When Republicans complain to me about how George W. Bush has “betrayed” them or “let them down,” I try to re-iterate things he has done, positions he has taken, that they tend to forget. Like his refusal to submit his nation to the International Criminal Court and his refusal to hog-tie us to the very unworkable Kyoto Treaty that the press likes to pretend enjoyed huge support in Congress (they rejected it unanimously). And I always remind them that in August of 2001, he drew a line in the sand on Embryonic Stem Cell Research and said, “no, we’re not publicly funding it.”
Bush’s stance that initially won him favorable responses from such advocates as diabetic Mary Tyler Moore. Bush’s well-thought out position was actually pretty well received - before the machines of distortion got to chew on things a bit.
MARY TYLER MOORE, ACTRESS: Well, I am so pleased with the thought and care that he put into making this decision. And I think it is a good one. I was not aware — or when I say “I” I should say the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation — was not aware that there are, in fact, 60 embryos waiting. But if there are, that is good. That is better than 6 or 7 or 8, which would have really posed a problem.
I welcome the forming of this council that he spoke about. And I hope that the JDFR will be able to work with him, with the council, on making sure that the guidelines are pure and straight.
LARRY KING: So you are giving this a thumbs up?
MOORE: I am.
KING: Christopher Reeve on the phone. I know you have shared with Mary And appeared with her on occasion discussing this. What is your thought?
CHRISTOPHER REEVE, ACTOR: A little bit more mixed, Larry. I feel that nobody really knew that there were 60 stem cells available. And I don’t know that these lines have been examined to know how well they would work or what condition they are in. And I think that that is something that should have been done.
However, I think it is a step in the right direction. I’m grateful for that to the president.
I remember the speech clearly - and I remember being really proud of the way the president walked a moral tightrope and kept his balance; you can link to the video here. Man, he’s aged. It is hard to consent to being the most hated man in the world for nearly a decade. As I’ve said elsewhere, when you make yourself an offering to God and others, you can expect to be used and used up.
It’s going to take a long time for all the good things Bush has done to be recognized - it may take generations. And those of you - and I’m talking to you folk on the hard right who have decided that because Bush is not “perfectly in line” with you, he cannot have been a good and effective president, those of you who have forgotten the “good” you have received and will thus be unlikely to receive another - will miss this guy when he’s out of office. That’s all I have to say about that.
On the Embryonic Stem Cell controversy, Charles Krauthammer sums it up:
“If human embryonic stem cell research does not make you at least a little bit uncomfortable, you have not thought about it enough.”– James A. Thomson
A decade ago, Thomson was the first to isolate human embryonic stem cells. Last week, he (and Japan’s Shinya Yamanaka) announced one of the great scientific breakthroughs since the discovery of DNA: an embryo-free way to produce genetically matched stem cells.
Even a scientist who cares not a whit about the morality of embryo destruction will adopt this technique because it is so simple and powerful. The embryonic stem cell debate is over.
Which allows a bit of reflection on the storm that has raged ever since the August 2001 announcement of President Bush’s stem cell policy. The verdict is clear: Rarely has a president — so vilified for a moral stance — been so thoroughly vindicated.
Why? Precisely because he took a moral stance. Precisely because, as Thomson puts it, Bush was made “a little bit uncomfortable” by the implications of embryonic experimentation. Precisely because he therefore decided that some moral line had to be drawn.
In doing so, he invited unrelenting demagoguery by an unholy trinity of Democratic politicians, research scientists and patient advocates who insisted that anyone who would put any restriction on the destruction of human embryos could be acting only for reasons of cynical politics rooted in dogmatic religiosity — a “moral ayatollah,” as Sen. Tom Harkin so scornfully put it.
[…]
History will look at Bush’s 2001 speech and be surprised how balanced and measured it was, how much respect it gave to the other side. Read it. Here was a presidential policy pronouncement that so finely and fairly drew out the case for both sides that until the final few minutes of his speech, you had no idea where the policy would end up.
Bush finally ended up doing nothing to hamper private research into embryonic stem cells and pledging federal monies to support the study of existing stem cell lines — but refusing federal monies for research on stem cell lines produced by newly destroyed embryos.
[…]
That Holy Grail has now been achieved. Largely because of the genius of Thomson and Yamanaka. And also because of the astonishing good fortune that nature requires only four injected genes to turn an ordinary adult skin cell into a magical stem cell that can become bone or brain or heart or liver.
But for one more reason as well. Because the moral disquiet that James Thomson always felt — and that George Bush forced the country to confront — helped lead him and others to find some ethically neutral way to produce stem cells. Providence then saw to it that the technique be so elegant and beautiful that scientific reasons alone will now incline even the most willful researchers to leave the human embryo alone.
