I’m sure we’ve all heard his excruciating balancing act on the subject of stem-cell research. I just wanted to be the first to congratulate him.
stoid
As is the norm for us, Stoid, we disagree…
Of course, I AM a conservative, but on this one I’m fairly liberal. I think it was a pretty good decision.
And of course he did a balancing act. If he hadn’t, you’d really be pissed. I thought he was gonna deny funding altogether. All in all, it was a fairly balanced decision.
I’m glad he did what he did.
::happy visions of apoplectically pissed off fundamentalist right-wing zealots::
I’m not much of a GWB fan, but I’ll give him a cordially appeciative nod on this one, if not quite three rousing cheers.
Don’t know if it was such a good move politically, though; hard to tell. He might have managed to find the solution that wouldn’t quite please anybody enough to turn them in his favor while displeasing enough othrs to turn them against him. And it could end up making him look wishy-washy (although by now I reckon we’ve gotten used to that :rolleyes: )
By and large, though, it leaves the door open for more research, if not necessarily as much research as soon as might have been possible otherwise. Certainly a far better situation than I anticipated (I figured he’d say he found he just had to ban it outright).
While were on the subject (If this question lends itself to it’s own thread, which I highly doubt, I’ll gladly start one)-
Does anyone know if that was pre-recorded, or live?
I’d assume it’s live, but when dealing with GW (Or any other Pres., for that matter) I’d think it be in the best interest of his handlers to have it pre-recorded.
Just wondering…
In terms of the O.P.?
Personally, I think it was the safest thing he could do and I wasn’t surprised by it one bit. He didn’t give either side a complete win, nor a complete loss.
Politically, it made sense- It was safe.
Stoid:
Gotta admit, I’m a little confused. This decision exactly reflects my personal stance. I think it’s the correct one.
I have a real problem with the eggs being fertilized with the intent that they will be killed and having my government support this with Federal funds.
However, it seems reasonable that the six strains of stem cells currently being grown and harvested, create no deaths and allow the research in this potentially fantastic area to continue apace.
What specifically about this decision do you think is wrong?
I also admit that I feel a little disapointed. The Stoid I’ve been reading recently has been pretty damn considerate, friendly, thoughtful, balanced, and thought provoking.
This reaction here seems at first glance to be rather knee-jerk.
Crap! I’m reasonably happy with the decision (I would have gone whole-hog, but that’s why I’m not a politician). But more importantly, I lost the office pool.
I didn’t see the speech, though. Did he try to pronounce “bioethicist”? If he mangled it, I’m out another twenty bucks.
Manhattan:
No, he didn’t try to say it, but he did say he was “deeply concerned,” and that he had “prayed over this issue.”
I hope you had cash on those.
Heh. No takers on “prayed.”
OK, OK. Lets not get into a debate here. If you want that, follow Airman’s link.
I would like to add that watching a post-announcement edition of Hardball taught me one thing.
Stem cell research would have wider acceptance if someone told William Donohue, leader of the ultra-whiny Catholic League, that it has the potential to explain why he has over 600 teeth crammed into his mouth.
snicker
Even as rabidly pro-choice and liberal as I am, I have to admit, stem cell research for some reason doesn’t sit too well with me. I don’t know WHY. But it’s nice to see him at least going the middle road on ONE thing finally.
I congratulate El Jefe Jorge Bush for his amazing ability to say Yes but mean No. He said Yes, he would allow stem cell research funding to continue, if the program already had funding he couldn’t revoke, and Yes he would restrict further research funding. It came out Yes, but was a resounding No.
Is it any wonder nobody believes a word El Jefe says? I’ll wait for a clarification from President Cheney and Vice President Rove.
Fairly rabid Democrat who agreed with his balancing act. I’m mighty tired of absolutists of all flavors and appreciate somebody in a position of power admitting that this is an issue that deserves further study.
It’s a bullshit decision. As someone who does genetic research for a living I think this decision sucked the sweat off a donkey’s balls.
Moreover, I think that if Stoid hadn’t posted this, there would be a whole lot more of you who agreed.
Oh, I guess this isn’t another thread bitching about the new Star Wars title, Attack of the Clones.
Or is it? [sub]<creepy Twilight Zone music>[/sub]
Bush looked like a wooden chimp.
He played it too safe and I’m tired of the whole " I’m going to put together a presidential task force to look into it" crap. Do we really need the clergy to advise us on this? What expertise are they going to be able to provide???
As Bill Mahr said: “just because it’s a log, doesn’t mean it’s a boat”
Grow some gonads, George.
Oh yeah, that’s exactly why I posted the way I did, because it’s Stoid. :rolleyes:
I happen to think that it’s a good idea, but it has the potential to get dangerously out of hand. He struck a good balance, and he did it to what is almost certainly his detriment.
He did the right thing. I’m sorry you wanted more, because you ain’t gonna get it.
I would have prefered full funding, myself–I don’t have any moral qualms at all about stem cell research. But Bush managed to piss off the True Believers on both sides…which may mean he was right.
Scylla said (to Stoid):
That would be the fact it was made by George W. Bush.
Chas.E said:
I can see why you’d have trouble believing a President after eight years of Clinton.
bio-brat said:
I realize it’s pleasant to think everyone would be a True Believer like yourself without some sort of anti-Stoid reaction that turns us all into zombies, but I’m gonna hazzard a guess that most of the people here can think for themselves.
Sure I’m gonna get it. I work for a private pharmaceutical company. We have more money than God. But keep in mind, when I get it YOU may not because my company has every intention of keeping it, and not sharing it.
Well, no matter what he decided, he was going to piss off a whole bunch of people. I think he managed to piss off as few as he could get away with, and seemed to have satisfied his own conscience. His speech wasn’t too bad either, with the refences to Brave New World and stuff. I really don’t see it as much of a victory for those opposed to stem cell research, as there was no indication that non-government funded research will be affected, and the government will continue to fund research on the sixty lines that already exist. While I’d prefer a stance more in favor of stem-cell research, this was about as favorable a compromise as I could hope for out of this administration.
Also, I think Bush did OK at switching the focus from trying to claim that embryoes are truly life, and played to people’s distaste for playing God with human life.
And I could have sworn that he used the word bioethicist and pronounced it correctly.
As I said in the GD thread, this whole thing indicates that ol’ Dubbers is capable of bending on issues of morality. Perhaps that’s why he did it? Who knows? I’m not gonna speculate.
I think he made a pretty good decision in an instance where, ultimately, there is no “right” answer.