A Dramatic Recreation of Nancy Grace’s March 31st CNN Show
(With added Dream Sequences)
Cast:
Nancy Grace, Defender of Justice
Rev. Patrick Mahoney, religious zealot #1
Friar Frank Pavone, religious zealot #2
Jay Sekulow, generic right-wing zealot
Dr. Joseph Deltito, quack physician
Manuel Roig-Franzia, truthful Washington Post reporter
Dr. Ronald Cranford, appalled physician (non-quack)
Ghosts of Thomas Jefferson*, Abraham Lincoln* & Edward R. Murrow*
*Appear in dream sequences
Act I, Scene I
Setting: CNN Studio
(Cue maudlin music; on the screen flash numerous pictures of Terri Schiavo)
Enter Nancy Grace, Defender of Justice (she looks at camera – intense but beautiful, she’s determined to make a heroic stand for justice on behalf of Terri Schiavo)
Nancy Grace, Defender of Justice, speaks: “After weeks of angry protests……the beautiful young woman at the center of all the controversy, Terri Schiavo, (pause for dramatic effect, voice quivers slightly) has passed away. Her parents, brother and sister all kicked out during Schiavo`s final moments on Earth (angry facial expression). Instead, her husband, Michael Schiavo – the man responsible for her slow death by starvation (pained, disgusted look) – was there instead. Now, as her family mourns, he is planning her autopsy (disdainful look).”
Synopsis of action: For the next five minutes, Nancy Grace and several of her guests discuss how horrible it is that Michael Schiavo starved Terri to death and kept her parents and siblings away from her deathbed.
Cut to Manuel Roig-Franzia, truthful Washington Post reporter, who reports that Terri Schiavo’s parents were not, in fact, kept away from Terri’s deathbed (they were, instead, by their own choice, somewhere else). He also reports that there is a difference of opinion as to why Terri Schiavo’s brother and sister were asked to leave the room, mentioning that the brother had an altercation with the police. Nancy Grace, Defender of Justice, stares blankly at the camera as the reporter speaks, apparently unable to hear what he is saying. She does not in any way acknowledge that she and her guests have just been spewing falsehoods for the last five minutes. Instead, she asks the reporter where the autopsy is going to be held. The reporter tells her and briefly describes the process, adding at the end, “as you know, this autopsy is so important to Michael Schiavo, because he wants the autopsy to prove that his wife was as brain damaged as his doctors say she was.”
Nancy Grace, Defender of Justice, is HORRIFIED. Mouth agape, nearly apoplectic, she turns to Dr. Ronald Cranford, the physician who served as the chief medical witness for Michael Schiavo, and screeches: “So basically….. he’s having her body, her brain, her organs, sliced up so he can say, "I was right"?” Her jaw hangs open in shocked amazement. Her eyes are ablaze with righteous indignation. Her pretty face is rent with emotion. What kind of man would do such a thing??!!! Poor Terri!!!
CUT TO DREAM SEQUENCE: The ghosts of Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln & Edward R. Murrow are standing in the CNN studio watching Nancy Grace’s show:
Tom Jefferson: What the hell is this?! I thought this was supposed to be a news show!!
Abe Lincoln: (Shrugs) That’s what I thought, too – isn’t it called Cable News Network?? (shrugs again, turns to Walter Winchell). Did you do used to make stuff up and roll your eyes and do all that other histrionic stuff??
Edward R. Murrow: (Takes puff of cigarette): No way, Abe, I’ve got no idea what the heck is going on. Maybe it’s a parody or something.
Tom Jefferson: (concerned look on face) Jeez, the press is kind of important for a well-functioning democracy.
Abe Lincoln: Yeah, definitely. And I always thought honesty was a very important character trait. I hope the other networks are better.
Edward R. Murrow: Maybe after this is over we should go check out Fox. I hear they’re fair and balanced. It’ll probably be better over there.
END OF DREAM SEQUENCE
Scene II
ACTION (continued): Dr. Ronald Cranford, non-quack physician, foolishly attempts to engage in a rational discussion with Nancy Grace, Defender of Justice. Dr. Cranford that takes issue with Ms. Grace continually saying that Terri Schiavo was starved to death. He explains that the cause of death was actually dehydration, not starvation. Ms. Grace gets rather testy:
GRACE: (aghast, irate) So she thirsted to death?! So she thirsted to death?! Dehydrate, that means no water, right?
CRANFORD: No water. And they die of dehydration in 10 to 14 days just like...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: (indignant) Well, so, Doctor, is that any less suffering, to die of thirst as to die of hunger?
CRANFORD: Well, yes, because they’re totally different. You don’t have starvation in this situation. She was unconscious. This is the most humane, caring, dignified, loving way to die for someone in a vegetative state, to remove the feeding tube. We do it all the time, Nancy, around the country. Hundreds or thousands of doctors have done this on many occasions. This is nothing new. And it’s not starvation.
