Auntie Mae's gone national!

Kenneth Mullinax, nephew of 81-year-old Mae Magouirk, around whom a mini-sort-of-like-but-not-exactly-Schiavo-type (maybe) storm is brewing, exclaimed: "This national debate has reared its head in Troup County, Georgia. It’s the damndest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Mullinax's surprise is more than a bit faux. In reality, he had sent out a two-page media release -- complete with names, phone numbers, and exact locations -- on April 6, 2005. The story got picked up by NewsMax.com on April 7 (link) and by Free Republic (reprint of Mullinax's media release), and elsewhere in the blogosphere.

The MSM has seemed a bit reluctant to pick up the story, maybe because back-to-back-to-back deathwatch coverage is a ratings killer.

Finally, the La Grange (Ga.) Daily News, Friday edition, carried the story. As Mark Klieman observed:

We now know that Ms. Magouirk actually exists, that there is an actual dispute about her care, and that the "Save-Terri" forces have arrived. (We know that because the judge in the case has received the obligatory death threats.) What we don't know is what her actual medical condition, what treatment she is or is not receiving, or what her granddaughter has to say about the matter. [emph added]

You know what impresses me the most? People seem to consistently spell Auntie Mae's last name correctly. It’s the damndest thing I’ve ever seen.