Reactions To Shrub's Veto

It is truly sad that Shrub has decided to exercise his first veto, and condemn millions to early death and lives filled with suffering. He has chosen 100 unimplanted cells over your grandma with Alzheimer's or Cousin Bob with Parkinson's. The myopic choice to motivate his zombie brigade base has said that existing life is worthless and a frozen Petri dish that WILL be thrown into an orange Hazmat bag and destroyed is the first priority.

His carefully crafted and staged press conference with the "snowflakes" was a disturbing and disgusting obfuscation of the issue at hand. It was also interesting to note how snowy white the whole production was. These folks were will to pay 5K a throw to eventually produce a white baby, rather than adopting an EXISTING child who needed a family. That of course is their choice, but do not tell me that you own the moral high ground because of that choice.

The supposed moral high ground Shrub occupies apparently does not extend outside the womb. He will send your child, parent, friends to die in Iraq, he will allow cities to be washed away, he will allow children to live in inescapable poverty; but a blastocyst NOW that's important. It is morally unjustifiable and political pandering at its most ignorant.

With that being said, the issue of stem cell research is not over. Private corporations and foreign nations that see the therapeutic an financial profits of this research will press on. The sad note in this song, is that for PURELY political purposes, the US government will not help in save lives.

Here are some reactions:

"I served in elected office as a Republican for 26 years," he said. "Is somebody telling me I don't count? My brother doesn't count? What counts is that religious theory that says what takes place in a lab dish takes precedent over my brother?"

Former Sen John Danforth (R-MO), his brother died of Lou Gehrig's Disease.

"The only veto he has been willing to exercise up to this particular point is a veto against the most promising research ever devised to man. I think that's a terrible mistake."

Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

"Today George Bush chose political posturing over human life, denying hope to millions of Americans, their families and loved ones who are affected by debilitating diseases."

Howard Dean, MD DNC Chairman

"The bill we passed would solve this problem by expanding the number of human embryonic stem cell lines eligible for federally funded research. These new lines would be derived from the more than 400,000 surplus embryos stored at fertility clinics that will never be used to create and pregnancy and would otherwise be thrown away. "

Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader(D-NV)