In First Veto, Bush Blocks Stem Cell Bill
Bush on Stem Cell Veto: ‘These Boys and Girls Are Not Spare Parts’
Bush Wields Veto Pen, Snowflake Babies
Defending Bush’s Veto, Rove Grossly Distorts Stem Cell Science
Bush Bars Media From Stem Cell Veto
An embryo is not a boy or a girl. It’s a cluster of about 150 cells smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. The embryos funded by the bill Bush vetoed were “created for the purposes of in vitro fertilization…which are spare or in excess of clinical need and in every single case are slated for medical waste.” Only about 10 percent of embryos are adopted — the rest are disposed of. Had Bush signed the bill into law, they could instead be used to develop potentially live-saving cures for millions of people.
Say hello to Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader, who, in addition to being our national moral compass, is apparently now also the Science-Teacher-in-Chief. Sadly, though he purports to have a firm grasp of both the moral and scientific issues involved in the issue of stem cell research, Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader seems to be nothing if not completely devoid of compassion.
I wonder how he might have approached this legislation if he or someone he loved was suffering from diabetes, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, or a host of other maladies that could benefit from stem cell research. Or is this sorry excuse for a President so determined to play to his Evangelical, Social Conservative base that he is perfectly willing to ignore the suffering and hopes of those Americans dreaming of a cure.
IS dogma more important than compassion? Is the refusal to allow for research on stem cells that would ultimately be discarded anyway based on solid moral and theological footing? Or is this just another way for Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader to demonstrate that he’s a good Conservative and a faithful Christian…and could really care less about the possibility of finding cures for a host of deblitating diseases?
In the end, Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader’s first veto only demonstrates just how little the man cares about the plight of Americans suffering from diseases that could potentially impacted by stem cell research. We’ve all seen the pictures of Mary Tyler Moore, who has diabetes, or Michael J. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson’s Disease. They are only the tip of the iceberg, and millions of Americans follow in their footsteps. They’re just fortunate enough to be celebrities with the ability to command an audience.
So what’s moral of this story? It’s simple, really: Evangelical Social Conservatives don’t care about anything or anyone except for their narrow moralistic agenda. If others suffer and die to preserve their sense of moral purity and self-righteousness, then that’s a small price to pay for a Republican’s entrance to Heaven when they depart this Earth.
“This bill would support the taking of innocent human life,” Mr. Bush said at the White House, surrounded by scores of children born as a result of an embryo-adoption program and their parents.
“Each of these human embryos is a unique human life with inherent dignity and matchless value,” Mr. Bush said. Looking at the children around him, he said to loud applause, “These boys and girls are not spare parts.”
Five years ago, Mr. Bush said he would allow federal research money to be used only on a limited number of stem-cell colonies, or lines — those that were already in existence before Aug. 9, 2001. He said his administration had made more than $90 million available for research on those lines.
The legislation that Mr. Bush vetoed today would have lifted that specific restriction, greatly increasing the number of lines that would be available to scientists. The Senate approved the bill on Tuesday with 63 yes votes, 4 short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. The House of Representatives passed the legislation by 238 to 194 last year, well short of a veto-proof two-thirds margin. So, barring sudden and dramatic shifts, the legislation appears dead for the time being.
Because embryonic stem cells have the potential to turn into almost any type of cell in the body, scientists hope they can eventually be used to create tissue and repair the damage caused by various diseases. But the process of creating stem cells now involves destroying the embryos, a practice that Mr. Bush and many others have denounced as immoral.
If there was ANY doubt about how little Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader and his band of holier-than-thou Right-wing trolls care about anyone other than themselves, this veto should seal the deal. Remember back in the bad old days, when Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader crowed about being a “Compassionate Conservative”? Someone ought to shove a dictionary in the man’s face and point out just exactly what the definition of “Compassionate” is:
compassionate
adj 1: showing merciful compassion; “sparing the child’s mother was a compassionate act” 2: showing or having compassion; “heard the soft and compassionate voices of women” [ant: uncompassionate] 3: showing recognition of unusually distressful circumstances; “compassionate leave”; “considered for a compassionate discharge because of domestic difficulties” v : share the suffering of [syn: feel for, pity, condole with, sympathize with]
Source: WordNet 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University
Yesterday’s veto makes it clear that there is NOTHING Compassionate about Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader in particular, and Conservative Republicans in general, who care for little but their own agenda and continued political dominance. As far as Evangelical Social Conservatives are concerned, if you’re suffering from a disease, it’s probably just and godly punishment for insufficient religious fervor. After all, if they REALLY loved God, they wouldn’t have been stricken, would they? Hmm??
Face it, America; if you’re not as mad as Hell, you’re just not paying attention. Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader had a golden opportunity to make a difference in the quality of life of millions of Americans. Instead, he falls back on his narrow, completely devoid of compassion Evangelical Dogma- all to pander to his Conservative base.
“Compassionate Conservative”, my ass….
WE DESERVE BETTER….
