Patriot Paradox
Posted on 10/13/2004 7:24:13 AM PDT by fight_truth_decay
There’s an old joke that goes: "Daddy, is it true that all fairy tales begin with the words 'Once upon a time'?" "No, Virginia. Most begin with 'I promise when elected that...'"
It appears that Edwards has taken his cue directly from that joke, so it must be close to an election because the insanity is running rampant. On October 11, Edwards (the low-flow John) said: "When John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk. Get up out of that wheelchair and walk again."
It is utterly amazing that Edwards could say such a thing, but only to those who do not know that Edwards, in his past as a trial lawyer, successfully channeled the spirits of dead fetuses in order to bilk millions out of gullible juries. Before, I thought that Edwards just got confused with the other Jonathan Edward out there (you know, the one without the "s" at the end of his name who could talk to your dead grandmother, your used car salesman, or your pet goat). But now Edwards appears to have experienced his own crossing over. He ran headlong straight into Jesus territory. It’s almost with eager anticipation that we wait to see him change water into wine, feed thousands with a loaf of bread, or calm the raging hurricanes in Florida. Because of this, I think someone ought to post a guard at the cemetery where Reeve will be buried so Edwards doesn’t stand there, arms spread wide, shouting "Christopher! Come forth!"
But while we wait for Edwards to perform other miracles, or at least get crucified, it’s important to note that what he said, although whacky, was not the height of insanity. That was left for Senators Dick Durban and Tom Harkin. Harkin said:
"I have here a pen and a blank piece of paper. There. I hold this up and I ask if anyone can see what I put on that piece of paper. What I've just put on that piece of paper is a dot, a little dot. That is the size of the embryos that we're taking the stem cells from, a dot that you can barely see on a piece of paper. ...They equate this little dot that you can barely see with someone like Chris Reeve."
This argument, of course, is one that has been debunked philosophically many times before. Size does not determine the humanity of the individual (if this were the case, then Michael Moore would have to be the most human person on the planet). But Harkin doesn’t see it that way. He claims that an embryo, because it is small, can be killed with impunity.
The fact of the matter is that if size does matter in determining who has human rights, then short, skinny people are simply out of luck, and if they’re killed by a fat man, well the fat man had more rights anyway.
Durban, not to be outdone on the floor, chimed in with this little nugget of wisdom: "Christopher Reeve and many like him understand that embryonic stem cell research gives them hope."
It may be hope, but it is false hope. Embryonic stem cell research is not that promising for science, especially when it comes to spinal cord injuries. One needs to look no further than the market to discover this. How many millions of dollars are spent each year on aspirin and ibuprofen, let alone Viagara? This is just to cure your headache, or to give your wife one. How much, therefore, would the cure to paralysis be worth? How much would a cure to Alzheimer’s be worth? We are talking about billions, if not trillions.
Yet the private industry will not fund much in the way of stem cell research. This is why scientists who want to use stem cells have to try so hard to get federal funding. The fact of the matter is if stem cell research was so promising, money would be pouring hand-over-fist into the research and development departments of the leading stem cell researchers. The fact that it isn’t doing so speaks volumes.
It also provides a large incentive for scientists to fudge a little and make outrageous unsubstantiated claims about stem cell research in order to get funding. And not just any outrageous unsubstantiated claims, but claims that make genuine praise-Jesus-hallelujah miracles seem passé by comparison.
Scientists, like everyone else, need money, and if you can’t convince the private sector to give you money to waste on pointless research, you go to the government who is always happy to waste money (we’ve seen how well the government audits itself). Scientists who get funding for stem cell research through the government won’t even have to do anything with stem cells. And in the end when their experiments fail, they won’t have to pay back the money for all the hype they generated. A private company would not be so generous to scientists who blew their budget in such a manner.
Lost in the shuffle, meanwhile, is the ethical question of why in the world we should destroy human beings in the first place, let alone so a few scientists can get funding that the private sector thinks is so risky it will not put forth any capital toward it. Perhaps Senator Edwards, when he is looking for a new job at Jazreal’s House of Crystal on November 3, can divine that answer for us.
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Peter Pike lives in Colorado. Visit him online at http://www.peterpike.com
"Secondly, there is no ban on stem cell research. He is the first one to make it possible to do embryonic stem cell and adult stem cell using taxpayer dollars. There is no limit or restrictions on private sector funding of adult or embryonic stem cell research. The President did say, appropriately, that no taxpayer dollars should be used to destroy human embryos, because human embryos are living, because they are biologically human, and because they are fully-differentiated.
"Lastly, in terms of therapy today, in terms of getting up out of the wheelchair, embryonic stem cell research today is not used to get people out of wheelchairs today. The treatment using stem cells today is all with adult stem cells, where the President has absolutely no restrictions, no limitations, and there about 140 treatments. Stem cell research is promising. The President vigorously promotes adult and embryonic stem cell research, but he does it with an ethical and moral framework."
Remarks by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., in Conference Call Today, Agencia emisora: mié 13 Oct 2004
PING
Maybe George can ask Kerry to demonstrate his powers by walking on (unfrozen) water on the way to the debate; that will settle all the questions about Sen. Kerry's "plan."
Exactly. I suggest we all make a point of looking for pro-stem cell federal funding articles in online news publications, then writing letters to the editors asking exactly why, if fetal stem cells are known to affect such miracle cures, where are the STUDIES showing that, where's all the private funding and WHY has the public never seen either?
Kerry and Edwards: Miracle Men. The lame will walk the dead will vote.
Never heard of Peter Pike, but this was a very insightful article.
Me either...after reading some of the humor I thought maybe it was Steyn. Had to scroll back up to see who'd written this. Hope he writes a lot more in the future.
Ernest Angley for Surgeon General!
It's not Steyn, but it's not bad either.
If only Bush can articulate this in tonight's debate....
Yes. I guess it will probably come up. The idea that rights are not dependent on how small, how weak, how young or how dependent on others you are -- that needs to be articulated.
Thanks for the ping.
Edwards is such an idiot. It just figures that the low life would stoop to politicizing Reeves' death. I hope his wife doesn't fall for this and allow the dems to take over his memorial services.
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