Gah

Goddamn it, there's a lot of depressing stuff out there this morning. For example, this story in the Times about a young girl, Haleigh, who was abused to the point of brain death by her aunt and her aunt's husband. The husband, who is not a custodial parent, now wants to contest removing the child from life support, because, of course, if she dies he can be charged with murder. But that's not what he's saying the reason is:

"The end-of-life issues aren't about him, they're about the child," said Mr. Egan, who filed a brief saying, among other things, that Haleigh called Mr. Strickland "Daddy," that he helped raise her and took her to dance classes, and that Haleigh's Catholic faith might have made her opposed to ending life support. Mr. Egan said the idea that Mr. Strickland, a 31-year-old auto mechanic who has pleaded not guilty, did not have Haleigh's interests at heart was "a convenient way to dismiss a serious discussion about the end-of-life issues."

Riiiiiiiiiiiight. I mean, we wouldn't want to be too dismissive, would we? Sure, Mr. Strickland's abuse is responsible for Haleigh being on life support in the first place, but why on earth would that have any bearing on his right to be considered her "Daddy?" Of course, there is the small problem that he never legally adopted her and thus has no official status with regard to her ... but I'm sure that can be overcome.

Insert retching sound here. I gotta go find something more cheerful to read before I go completely Grinch.