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Glenn's Show Prep

Will families soon lose their medical rights? Terri Schiavo's brother speaks out

March 25, 2015
Wilson

Writer

The Terri Schiavo case was a big turning point for Glenn and his views on life and the rights of the disabled. Back when he was a DJ in Florida, Terri Schiavo’s story was making national headlines. She had been in a coma for ten years, and her husband wanted to remove her feeding tube. At the time, Glenn said on air that he sided with the husband and disagreed with her parents who wanted to keep their daughter alive. But a listener called in and convinced him to think about it. A few days later Glenn was back on radio telling people just how wrong he was. On radio this morning, Glenn spoke with Terri’s brother Bobby Schindler about his sister and what he has done to fight for the rights of the disabled.

GLENN: If you are a long-time listener of this program, you remember the plight of Terri Schiavo, the really long-term listeners, those that have been with me since I was on WFLA remember I was on the wrong side of the Terri Schiavo case and I remembered what the listener said to me last night. The listener called me on a Friday, and I was against the Schindler family. I was saying pull the plug, pull the plug. A listener called me and said Glenn, you are thinking about this all wrong.

I say, how is that?

Because there's no plug to pull.

What are you talking about?

I just want you to think about this. Is food and water life support? Is that a medical procedure?

I said, well --

Just think about that this weekend and pray on it.

STU: I got to go to commercial.

GLENN: So I promised him I would think about it, and I came back that Monday, and I announced that I was wrong, and nobody in radio at the time -- I don't think anybody does now. They just look over and just stop talking about it. And I said no, I have a responsibility. I was wrong and I misled people, and so I tried to make it up to the family and to Terri and tried to do the right thing. In the end, they did take the life support away from Terri Schiavo and they stopped feeding her and starved her to death, over, I believe, a three-week period.

Some good has come from that. Bobby Schindler is here with us now Terri's brother.

SCHINDLER: Hi, Glenn. Thanks for having me.

GLENN: What did you do, Bobby, before this?

SCHINDLER: I was teaching high school at Tampa@lick.

GLENN: So you are just a regular high school teacher, and now you are the head of a major organization that stands up for life, for people who are in a persistent vegetative state. You want to tell us a little about that?

SCHINDLER: I'm sorry. Sure. We saw -- our battle with Terri lasted better part of five years. It really started in '93, when Michael started his pursuit to end Terri's life, but we saw the danger that people like Terri were in, and the families who were scared to death of the same thing happening to loved ones caring for their loved ones in similar conditions to my sister, so our family just felt, I guess a responsibility to continue to advocate for these people. That's what we did. We started a non-profit. We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. The calls we have been safe receiving the past ten years have grown significantly and it's an indication to us that our health care system is really targeting these people, Maying on these people that are medically vulnerable and we are trying to do what we can to protect them.

GLENN: You are giving an award on Tuesday. Tell me about the family.

SCHINDLER: The award is going to mother of Kyle Dantzler. Bridgett Henson is her name. Her son went in for a transplant surgery. As a result from that, he developed some complications and lost oxygen to the brain, and experienced a profound brain injury. The mother was just battling with the hospital for a better part of the year to get proper treatment. We got into the case and we have been trying to help her. Her primary goal was to get him transferred to a facility close to her home in Atlanta. This was happening in Philadelphia. So we're working with the families trying to do that, but just her story and so many others that we have received over the years, it's just chilling to hear the pressure and how hospitals are just looking at these people and treating them really as an inconvenience and the best them for them would be to kill them.

GLENN: I'll tell you, I don't know if you saw the -- I know you were on the show and you were in the green room and everything else, but I don't know if you saw the thing we put together about Pennhurst Hospital. It is truly frightening. People should watch this. See if I could post it on Facebook or online, but something I found a couple months ago, and it started in 1908, went to 1976, and we were just shoving -- the Progressive era took anyone that had any defect -- one person we showed on an admitting paper, a little kid, he died an old man in Pennhurst, and his only thing his father swore out and said I want to put him in the home, he has one seizure and also said "poon" instead of "spoon," and they hospitalized him his whole life.

