Letters to the Editor
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"Outlaw" stem cell research?
This article blandly included this paragraph:
>>On July 25, the campaign released an ad attacking Green on the issue. Titled "Six Times," the ad calls Green "too extreme to be governor." It features Wisconsin resident Jody Montgomery and her 4-year-old daughter, Maddy, who has juvenile diabetes. In the ad, Montgomery tells voters that "six times a day, I take Maddy's blood. Six times a day, it breaks my heart. It's stem cell researchers right here in Wisconsin who might find the cure. So when a Washington politician like Mark Green says he's going to outlaw stem cell research, I say, 'Tell it to my daughter.'" <<
No other commentary on the foregoing quote from Wisconsin mom Jody Montogmery...
Well, it is a lie, of course. Nobody--not President Bush, not Rep. Green--is proposing an "outlawing" of stem cell research. Most stem cell research will continue to enjoy federal funding. A small segment of the field, embryonic stem cell research, will not be "outlawed" in any sense, and will also continue to enjoy government funding in places like California where the electorate doesn't seem to mind to moral dilemma posed by the destruction of human embryos. That is a form of federalism that I really don't mind.
The position of the Bush Admisnistrtion and Rep. Green is simply that the moral issues involved dictate that a moderate postion--no federal taxpayer-supported funding for the most problematic kind of research--is the prudent one for the national government.
To attempt to make a case that this is an example of Republican extremism and insensitivity to life is a malicious lie. A despicable, hateful act of violence to good scientific and ethical debate. Shame on the Wisconsin Democrats and their dubious governor, Doyle, for this foisting of junk science on their state.
If Governor Doyle had any interest in dubunking some junk science, he might consider ending his jihad of vetos against all of the tort reform measures that the Wisconson legislature has been trying to enact.
Is this really the best issue that Democrats can come up with?
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The Real Reason They Are Denyiong Federal Funding For Stem Cell Research...
has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with patents. Bush, the Corporate President, is doing exactly what his buddies want him to do. Keep the government from making discoveries that could result in precious patents that could be worth billions of dollars. The religious aspect being used by Bush is just another example of the cynical use of fundamentalism by corporate America. Religious fundamentalism always says 'no' to the federal government's involvement in anything (except that federal amendment against gay marriage, which was guaranteed to fail anyway). Christian fundamentalists are putty in the hands of the corporate raiders who are junking federal regulatory agencies and defunding federal research into everything that has to do with science.
Agnostics and atheists aren't the only ones who perceive religious fundamentalists as idiots. The corporate poohbahs also see the fundies for the idiots they are and they are harnassing the stubborn idiocy of religious fundamentalists for subversive reasons. These corporate greedmeisters are revolutionaries, just as sure as Abbie Hoffman and the SDS were revolutionaries. They seek to overthrow the US federal government as we know it. The difference is, these radical corporatists are achieving far greater success than the leftwing subversives of the 1960s; today's corporate subversives are doing it from inside the government.
Remember when Hillary Clinton talked about the vast rightwing conspiracy? She was right - it certainly exists. But nobody ever asked her and Bill "Why did you play right into their hands"? Because they did. If Bill Clinton had kept his dick in his pants, Al Gore would be in his second term right now. Imagine how different the world would be.
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Elephantman
I don't think you understand what "junk science" means. It has nothing to do with vetoes of tort reform, it has nothing to do with Republican heartlessness. Junk Science is science that is willfully misinterpreted. Heck, not only are the things you mentioned not "junk science", they aren't science at all.
You mention "the electorate doesn't seem to mind to moral dilemma posed by the destruction of human embryos". You mean like discarding them? 'cause that's what happens to them otherwise.
You also state "Most stem cell research will continue to enjoy federal funding." Again, not true. Only existing lines would continue to be funded and scientists have stated that these are inadequate for a vaariety of reasons. Non-embryonic stem cell research is far more limited and has fewer applications, making embryonic research the majority of research and new lines would undoubtable be the mojority of such research.
He might not be proposing "outlawing" stem cell research, he just wants to limit it to cases where it is next to useless.
The position of the Bush Admisnistrtion and Rep. Green is simply that they think they can pander to a base they desperately need to hang on to any kind of power. They don't really have a moral leg to stand on. Don't want embryos destroyed? Then why aren't you seeking to ban their creation in the lab? 'cause destruction is the result for the vast majority of them. Don't want marriage to be "diminished"? Why not outlaw divorce? Why not try explaining how other people getting married affects existing marriages at all? Probably because then you'll have the real Republican base yelling about how Blacks and Whites shouldn't marry either.
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That second sentence
That second sentence in the gay marriage ban opens up a whole can of worms. In 2004, Ohio had a similar constitutional amendment, with a second sentence saying the state couldn't recognize any arrangement between unmarried couples approximating marriage.
In 2 domestic abuse cases involving unmarried couples, attorneys for the men tried to argue the domestic abuse statute didn't apply because the protections in that statute were awarded to a "spouse". One judge threw the argument out and sided with the woman, while the other judge agreed with the interpretation and dismissed the charges. It's got to go to higher courts to sort things out, but it's a mess, no doubt about it.
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Stem Cell Research = "Pro-Cure"
I'd love to see those who oppose stem cell research "on moral grounds" publicly sign a pledge affirming that they will never avail themselves of any curative advances derived from stem cell research. (I'd include their families, except that that's the moral equivalent of taking hostages.)
Now if only the term "Pro-Cure" catches some traction. Do your part, oh precious few readers!
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Elephantman replies
I should first of all say that I apologize to the author of the article, Mr. Koppleman, for thinking that the quote about "outlawing" stem cell research went unquestioned and unexamined. Clearly it didn't; Mr. Koppleman reported that Wisconsin Republicans responded exactly the way that I did, calling the mom's claim a despicable lie.
I never got that far, because the "outlaw stem cell research" phrase sent me into such a rage, that I had to immediately respond. I have now finished reading the mostly disappointing article.
Naturally, I am gratified that there was at least passing reference to the falsehood of the charge that anyone sought to "outlaw stem cell research," albeit only a passing reference.
But back to "junk science." It was junk science for V.P. candidate John Edwards to claim that stem cell research would have people getting up out of their wheelchairs and walking. Just like it was junk science for malpratice lawyer Edwards' experts in birth trauma cases to say that obstetricians had caused brain injuries to Edwards' clients. As it is junk science to claim tens of thousands of silicosis injuries, and asbestosis claims. And endocrine diseases related to silicone gel breast implants. It is a lie to attribute most heart attacks to Vioxx. Plaintiff lawyers and their experts have lied about DES, and Bendectin. Erin Brockovich's entire career has been built on a series of ever-bolder lies.
Democrats like Governor Doyle will do everything in their power to prevent the Republicans from correcting all of that junk science and to end its use as big business for personal injury lawyers.
Again, the main point I wished to emphasize is that the mom in Wisconsin is lying about anybody "outlawing" stem cell research, and the lie cannot be interpreted as anything other than a premeditated, vicious, deliberately incorrect smear by the Wisconsin Democratic party.