- ‹ previous
- 2751 of 2798
- next ›
Stem Cell Hell
STEM CELL HELL....It's not clear to me how much anyone really cares about party platforms these days, but according to Stephen Spruiell the GOP platform now calls for a complete ban on all embryonic stem cell research. Publicly funded, privately funded, new lines, pre-existing lines, whatever. If it's an embryo, you can't use it for research.
This is the kind of thing that, over and over, seems like it ought to be a big deal to me. And yet, at the federal level, it never really seems to generate more than yawns. I guess everyone is used to conservative hardliners insisting on ideological purity, being humored in one way or another, and then, in the end, ignored. So no one takes it seriously.
Which, in a sense, is almost fair. Still, just for the record: the Republican Party now officially opposes all embryonic stem cell research no matter what. In case anyone ever asks you.
There goes the degenerative muscle and/or nervous system disease sufferer voting block.
... yes, and all their family, friends, and neighbors too
Of course, just because you have ALS doesn't mean you shouldn't be damned proud of having a former POW as your next president!
It would stand to reason that they are also against IVF if they want to stay intellectually honest. Just kidding. Of course they don't care because they knew if they came out against IVF they would be pounded for it. But if you are against the killing of embryos you must then be against IVF.
Keepin' the dream alive, aren't you Steve
It's disgraceful to argue that McCain, who suffered as a POW, would do anything that prolonged the suffering of ALS victims.
Moving along, this seems aimed at overturning California voters' decision to establish stem cell funding, at least by prohibiting new stem cell lines.
On a related theme I just posted this at Political Animal. "The recent progress achieved with induced pluripotentiary stem cells and the marvelous results announced yesterday by Doug Melton and his team at Harvard would not have been possible absent what the scientific community has learned by working with embryonic stem cells. I can tell you that in the patient advocate community the joy we take in these remarkable advances has been tempered by the realization of how much we have lost by the delay imposed upon this research over the last eight years."
Richard Arvedon
I guess everyone is used to conservative hardliners insisting on ideological purity, being humored in one way or another, and then, in the end, ignored. So no one takes it seriously.
But why not take it seriously? Why give up an excellent opportunity to expose Republicans - all Republicans, from their cardboard presidential candidate on down - as backwards, mindless, heartless, ideological idiots?
Democrats need to start taking advantage of the outrageous aspects of the GOP platform, now. They need to demand that all Republicans, from McCain on down, either openly endorse the platform or openly reject it, now.
It's lose-lose for Republicans - as well it should be. But if Dems don't "take it seriously", then another opportunity vanishes into thin air. As it does regularly, roughly every four years.
When will Dems stop shooting themselves in the foot, and start shooting fish in a barrel?