And this system was lock them up and forget them. And it was a horror show what was happening in this hospital. And I'm so afraid that we're headed back that direction, we are not seeing people for people. We are not having compassion. We are seeing them as a burden on our society, and that's what happened in the Progressive era around the turn of the century. They saw these people as burdens and why should I pay for them when it's -- when they're not going to turn around and get any better, so why are we paying for them? Are you concerned about that at all?

SCHINDLER: Yeah, I think it's much worse. I think what you described is probably happening at different facilities across the country. I went over to Austria to speak and I went into a facility where they were killing the medically and physically inferior. That's what it was inscripted on the wall over there. This was back prior to the holocaust, talking about this attitude by the German doctors and how they were systematically killing those that were medically and physically inferior. I look at what's happening now in the calls we receive and what happened to Terri, and it's the same thing. There are so many parallels, Glenn what was happening then and now. For me to sit back and see the ordinary attitude that we have with starving and dehydrating to death people because they have a disability and the elderly -- and these people are not dying like Terri, they are not hooked up to machines, they simply need to be cared for. How we have grown accustomed to or accepted that it's okay to Kyle these people and one of the most barbaric ways, by starving and dehydrating --

GLENN: Tell me what you sister went through when they starved her and

dehydrated her.

SCHINDLER: It's -- well, I'm going to try -- the graphic nature of Terri and how she deteriorated is probably something I will never describe. It got so bad, three or four case before she did die, we refused to let me mom go and see her. It was horrible, Glenn. Something nightmares are made up. Toward the end, there was blood pooling in her eye, her skin was turning different shades of colors she was breathing so fast, it was like she had just been outside sprinting. I could go on, Glenn. If you look at those pictures we see from concentration camps, it remind me of my sister, but I believe my sister's -- what we saw in her experience was worse. I have a piece coming out, Glenn, and I will release an image of my sister from my family. I plan to do this before the 31st. I hope people look at it. It is my best recollection of what she looked like. There's a lie out there, that this is a peaceful hand painless way to do. That's absurd. This is the death of dignity.

PAT: Barbaric. Since your sister was starved to death, there's been several people who have made the news after coming out of these supposed vegetative states, that had no quality of life, the same thing was argued, pull the plug, let them die with dignity, all those things. And several of them, including a guy we just interviewed a couple weeks ago, Martin Pistorous have come out of it -- he came out of it after twelve years and is living a productive life. Have you seen these stories? Do you see others in that situation? And is that something --

SCHINDLER: Yes. We see it when it makes news, and when people call us. It seems hospitals are making decisions much quicker new than they used to, determining within hours -- even hours that someone will

have no recovery. Pressuring the family to stop life support. And this is what we are talking about. Our medical rights being eroded. Seems the shift that's occurred, where decision-making power now is resting in the hands of hospitals and physicians rather than family members. That's what should frighten us all. No longer do we look out for the best interest of the patient. We are looking out for the best interest of the hospital. That always comes done not bottom line, so I think decisions are being made with cost in mind, and much quicker decisions are being made to end a person's life than they have been in the past.

GLENN: The one thing I learned from Martin -- and I know you know him -- is he heard everything that was happening around him. He was locked in hell and he heard everything. It must make you feel good knowing what your family did and how you spoke around her and that she probably heard you. And knowing that she knew how much you loved her.

SCHINDLER: There was no doubt. We were with my sister when she was in this condition for 15 years. We know how alive and responsive she was. At times, she was able to communicate with us, at least at some level, but Glenn, from all those people that have emerged from this PVS, like Mr. Pistorius and others that we read about, even some we have come to know, none of them ever said when they were in this condition, they wished they didn't want to live this way or someone killed me. All these people would have emerged. Seems they are all happy they are alive and now they are living life to the fullest.

GLENN: This is Terri's brother, Bobby Schindler. Thank you so much for everything that you guys are doing, and thank you for your friendship for all of these years and being willing to stand. I will tell you, I don't think I have ever seen a family that's gone through more than you guys. Just an average family that has weathered an unbelievable storm for as long as you have, and I have tremendous respect for you and your mom and your whole family. You are just great people.

