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'Dr. Death' no angel of mercy

"Dr. Death," Michigan's Jack Kevorkian, never was part of the kind of rational debate Americans need to address the question of assisted suicide. Kevorkian's obsessive drive for publicity, his eagerness to kill and the complete disregard he had for reasonable precautions to safeguard human beings made him a deadly freak -- not a selfless angel of mercy as he claims.

Kevorkian, whose victims numbered in the dozens, appears to have been stopped, finally. A judge in Michigan sentenced him to 10-25 years in prison, for murdering Thomas Youk.

You may remember Youk, a 52-year-old man suffering from Lou Gehrig's Disease. Last September, at Youk's request, Kevorkian put him to death. He videotaped the event and gave it to a television network, which broadcast it nationwide. The tape provided ample evidence for a jury to convict Kevorkian of killing Youk.

Though some "right to die" proponents have made Kevorkian a sort of poster killer, his mentality and methods made him unacceptable as a leader of those who believe anyone should have the right to end his or her life, and be assisted in doing so. Kevorkian's obvious delight in running up the numbers, his thumb-your-nose attitude concerning authority, and his disdain for anyone suggesting that he might not qualify as judge, jury and executioner in "right-to-die" cases, made it clear that he was more a pervert than a pathfinder.

We're extraordinarily happy to see that Kevorkian's reign of death appears to have been ended by the judge in Michigan. With him out of the way, Americans may be able to consider the issue of assisted suicide in a rational, compassionate manner.

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