GRACE: (zooming in for the kill, angry look on face) Doctor, doctor, was she given any food or nutrients of any type for the last two weeks?
CRANFORD: Well, it wouldn`t make any sense to give her any because she’s unconscious.
GRACE: So the answer would be no? Well, I know if I wasn’t given anything to eat for two weeks, I would feel like I was starving. I know you are calling it dehydration. I understand that. But no food, no water, to me, is starving. But I’m going to let you clarify it with me when we get back. We have got to go to break.
CUT TO DREAM SEQUENCE:
Tom Jefferson: Holy crap!! This woman’s a complete moron!! Doesn’t she realize she’s not an unconscious person?
Abe Lincoln: (dismayed) Do you think she’s doing it on purpose?? Could she really not understand what the doctor was trying to say?
Edward R. Murrow: I don’t know, but I’m getting a bad feeling. The media seems to have changed since I was around.
END OF DREAM SEQUENCE
Scene III
Later in show:
Rev. Frank Mahoney gets a chance to speak:
MAHONEY: …..So the cause of her death was not from her disease, but it was from dehydration. And the doctor that you just had on – I’ll make a mental note never to have him as my family physician -- to just cavalierly talk about this woman dying from dehydration as if he’s taking a stroll in the park is reprehensible. She dies a barbaric death, a painful death, a horrible death. And for him to somehow say, "Well, this happens all the time. It’ a humane way to go," I would simply have to disagree with that.
GRACE: (smirk on face) Dr. Cranford, response?
CRANFORD: …..It’s very common to withdraw a feeding tube. I`ve done it in the most humane circumstances. The U.S. Supreme Court agrees that a feeding tube is a medical treatment. He’s just denying the reality of the last 20 years, 20, 25 state Supreme Court decisions saying a feeding tube’s medical treatment. It happens all the time, hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds of doctors have discontinued feeding tubes...
(CROSSTALK)
MAHONEY: (frothing at mouth) What happens on day seven? If you are still alive, what happens to your body on day seven? Could you explain that to the viewers?
CRANFORD: Well, at some point, your body shuts down. You have a lack of fluids. You do die of dehydration. Your cardiac output goes down...
MAHONEY: And what’s that like? Describe that for the viewers, Doctor, this "peaceful death."
CRANFORD: It`s peaceful because she’s unconscious. She’s not aware of what’s going on. And then the body shuts down. The hands get cold. The feet get cold.
MAHONEY: (livid) Unbelievable.
CRANFORD: She gets very dry, and she dies of lack of fluids and cardiac output. That’s what happens in a lot of these cases like this. I don’t know where you get the idea this isn`t common, because it’s very, very common, actually, extremely common.
GRACE: (very upset) But Dr. Cranford, just because it’s common does not mean that it’s OK. And I think that’s why so many people are upset. We assume, because 50 percent of the doctors tell us that she’s unconscious, that she can’t feel it. But what about the other doctors who say she’s not brain dead, she’s not in a vegetative state? You wouldn’t even do this to a dog, Dr. Ronald Cranford, let it starve to death, let it go without food or water for two weeks.
CRANFORD: Oh, please, please, please, Nancy. Don’t use inflammatory language. There’s long evidentiary history hearing …with Judge Greer. He agreed with the neurologist who said she was in a vegetative state. There’s not a shred of proof that she’s not in a vegetative state. And Judge Greer just didn’t believe the doctors who said she wasn’t in vegetation. You’ve heard of due process of law, I think, Nancy, haven’t you?
GRACE: (seething) Yes.
CRANFORD: We had due process of law here. And I think you know what that is, probably. That`s what we had here, due process of the law....
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: (eyes blazing) ….And you tell me that she didn’t starve to death because she was dehydrated. She didn’t get food or water for two weeks. I assume you know what that means. The woman laid there and starved to death. That’s what happened to her.
CRANFORD: How many times have you been to the bedside when this happened? I’ve been there 25 to 50 times.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: (Irate) Thank God, never. And you know what? Her family wasn’t allowed to be there, either. Her brother and sister forced away. There was a confrontation. They couldn’t even be with her when she died.
CUT TO DREAM SEQUENCE:
Tom Jefferson: That’s it. I’m outta here.
Abe Lincoln: (confused) Did you hear that??!! She said her family wasn’t allowed to be there! Didn’t she hear that reporter explain what happened??
Edward R. Murrow: (takes hands off face) Come on guys, let’s get over to Fox. Maybe we’ll feel better after we take a look at one of their shows.
END OF DREAM SEQUENCE
Full transcript of 3/31 show:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0503/31/ng.01.html 
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