I'm going to be up in Philadelphia. It is the 10th anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo on the 31st, so I will be in Philadelphia at the Life and Hope Award Gala. Tickets are available at lifeandhopeaward.com. This is going to be an important speech, an important night, and I hope that you would come and join us and help fund life, but more importantly, bring a friend and bring your family and meet like-minded people, brave, brave people, and be on the side of good and right and righteousness. It is lifeandhopeaward.com. Go there now, grab your tickets. Life and Hope Award. It is happening on Tuesday. That's this coming Tuesday, the 31st, in Philadelphia. Where is it going to be -- where exactly is it being held?

SCHINDLER: At the Union League, downtown Philadelphia.

GLENN: Kind of a nice place to go into as well. Thank you very much Bobby. We will see you next week.

SCHINDLER: Thanks. God bless you.

The Deep State's NEW plan to backstab Trump

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move.

In 2016, Donald Trump shocked the world by defeating Hillary Clinton. Conservatives cheered, believing we’d taken back the reins of our country. But we missed the bigger battle. We failed to recognize the extent of the damage caused by eight years of Barack Obama and decades of progressive entrenchment. The real war isn’t won at the ballot box. It’s being waged against an insidious force embedded deep within our institutions: the administrative state, or the “deep state.”

This isn’t a new problem. America’s founders foresaw it, though they didn’t have a term for “deep state” back in the 1700s. James Madison, in Federalist 48, warned us that combining legislative, executive, and judicial powers in the same hands is “the very definition of tyranny.” Yet today, that’s exactly where we stand. Unelected bureaucrats in agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Justice hold more power than the officials we vote for. They control the levers of government with impunity, dictating policies and stifling change.

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege.

We’ve felt the consequences of this growing tyranny firsthand. During COVID-19, so-called experts ran our lives, crushing civil liberties under the guise of public safety. Our intelligence agencies and justice system turned into weapons of political warfare, targeting a sitting president and his supporters. Meanwhile, actual criminals were given a pass, turning American cities into lawless war zones.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1816 that “the functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents.” Today, we see Jefferson’s prophecy fulfilled. The deep state exercises unchecked power over our freedoms, and information itself is controlled by the fourth branch of government: the legacy media.

Even when we win elections, the deep state doesn’t concede defeat. It switches to survival mode. Trump’s first term proved this. Despite a historic mandate to dismantle the bureaucracy, the deep state fought back with everything it had: leaks, investigations, court rulings, and obstruction at every turn. And now, with the possibility of Trump returning to office, the deep state is preparing to do it again.

Progressives are laying out their attack plan — and they’re not even hiding it.

U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.) recently boasted about forming a “shadow cabinet” to govern alongside the deep state, regardless of who’s in the White House. Nickel called it “democracy’s insurance policy.” Let’s be clear: This isn’t insurance. It’s sabotage.

They’ll employ a “top down, bottom up, inside out” strategy to overwhelm and collapse any effort to reform the system. From the top, federal judges and shadow officials will block Trump’s every move. Governors in blue states like California and New York are gearing up to resist federal authority. During Trump’s first term, California filed over 100 lawsuits against his administration. Expect more of the same starting January 20.

From the bottom, progressive groups like the American Civil Liberties Union will flood the streets with protesters, much as they did to oppose Trump’s first-term immigration reforms. They’ve refined their tactics since 2016 and are prepared to unleash a wave of civil unrest. These aren’t spontaneous movements; they’re coordinated assaults designed to destabilize the administration.

Finally, from the inside, the deep state will continue its mission of self-preservation. Agencies will drag their feet, leak sensitive information, and undermine policies from within. Their goal is to make everything a chaotic mess, so the heart of their power — the bureaucratic core — remains untouched and grows stronger.

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move. Progressives never see themselves as losing. When they’re out of power, they simply shift tactics, pumping more blood into their bureaucratic heart. We may win elections, but the war against the deep state will only intensify. As George Washington warned in his Farewell Address, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force; and force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege. The deep state has shown us its plan: to govern from the shadows, circumventing the will of the people. But now that the shadows have been exposed, we have a choice. Will we accept this silent tyranny, or will we demand accountability and reclaim our nation’s heart?

