The Rise of the Godless Heathens

It's a big day for science and medicine. President Obama has removed the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Bush had banned the funding, kissing up to those who believe every fertilized ovum deserves a Social Security card. The Bush ban was -- not surprisingly -- based on a poorly thought out argument; that we shouldn't be destroying life to save life. But, even if you believed that a mindless collection of frozen cells constitutes "life," Bush's ban did absolutely nothing to save any of them. The embryos were created for in vitro fertilization and unused embryos are just discarded. All Bush managed to do was to keep those embryos from being used in research, not from being destroyed. Bush's ban didn't "save" a single embryo.

During a signing ceremony reversing Bush's executive order, Obama also signed a pledge to "restore scientific integrity in governmental decision making." Clearly, this is the first step toward an anti-human dystopia ruled by the cold hand of science.

When the controversy over stem cell research began, Republicans quickly took the position of the religious right. Embryonic stem cell research was the worst thing ever, the wanton destruction of human life by medical science gone mad. Some still believe this. "If an embryo is a life, and I believe strongly that it is life, then no government has the right to sanction their destruction for research purposes," wrote Sen. Sam Brownback in a statement... [CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Griper Blade: Iraq and Stem Cells -- Killing Former Embryos

It's a study in contrast. There are the things the president says and the things the president does. In order to buy it, you either need to develop a split personality or remain willfully ignorant of one or the other. There are those few individuals who can accept conflicting information in the same skull and accept both as true, but there can't be that many. President Bush's approvals are at a new low, with only 26% approving in a Newsweek poll. It's probably safe to assume that these few with a talent for cognitive dissonance are among that 26%, but doesn't account for all of them. There are also the single issue voters who don't give a crap about anything other than their pet concern and those who believe that the Democrats are inherently evil and therefore see themselves as having no other choice.

But it was the voter who can swallow contradiction that Bush was playing to this week, with a (not unexpected) veto of stem cell legislation.

White House:

Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical -- and it is not the only option before us. We're already seeing remarkable advances in the science and therapeutic uses of stem cells drawn from adults and children, and the blood from umbilical cords -- with no harm to the donor. Researchers value embryonic stem cells because they are pluripotent -- which means that they have the potential to develop into nearly all the cell types and tissues in the body. Researchers are now developing promising new techniques that offer the potential to produce pluripotent stem cells -- without having to destroy human life.

He had a lot to say about science when he vetoed the bill, but his central argument was a philosophical one, not a scientific one -- the 'human life' he spoke of was merely theoretical. "If this legislation became law, it would compel American taxpayers -- for the first time in our history -- to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos," he said. Virtually all unused embryos are destroyed, 'snowflake babies' aside -- the percentage of embryos that are 'adopted' are mathematically insignificant. The rest are incinerated as a biohazard. Bush's veto won't 'save' a single embryo...

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