Please read all of Dr. Krauthammer’s piece, and then avail yourself of the 2001 speech which, in the wake of 9/11 a bare month later, pretty much everyone has forgotten. Hysteria, distortion, name-calling, paranoid (and false) “chill winds” aside, this president has gotten more right than wrong, and he deserves to be recognized for it.
Embryonic Stem Cells, it must be remembered produced nightmarish results in the lab, and never had a successful application.
November 30th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
I still respect George Bush. However, I have to admit I have a lot less respect for the right than I used to. Like Bush I have been accused of everything from treason to betrayal…mostly from people who have no problem doing some betraying of their own.
And the truth is if Republicans manage to pull off a win in 08, I expect the usual suspects to do the same backstabbing they have thus far.
It is true, that for all their whining about how Bush was not a real conservative, he did not back down on this moral issue even when it was politically expedient to do so.
November 30th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Terrye, I couldn’t have said it better myself.
And as always, you nailed it, Anchoress. I always feel at home here because you always say so well what I’m thinking.
November 30th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Everyday in private research labs,countless embryos are either created and or manipulated, from which “the least among us” suffers death with indignity (not sure how quickly labs are converting to the “non embryo” method). It would be very difficult to know an exact number of how many innocent embryos died in the lab, and how many, because of Bush, were spared. World history (final judgement) may well show GW Bush, in the ranks of .all mankind, responsible for the most lives saved, EVER! And all because of his moral convictions.
I don’t think most realize how many embryos are used in labs,and every embryo is a human life. Despite this great news and the advantages (like patient compatability, easy, and cheap), I’m not convinced everyone will “switch over.” I would like to see the use of embryos in research made illegal.
Pope Benedict actually had prophesy regarding ESC work and cloning. He called them “slave beings.”
Thanks for posting this Anchoress. I was hoping you would write about it; it’s a great day for the pro life cause and the power of prayer.
November 30th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
[…] Nile Virus Bush & Embryonic Stem Cell Research » This Summary is from an article posted at The Anchoress on Friday, November 30, 2007 This […]
November 30th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Thank you for putting your finger on the pulse of why I have stuck by President Bush throughout his difficult second term.
He serves with humility and moral clarity.
Stem cells and immigration were just two difficult issues where Bush found himself under great pressure to give into the mob instead of doing what he felt was right. He did not buckle in either case.
He took all the slings and arrows, watched as his positions were misrepresented and his motives questioned by his enemies as well as people who were supposed to be his allies. And stayed on the moral path. I am proud of him for that.
I am so glad other people (at least one) see it this way!
November 30th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Dear Anchoress,
I have been watching politics for a while. I remember Truman on T.V. in 1949.
In my lifetime we have had three righteous leaders: Eisenhower, Reagan and George Bush. They have the strength of true humility. I commend to you an old poem: “If” by Rudyard Kipling.
It is a shibboleth that the presidency ages people. I suggest that all of us look at a photo of ourselves eight years ago. Age happens. Unless you do Botox.
Regards,
Roy
November 30th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
It looks like another therapeutic use has been found for adult stem cells now, bringing the score up to 73-zip versus embryonic stem cells.
December 1st, 2007 at 2:55 pm
roylofquist,
That “If” is the perfect accompaniment to the Bush presidency! Thank you!
December 1st, 2007 at 7:55 pm
While we can give the President credit where it is deserved, and acknowledge that he is a decent man, that does not let him off the hook for things he has done that are totally unacceptable.
He would not listen to those who wanted Rumsfeld removed,a larger contingent of troops sent to Iraq, a more forceful thrust at the enemy, and an attack mode implemented. As a result we lost additional lives that would have otherwise been saved, and made little gain in securing Bagdad and other locations in the country.
He finally got over his bull-headed opposition, made the changes and a total turn around has resulted. Now the administration is some how to get credit for this because he made the right call on stem cells.
He screwed up big time in his kowtowing to Vicente Fox over immigration and other stupid things Mexican, so lets give him credit for the surge which he was against all the time, and forget these blunders.
George means well, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
December 2nd, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Friday fly-by on Sunday…
Usually I attempt to post a piece like this on Friday, but this week for some reason I cannot at this point remember, I simply did not get around to it.
Anyhow, here is the Friday fly-by on Sunday. Better late than never I guess.
This paragraph and …
December 2nd, 2007 at 6:32 pm
“nightmarish results” which were ignored by the MSM. Funny how information damaging to their agenda gets lost in the shuffle. Stem Cell Research is heading for some great results, without destroying human embryos to accomplish them.
Great post, Ma’am!
December 3rd, 2007 at 9:53 am
Give Bush his Props for his Embryonic Stem Cell Stance …
Charles Krauthammer has a great column on Bush’s principled stance on embryonic stem cells and his current vindication by advances in technology by the very same scientist who first isolated human embryonic stem cells. Technology Vindicates MoralityBy…