The battle is just beginning. We can’t afford to lose.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Drone mystery exposes GLARING government incompetence

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

The drone issue is getting way out of hand.

Earlier this month, Glenn first reported on the mysterious drones stalking the night sky over New Jersey, but the situation is increasingly concerning as the sightings have escalated. Not only have drones been seen across the Northeast Coast, including over New York City, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, but recently, they have been spotted over the night skies of San Diego and other parts of Southern California.

It doesn't take an expert to identify the potential dangers and risks that dozens of undetectable, unidentified six-foot or larger drones pose to national security. Yet, our government's response has been one of unimaginable incompetence, leaving us to speculate on the origin and intention of these drones and wonder in astonishment at the government's ineptitude. Here are three examples of the government's lackluster response to the mystery drones:

Iranian Mothership and Missing Nuclear Warheads

- / Stringer | Getty Images

After several weeks of hubbub, New Jersey Representative, Jeff Van Drew gave an interview on Fox News where he claimed that the drones originated from an Iranian "mothership" off the East Coast of the United States. This theory has since been disproven by satellite images, which show that all Iranian drone carriers are far from U.S. shores. Another theory suggests that drones may be equipped with sensors capable of detecting nuclear material and that they are looking for a nuclear warhead that recently went missing! With these apocalyptic theories gaining traction in the absence of any real answer from our government, one can't help but question the motive behind the silence.

Pentagon's Limp Wristed Response

Alex Wong / Staff | Getty Images

In a recent press conference, national security spokesman John Kirby responded to reporters demanding answers about the government's lack of transparency, which has caused increasing public anxiety. He insisted that the drones did not pose a threat and were not assets of a foreign power, such as from Iran or China--even though he is still uncertain about their identity and origin. He also claimed that many of the sightings were simply misidentifications of normal aircraft.

This lackluster answer has only further inflamed national anxieties and raised even more questions. If the government is unsure of the identity of the drones, how do they know if they are a threat or if they aren't foreign assets? If they aren't foreign, does that mean they are U.S. assets? If so, why not just say so?

The Pentagon has also stated that they are leaving it up to local law enforcement to spearhead the investigation after concluding that these drones pose no threat to any military installation. This has left many feeling like the federal government has turned a blind eye to a serious issue that many Americans are very concerned about.

Where's Pete Buttigieg?

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

We are in the closing weeks of the Biden administration, and with the finish line in sight, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg probably figured nothing else could go wrong on his watch—but boy was he wrong. As Secretary of Transportation, Buttigieg is in charge of the FAA, the agency responsible for managing all air traffic across the nation. One would think that mysterious, 6-foot-long, seemingly intractable drones are invisible on radar and flying above major cities would pose a serious threat to the myriad of legal aircraft that traverse our skies. Yet, Buttigieg has been silent on the issue, adding another failure to his resume which includes: malfunctioning airplanes, the train derailment in Ohio, and the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse, just to name a few.

Glenn: How Alvin Bragg turned hero Daniel Penny into a villain

Michael M. Santiago / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty.

America no longer has a single, shared understanding of justice. Two Americas now exist, each applying justice differently depending on who you are and where you live. One America, ruled by common sense and individual courage, praises heroes who stand up to protect others. The other, driven by political agendas and corrupted institutions, punishes those same heroes for daring to act.

This stark division couldn’t be clearer than in the case of Daniel Penny, the Marine whose trial in New York City this week drew strong reactions from both sides across the divided line of justice.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare.

Penny was on a subway train last year when Jordan Neely — a man suffering from severe mental illness and reportedly high on drugs — began threatening passengers, saying, “I’m going to kill you all.” The fear on that subway car was palpable, but nobody moved. Nobody, that is, until Penny did what needed to be done. He took action to protect innocent lives.

In the America many of us used to believe in, Penny’s response would be heralded as heroic. His actions mirrored the courage of Todd Beamer on Flight 93, who, on September 11, 2001, rallied others with the words, “Let’s roll,” to prevent further tragedy. But in New York, courage doesn’t seem to count anymore. There, the system turns heroes into villains.

