Yesterday Bush vetoed a bill for the first time since he’s been in office. He vetoed Congress’s bill to increase funding for embryonic stem-cell research. According to news reports:
Officials say about 400,000 frozen embryos are stored at fertility clinics in this country. The vast majority await disposal because the couples that produced them have completed their pursuit of children and do not want another person raising their biological child.
Bush had this to say about using the frozen embryos destined for the dumpster that could be used to help find cures for diseases that afflict hundreds of thousands of living human beings:
This bill would support the taking of innocent human life in the hope of finding medical benefits for others. It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect, so I vetoed it.
…in our zeal for new treatments and cures, America must never abandon our fundamental morals.
…
I made it clear to the Congress that I will not allow our nation to cross this moral line. I felt like crossing this line would be a mistake, and once crossed, we would find it almost impossible to turn back. Crossing the line would needlessly encourage a conflict between science and ethics that can only do damage to both, and to our nation as a whole.
What about other moral issues Mr. President?
You started a war that has resulted in the taking of tens of thousands of innocent human lives-real people, not blastocysts. Is your war moral?
You and your Administration have condoned torture and have practiced it in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. “Decent” societies do not practice torture. You crossed the boundary.
You have ignored federal and international laws regarding prisoners’ rights to due process. Is that representative of our country’s ethics?
You and your Administration have lied about practically everything. You are against open government. You seek to destroy anyone who challenges what you believe to be your unlimited executive power. Does your moral boundary encompass these types of behavior?
You and your Party have refused to increase the minimum wage leaving tens of thousands of workers in a state of poverty, yet you have pushed through tax cuts for the extremely wealthy 5% of the population that nets them tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax breaks. Is that moral Mr. President?
Your Administration has run up three trillion dollars in debt since you took office, yet you refuse to increase taxes on those most able to pay down the debt. Instead you will pass the gargantuan debt onto the next generation. Is that a responsible act? Is that moral Mr. President?
Your “moral boundary” is a very squiggly line drawn to isolate and protect you, your extremely wealthy “base,” and your army of fundamentalist Christians who hold the same beliefs as you about when life begins.
When you speak of “moral boundaries” Mr. President, you are speaking out of your ass.
Yo, Brad, nice essay.
Love it love it love it.
I just finished reading “Talking Right” by I forget who, but it discusses the varying abilities of the right and left to speak using words such as “values”, “freedom” etc.
It’s a great book for trying to understand why we Dems can’t get our point(s) across. We use the frame that the right developed, which is like playing their sport. For example, the response we had to “Cut and Run” (the criticism of J.Murtha’s statements re: leaving Iraq asap) included “Stay and Pay”…the write believes that response is not going to work because it’s in the “frame” of “Cut and Run” and leaves those who hear it thinking about “Cut and Run” regardless of what is said…that kind of thing.
Also just finished “The One Percent Doctrine” (killer), and “Lost Mountain” (about blowing off mountaintops for coal removal and its effects on the Appalachain communities…also killer). Next up? “Fiasco” by some military expert whose name I’ve forgotten. And just picked up my special order from the local Book & Brew (Yes!) of Shelby Foote’s Civil War trilogy. Dude got it for me, all three big books, in the box-thing that they come in, for $20!
Yep.
Ok then. Long time no see, and I just realized that I hope this gets to you as it’s a lot of writing…
Jeff Bunney