Senator Matt Bartle Wants Me Dead and I Am Offended State Senator Matt Bartle thinks that I should die! It is not that he knows me personally. He does not. It is just that I am one of those people for whom he seems to have little use. I was born with genetic defects. I have diabetes. You know, one of those diseases that kills you by inches. A disease that can be controlled but not cured, unless some break through is made in genetic research. I also have a real beauty called DISH. There is a long name for it, but the bottom line is that my spine will slowly fuse together a vertebrae at a time until I cannot move. This last one can be really painful. Now, to be fair, Senator Matt does not think about folks like me. He hopes science will find a cure and that I will live out my days pain free. The problem is that he has sponsored legislation to make the scientific research to cure me, and the thousands of us in this boat, a criminal offense punishable by long prison terms. Missouri happens to be in a unique position in the world to undertake this research. But, if Senator Matt has his way using the results of that research will make Missouri Doctors criminals. How could a good man like Senator Matt be so heartless you ask? The answer is frighteningly simple. Senator Matt, in the grand tradition of that famous Iraqi Sunni Cleric Moqtada el Sadr, thinks that he has the duty to impose his religious views on the rest of us. Now do not get me wrong, I am glad that Senator Matt is a religious man, but I disagree with his idea that I should joyfully be martyred in his cause. Come to think of it, I do not just think I am offended, I know I am. I have been a Baptist since long before Senator Matt was born and no man has a right to force his catechism on me. I answer to God, not Senator Matt and his friends.