response 12 of 74:

Jan 18 18:18 UTC 2006

The mistake Kevorkian made was videotaping the events.  They never would have
had anything on him otherwise because he did what alot of other doctors are
willing to do discreetly.  The prosecution was able to use the videotapes to
make Kevorkian look like a serial killer willing to forego extensive analysis
of alternatives to the patient.  It also didn't help that he dropped off
bodies at the hospital like a dog taking a dump rather than just leaving the
body in their home and calling 911 to send out the county coroner.

response 14 of 74:

Jan 18 18:25 UTC 2006

Kevorkian videotaped what he was doing because he did not believe what he was
doing was wrong.  He wanted to be put on trial so he could make his case. 
If he dies in jail, he becomes a martyr for his cause.  Which may be what he
really wants.  

response 16 of 74:

Jan 18 18:56 UTC 2006

I don't think he was a media whore, but he was hamstrung by his own
arrogance in his beliefs.  I don't think he believed that he'd be
prosecuted, or perhaps he felt that a jury would acquit him again.

response 18 of 74:

Jan 18 19:19 UTC 2006

Maybe it was his association with Fieger, who is nothing *but* a media 
whore.

response 20 of 74:

Jan 18 20:19 UTC 2006

Dr Death is just a nut case.  Gazing into the eyes of people as they 
died??  He was too dangerous to be a doctor on the loose.

response 22 of 74:

Jan 18 23:47 UTC 2006

I find it interesting that the Macomb County Sheriff got less time for raping
his secretary than Kevorkian got for assisting a suicide.  VERY interesting.
And to boot, the sheriff's SON got his old job..and right after election
results came out..they showed him celebrating at campaign headquarters with
jailbait girls running around drunk holding beers...right there on channel
4 and 7.  Blew my mind but spoke volumes about doubletalking rightwingers who
want max penalties for Kevorkian for snubbing the fascist pharmaceutical laws.

response 24 of 74:

Jan 19 00:20 UTC 2006

<snickers behind dumpster with Sandy Levin>

response 26 of 74:

Jan 19 06:31 UTC 2006

It isn't that the person wanted to die.  as previously stated, other 
doctors have prescribed the means to end lifre quietly when asked.  He 
built a machine, a death machine that administered fluids under his 
direction.

He was in fact a media whore, seeking to promote the right to die.  
Seeking every avenue to discuss it in public.  Videotaping the deaths 
and releasing them to the media ...   Because he thought he was right.

He was wrong under michigan law, and was tried and convicted of his 
crimes.

response 28 of 74:

Jan 19 12:19 UTC 2006

or more importantly, what kind of side dishes do you prepare with that kind
of meal? i'm guessing sauerkraut for the germans.

response 30 of 74:

Jan 19 13:00 UTC 2006

I'm sure i'd differ with jep & bru on details, but it certainly was
my impression that Dr. K was a low-class act and advocate for a 
cause that demanded a very high-class act.  The more intelligent
right-to-die people who i knew back then seemed very unhappy with
him.

Let him out when he's old & sickly enough so that the cost of his
medical care is getting to be a burden on the State budget, and
don't be shy about giving that as the reason for release.

response 32 of 74:

Jan 19 16:21 UTC 2006

I am in favor of hopelessly ill people who in intolerable pain being 
able to choose to end their lives.  I have sick and elderly people in 
my life.  I am growing older myself and am aware of how this kind of 
need could come into my life.

I am also wary of the possibility of people being coerced, or 
influenced, to make decisions which are not in their own best 
interests.  Or of people having decisions made for them which they 
wouldn't have made.  I have seen a friend die, fighting for his life 
right to the end, in great pain, but still with the will and desire to 
live.  I have known people (and know people) who were/are in situations 
I would have thought were intolerable, but who were/are still happy.  
Until you are in that situation yourself, I think, you cannot know what 
you would do.  There should be no social expectation for sick or 
elderly people to end their own lives if they don't want to do so.

I don't hate Kevorkian, or despise him, but I am not a supporter, 
either.  I think he went too far and went about things the wrong way.  
He got the nation to talk about assisted suicide, but he got them 
talking about it in a way which wasn't very constructive and useful.  
We all talked too much about Kevorkian, and not enough about those in 
need of an end to their lives.

response 34 of 74:

Jan 19 17:09 UTC 2006

Another condition for Kevorkian's release ought to be his inability to 
be of "assistance" to more victims.

response 36 of 74:

Jan 19 17:18 UTC 2006

If Kevorkian were to be released, it should certainly be with the 
understanding that if he does it again, he'll be going back to jail.