Penny subdued Neely using a chokehold, intending only to restrain him, not kill him. Tragically, Neely died. Penny, filled with remorse, told the police he never meant to hurt anyone. Yet, instead of being recognized for protecting others from a clear and present threat, Penny stood trial for criminally negligent homicide.

In Alvin Bragg’s New York, justice bends to ideology. The Manhattan district attorney has made a career of weaponizing the law, selectively prosecuting those who don’t fit his narrative. He’s the same prosecutor who twisted legal precedent to go after Donald Trump on business charges no one had ever faced before. Then, he turned his sights on Daniel Penny.

A jury may have acquitted Penny, but what happened in New York City this week isn’t justice. When the rule of law changes depending on the defendant’s identity or the prosecutor's political motives, we’re no longer living in a free country. We’re living in a state where justice is a game, and ordinary Americans are the pawns.

The system failed Jordan Neely

It’s worth asking: Where were activists like Alvin Bragg when Neely was suffering on the streets? Jordan Neely was a tragic figure — a man with a long history of mental illness and over 40 arrests, including violent assaults. The system failed him long before he stepped onto that subway train. Yet rather than confront that uncomfortable truth, Bragg’s office decided to target the man who stepped in to prevent a tragedy.

This isn’t about justice. It’s about power. It’s about advancing a narrative where race and identity matter more than truth and common sense.

It’s time to demand change

The Daniel Penny case — and others like it — is a wake-up call. We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty. Americans must demand an end to politically driven prosecutions, hold DAs like Alvin Bragg accountable, and stand up for the principle that true justice is blind, consistent, and fair.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare. It’s time to choose which America we want to live in.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

CEO Brian Thompson's killer reveals COWARDICE of the far-left death cult

Jeff Swensen / Stringer | Getty Images

Early on the chilly morning of Wednesday, December 4th, Brian Thompson, CEO of health insurance giant, UnitedHealthcare, was walking through Midtown Manhattan on his way to a company conference. Suddenly, a masked and hooded figure silently allegedly stepped onto the sidewalk behind Thompson, drew a 3-D printed, silenced pistol, and without warning fired multiple shots into Thompson's back before fleeing the scene on an electric bicycle. After a multiple-day manhunt, a 26-year-old lead suspect was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania after being recognized by an employee.

This was not "vigilante justice." This was cold-blooded murder.

As horrific as the murder of a husband and father in broad daylight in the center of New York City is, the story only gets worse. Even before the murder suspect was arrested, left-wing extremists were already taking to X to call him a "hero" and a "vigilante" who "took matters into his own hands." Even the mainstream media joined in on the glorification, as Glenn pointed out on air recently, going out of the way to show how physically attractive the murder suspect was. This wave of revolting and nihilistic fanfare came in response to the findings of online investigators who surmised the murder suspect's motives to retaliate against healthcare companies for corruption and denied coverage. The murder suspect supposedly underwent a major back surgery that left him with back pain, and some of his internet fans apparently viewed his murder of Thompson as retribution for the mistreatment that he and many other Americans have suffered from healthcare companies.

The murder suspect and his lackeys don't seem to understand that, other than depriving two children of their father right before Christmas, he accomplished nothing.

The murder suspect failed to achieve his goal because he was too cowardly to try.

If the murder suspect's goals were truly to "right the wrongs" of the U.S. healthcare system, he had every tool available to him to do so in a constructive and meaningful manner. He came from a wealthy and prominent family in the Baltimore area, became the valedictorian at a prestigious all-boys prep school, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a master's in engineering. Clearly, the murder suspect was intelligent and capable, and if he had put his talent into creating solutions for the healthcare industry, who knows what he could have accomplished?

This is the kind of behavior the far-left idolizes, like communists on college campuses who wear shirts that celebrate the brutal Cuban warlord, Che Guevara. Merchandise celebrating the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect is already available, including shirts, hoodies, mugs, and even Christmas ornaments. Will they be sporting his face on their T-shirts too?

This macabre behavior does not breed creation, achievement, success, or life. It only brings death and risks more Americans falling into this dangerous paradigm. But we still have a chance to choose life. We just have to wake up and take it.