps especially if they've never served, since as we all know, the 101st Fighting Keyboarders are performing just as much a service as our brave troops in the field, here at home in the Good Ol' USA fighting the War of Ideas. (Also, cokehead deserters are just fine. As long as they're Republican cokehead deserters.) Democrats are all socialist appeaser secret Muslim terrorist-lovers, every single one of them. And probably French, to boot.

Seriously, don't you people ever get tired of your own hypocrisy, viciousness, and cowardice? Is there no smear, no slander, no outright lie that's too much for you, that might make you think that this time, maybe, possibly, you've gone too far?

Oh, that's right. You're the guys who hold up cokehead deserters as war heroes, then wear Purple Heart band-aids to mock actual war heroes. Who can't actually be war heroes, of course, since they're Democrats. Never mind. Carry on.

As Elephantman's letter shows nicely.

You're putting the cart before the, um, elephant. (Or donkey, as the case may be.) Right-wingers started screeching about public funding for abortions looong before Kissling's thoughtful, well-reasoned response. Over thirty years before, actually. As stated in the very first paragraph of the article to which you refer. What was that about reading comprehension, again?

Got it in one.

Michael Phelps is a Real American Hero(tm). And no one can ever beat Real American Heroes(tm), because USA Is Number One(c). Anyone who appears to do so is clearly cheating. OTOH, Real American Heroes(tm) who have some technological advantage? Well, they're just using good-old fasioned Yankee ingenuity to make sure that USA Stays Number One(pat. pend.) as God intended, of course!

Real American Heroes are why USA Number One, and those dirty foreigners who try to upset the natural balance of the world will get what they deserve. They'll try to cheat, of course, because that's what dirty foreigners do.

... Phelps is also a pothead, which does create a bit of a problem since Winners Don't Use Drugs, especially Real American Hero Winners (oh, but I'm being redundant.) But we'll overlook that when it's a matter of a Real American Hero vs. a dirty foreigner, of course. Gotta keep your priorities straight.

... you want to focus on the present, and pretend history is irrelevant? Fine. In the third paragraph of the Kissling article, and throughout the article, the role of anti-abortion propaganda in the current debate is explained very clearly. You're acting as though the article was written in a vacuum, and was the first time the magic a-word has ever been uttered in the national healthcare debate. It's really not.

Some people want every possible measure taken to preserve their lives as long as possible. Some people want DNR orders and hospice care. Some people want to die at home. Some people want to take matters into their own hands and end the suffering before it grows to great to bear.

All of these choices are valid, and none of them are anyone's to make except for the person doing the dying. Denying treatment to someone who wants it, and forcing treatment on someone who doesn't want it, are equally monstrous. The idea that choosing one form over another is more moral or more noble or more dignified or what-have-you -- an idea conveyed rather strongly in the article, and in many of the letters, with various options being held up as the ideal -- is absurd. The best thing, really the only moral thing, is to let patients make their own decisions, and honor their wishes to the last.