By now the reader has be inundated with political commercials, reminders to vote and a constant stream of updates between actor Michael J. Fox and media personality Rush Limbaugh. As many know Michael J. Fox appeared on a political commercial to remind Missouri voters to support Democrat Claire McCaskill, Senate candidate and proponent of stem-cell research. Fox then went on to implore Missouri voters to support Amendment 2, which would allocate Missouri taxpayers’ monies to fund stem-cell research.
As reported Limbaugh, while on his radio program, challenged whether or not Fox had been off his medication while the commercial was being filmed, due to the exaggerated jerking caused by Parkinson Disease, which Fox was diagnosed as having several years back. Afterwards tool of the left, Lance Armstrong home wrecker and Missouri native, pop singer Sheryl Crow threw her support behind the proposed legislation. Sheryl Crowe reminded voters she was a cancer survivor.
What is it about stem-cells that have gotten so many folks in an uproar? We all know what they are but to date there is no proof they can do anything but grow in a Petri dish. In 2004 Democrat Vice Presidential nominee John Edwards made a buffoon of himself when he proudly proclaimed he would approve stem cell research and said, “people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk again”, as it related to stem cells and spinal cord injuries. Recently your author was speaking to a relative that said they thought “stem cell research could be invaluable”. It is as if facts have been thrown out the window in favor of science fiction and here is why-
Stem cells are defined as primal undifferentiated cells that retain the ability to renew them through cell division and can differentiate into a wide range of specialized cell types In the 1960s Canadian scientists Ernest McCulloch and James Till discovered stem cells. During the 1960s and 70s there was successful application using stem cell technology as it related to blood diseases and immunology deficiencies. During the 1980s the theory of embryonic stem cells application was being considered in the bio-medical field. However to date no approved medical treatments have been derived from embryonic stem cell research. In 1995 President Bill Clinton signed the Dickey Amendment into law, which prohibits Federal funding in stem cell research where a human embryo is destroyed.
No one from the left will share this with the average voter. Furthermore, the following is never mentioned either; Dr. Hwang Woo-Suk, a Chinese biotech professor working in South Korea, first claimed in 1999 to have cloned a cow. He presented photo and videotape, along with his notes, to the international scientific community. More animal cloning with photos and notes followed. In 2004 Dr. Hwang claimed to have created embryonic stem cells by somatic cell nuclear treatment. This in essence meant he had created these prized embryonic stem cells using donated female eggs. In 2004 Time Magazine named Dr. Hwang as one of its ‘People Who Mattered In 2004’. In 2005 Dr. Hwang made more headlines when openly criticized President Bush’s stance on embryonic stem cell research. In end, you can hear the balloon deflating; Dr. Hwang had been lying. All of his work and research claims were a complete fabrication. He currently facing embezzling charges due to the fact he had accepted government funds as it related to his work.
And now the left implies and all but says it is true as it relates to the possibilities of stem cells. The very fact that Sheryl Crow grabs the camera following Michael J. Fox’s pitch and most importantly the mention of her previous bout with cancer suggests that even cancer can be cured by stem cells. Thus far your author has read that a series of ailments, everything from Parkinson’s disease and diabetes can be cured with stem cells. A scientific theory that began with possibilities is all but now guaranteed! And if you doubt these supporters or the idea that public funds should be used to facilitate their research then you are a callous heathen.
The stem cell debate can be further drawn out as it relates to embryonic stem cells. The left’s army of abortion right revolutionists now has something else to justify their existence. It’s difficult to sell your battle cry on the idea of killing an unborn child and preserving the woman’s choice to do so. Now they can consider themselves part of the biotech medical community as aborted fetuses can be scraped for stem cells. Your author can only opine that this may be the true reason why the left has latched on the stem cell debate.
Now let’s assume that a few years down the road and a few hundred aborted fetuses later we have stem cells in the bottle. Biotech companies and their complementary pharmaceutical industry players will make millions, no billions, on stem cells. Isn’t this bad? Aren’t the drug makers the incarnation of Satan? This of course is how the left would like you to see this industry. Someone will profit and profit handsomely from stem cells. What will the left then do? It seems to your author since the left is pushing this issue to the front of headlines that they will want the government to get involved. How will they be doled out? Will celebrities have the first crack at them? What if stem cells fail? Will the left admit to it? Would it not be in the best interest of the ordinary American citizen- someone the left does not consider-that corporations sink their funds into the research and not the federal government (taxpayer)?
This hubbub about stem cell research and supporters’ claims reminds your author of cryonics. Where was the left when this gem of a science fiction originated? A bunch of kooks under the name of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation of Scottsdale came up with the idea of freezing their corpses on the belief that in the future science will be advanced enough to warm them up and bring them back to life. If you can’t afford the deep freeze for your body, the facility allows your severed head to be frozen, later to be attached to someone’s decapitated body with a bit of modern day Frankenstein imagination.
Whether or not stem cells can make good on their possibilities or are even worth a further consideration is irrelevant to this entry. No your author believes he should inform the reader what happens when the left takes some science, a ton of hope with no factual basis and spins it into a political cause. It often tarnishes the kernel of truth behind their cause, leaves the beneficiaries more disappointed than before and the taxpayer having flipped the bill.
