Murder is Wrong

George Bush is prepared to invoke his first veto while in office, after the Senate approved legislation permitting stem cell research. According to the NYTimes, Senate Approves a Stem-Cell Bill; Veto Is Expected:

Tony Snow, the White House spokesman, said Tuesday that the president would veto the measure because of his belief that federal money should not be spent on research conducted on stem cells derived from human embryos. Mr. Snow said Mr. Bush considered that murder.

"“The president is not going to get on the slippery slope of taking something that is living and making it dead for the purpose of research,"” he said.

In Most call it hope for millions, Bush calls it "murder", Dick Polman of American Debate explains:

The Republican-led Senate has spoken -- today, by a 63-37 vote, it passed a bill expanding federally-financed stem cell research --and now President Bush must decide whether he sides with the religious and social conservatives who oppose that research, or with the clear majority of his fellow citizens.

Actually, he has already made up his mind -- his heart is with his political base -- which means that, when he issues the first veto of his presidency, he will be defying the medical community, the scientific community, 41 Nobel laureates, hundreds of citizen health groups, Nancy Reagan, and the millions of Americans who see value in doing the advanced research that could pioneer new treatments for serious diseases.

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Bush has long viewed his willingness to defy majority sentiment as an asset; in the words of press secretary Tony Snow the other day, "People like leadership much better than a finger in the wind." But in this case, the leader has misrepresented some of the facts. Bush claimed, in a White House message the other day, that the stem-cell bill "would use Federal taxpayer dollars to support and encourage the destruction of human life for research."” In reality, the stem cells covered by the bill have been specifically created for in-vitro fertilization, are no longer needed and, if not used for research purposes, would be discarded anyway as medical waste. Frist also described the bill this way, in a Washington Post op-ed column this morning.

But the White House is not interested in such nuance; as Snow put it today, "the simple answer is, he thinks murder's wrong."

On this issue, Pennsylvania's Senators Mutt & Jeff (a/k/a Santorum and Specter), are divided by more than the opposite ends of the state. See Rick and Arlen on Stem Cells. It's amazing how resolute Specter can be in his position when his own self interest is at stake. Calling embryos persons deserving of the protection of law, Santorum doesn't explain how his absolute, unwavering respect for life does not also mean that he is a pacifist or death penalty opponent.

In MAKE WAR, NOT CURE: BUSH TO SEND EMBRYOS TO IRAQ, the Satirical Political Report explains the real reason Bush is opposed to embryonic research:

As Congress prepares this week to debate expanded public funding of embryonic stem cell research, President Bush has reaffirmed his staunch opposition, explaining that such embryos could be put to much better use in Iraq.

Explaining that embryos should be "“killed there, instead of here,"” the President emphasized that the military is at its breaking point in Iraq, and that crucial reinforcements are desperately needed, especially with looming crises in the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula.

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Bush further claimed that his religious principles will not allow him to sanction the destruction of innocent embryos, even to help cure debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer'’s and Parkinson'’s. "“However,"” Bush explained, "“if we have to sacrifice embryos to support religious extremism and theocracy, that'’s another matter altogether."”

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However, polls show that 70% of Americans not only support greater federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, but the harvesting of Bush'’s organs, while he is still alive, if it can help cure a single individual.

Even better than harvesting his organs, if there is any justice in the world (or if my God, rather than the Bush version, is really in charge), George Bush will have a long life, will live to a ripe old age, and would also be blessed with one of those diseases that could have been cured but for the ban on stem cell research. It would be perfect poetic justice.

Tags: Bush, Politics, Stem Cell Research