It seems I can't get along with anyone around here, last week it was Pat Brophy and Lynn Wade and this week it's Chuck Nash. The problem I have with Chuck's last column is not always what he said, but, in many cases, what he didn't.

Chuck left out so much information that you couldn't blame someone for thinking that Terri Schiavo was brain dead, didn't feel anything and could never be rehabilitated, but that is not the case and I suspect Chuck is aware of that fact. He got the amount of the lawsuit wrong and he mentioned a discredited poll of the "push-poll" type that is common during political campaigns. Chuck also brought in Presidents Bush and Reagan, just because he had to have a political foe to attack.

The poll question Chuck refers to said "Schiavo suffered brain damage and has been on life support for 15 years. Doctors say she has no consciousness and her condition is irreversible. Her husband and her parents disagree about whether she would have wanted to be kept alive. . ."

Terri has not been on life support for 15 years, she has a feeding tube, a huge difference and one that shows the extent to which polling organizations will go to slant the outcome. As for the doctors quoted by the poll there are other doctors, at least as competent as the ones quoted that say exactly the opposite, of course they were completely ignored. Such polls mean nothing and are just used by partisans who collude with the polling organization that produces them.

Michael Schiavo didn't say that Terri wouldn't want to be kept alive in "a persistent vegetative state" he said she wouldn't want to be kept alive by artificial means, and I would maintain that a feeding tube is not "artificial" many people who are not in Terri's condition require one, does Chuck think they should be killed as well?

Chuck didn't mention that Dr. Michael Baden, a famous New York forensic pathologist, examined a bone scan report and talked to talk-show host Greta Van Susteren on her Fox News program. Baden said that a potassium deficiency couldn't explain the events that led to Terri's condition. He also said that the fact that a bone scan was done indicated that there was a physical trauma that caused Terri's problems.

The physician who conducted the scan W. Campbell Walker, said that in addition to her cranial injuries Terri had a history of trauma, including injuries to both ankles, both knees, vertebrae, both sacroiliac joints, and ribs.

Although the scan was conducted in 1991 Terri's parents weren't allowed to see it until 1998, an unconscionable delay. Such evidence makes it unfathomable why Michael Schiavo wasn't investigated for spousal abuse, it's an almost criminal lack of response by Florida law enforcement.

Michael has no right to be in charge of Terri, he is, or should be, a suspect in a criminal case and should have all rights to make life and death decisions regarding Terri stripped from him until he is exonerated in a court of law.

What if Michael was to blame for Terri's condition? Wouldn't that mean that he would be guilty of first degree murder if she dies now? Doesn't it bother people like Chuck that they may be abetting a murder by their complacency?

Chuck asks what right does a president, of either party have, to give his opinion on this private matter. I would say to Chuck President Bush has more right to give his opinion -- he is still an American and has the right to have one -- than former President and perjurer-in-chief Bill Clinton had to rip Elian Gonzalez out of a Florida (there's that state again, got to wonder what goes on down in gatorland) home with relatives and send him back to Fidel Castro, or, according to Slick Willy and Janet Reno, his father.

The reason it is proper for federal authorities to have a say in the matter is simple, the Constitution of the United States of America says that no person may be deprived of life without the due process of law. Convicted murderers get their sentences reviewed by federal judges. Does Chuck seriously think they have more rights than Terri?

In addition to Terri's unexplained physical injuries there is also the matter of the lawsuit ($1.2 million -- if you add it all up,) $700,000 of which was to be used for Terri's rehabilitation. Why did Michael wait until he had received all that money before suddenly revealing that Terri didn't want to live. Apparently she must have given Michael instructions through the psychic ether because by the time he came out with the claim Terri had been in her condition (which at least 35 doctors claim IS NOT a persistent vegetative state) for more than eight years.

There is also the little fact of Michael's OTHER family. He has fathered two children by another woman, to whom he is affianced and is just waiting for Terri to die before marrying. Michael is SUCH an upstanding person, isn't he Chuck?

Michael has given up any right to decide anything dealing with Terri, he has multiple conflicts of interest, and he received money for her care then turned around and immediately tried to kill her. As far as I'm concerned Michael needs to be investigated and Terri should be allowed to live until the multiple clouds over his head are dispersed.

I had to watch my father die, something so painful I rarely discuss it even with my wife. I spent 20 hours with him his final day and watched as his breathing got slower and slower as the end drew nearer and nearer.

I've worked out at the Nevada Habilitation Center with clients who need just as much care as Terri does. One of them couldn't speak, he had to be fed through a feeding tube, he was bedridden and had to wear adult diapers. Strangely enough he was also a pleasure to be around, something I can't say for some of the people who I meet day-to-day and are in full control of their faculties.

I'd say my experience gives me as much, if not more, right to comment on the Schiavo case as anyone around. I believe that Bush is right, it is far better to err on the side of life than on the side of death.