Bush Was Right

In the summer of 2001, there was a dispute over federal funding for embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). Those in favor of it argued that ESCR held the promise to cure countless diseases and injuries from Alzheimer's to quadriplegia. Those opposed to it argued that it should be opposed as a matter of principle because it was (and is) necessary to destroy a human being to obtain the stem cells; that any cures from ESCR were years if not decades away; and that research into adult stem cells showed more promise. Indeed, treatments using adult stem cells are already being done.

Now comes news that regular adult cells can be reprogrammed from one type of cell into another. This means that the advantage supposedly inherent to working with embryonic stem cells, that they can become any type of cell in the body, is nullified. Indeed, this advantage was nullified when it was found that adult stem cells could be reprogrammed to behave like embryonic stem cells. These methods of reprogamming give adult stem cell research and cellular therapies using normal adult cells the same potential as embryonic stem cells without having to destroy human embryos and without the problem of controlling what sort of cell the embryonic stem cell will become (the latter problem being the major reason no potentially viable treatments have emerged through ESCR).

All of this goes to show both the wisdom of President Bush's decision to accept federal funding of ESCR for existing stem cell lines only.* The field of medical research operates in the market, and actors in the market respond to incentives. Cures utilizing ESCR were seen as being far off, and for them to be a worthwhile investment would have required large federal subsidies.** By limiting the scope of federal funding, President Bush created an incentive for investors to look into other forms of research that offered a better chance of short-to-medium run return on investment such as adult stem cell research (pushing lots of federal money that way as well). These forms of research also avoided the moral dilemma of destroying embryos. Now this research is bearing fruit, and the need for obtaining stem cells by destroying embryos and employing human cloning to obtain usable stem cells is on the verge of being obviated if it hasn't been already.

Can there be any doubt that, if the president had given in to the pressure and accepted unrestricted federal funding for ESCR, none of this would have happened? With massive federal subsidies going to the politically popular ESCR, would researchers have bothered to try anything else? Plenty of scientists back the popular line on global warming because it gets them government funding. Why take a chance on adult stem cells or this new cellular reprogramming method if ESCR gives you guaranteed money if you only promise that cures for all sorts of diseases are right around the corner?

Given the politics at the time, President Bush made as morally right a decision as he could, and the fruit of research in fields in competition with ESCR over the intervening years have born fruit. In short, Bush got this one right.

*In theory, it would have been best for him to deny federal funding altogether, but it was seen as being a politically untenable position.

**Otherwise, people scientists, companies, and universities engaged in ESCR would have been able to find private investors to fund their research.

Hat tip: The Corner

Is New York in Play

Not yet, but if this trend continues, Obama's toast.

Hat tip: The Corner

Obama May not Be a Corrupt Washington Politician

But he may well be a corrupt Chicago politician.

Obama-Ayers More than Meets the Eye

Obama-Ayers, collaborators in disguise. For months Obama has been attempting to minimize his relationship with unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers. Now, Stanley Kurtz is being denied access to publicly available documents that could reveal the extent of Obama's connections to both the far left and Chicago's notoriously corrupt political machine.

Money quote:

Let me make one broad point today. Notice that the critical evaluation of Woods Fund grant programs I discuss in "Senator Stealth," my piece in the current issue of National Review, occurred in 1995. That was the same year the Chicago Annenberg Challenge began, with Obama as board chairman, and the same year Obama launched his first campaign for State Senate, at a political coming out party at the home of Ayers and Dohrn, among other venues. In 1995, in other words, Obama moved to increase his influence over two local foundations, each of which would disburse money to his radical political-organizer friends, and even to his future campaign ground troops. This alone raises many interesting and important questions, some of which I pursue in "Senator Stealth." But I note that, if names were to be purged from the Chicago Annenberg Collection records, it could inhibit my ability to follow critical leads on this, and other, aspects of this story.

A tree is known by its fruit, and Obama's fruit has consistently been of a most radical sort (and not in the Bill and Ted sense). Now Obama is trying to cover his tracks, and it appears some of his former political allies are only too eager to help.

Veep Speculation

Needless to say, there's been a host of speculation as to who Barack Obama will name as his running mate. Currently, the conventional wisdom is that he will name his running mate sometime this week as the Democratic Convention is next week, and Obama will want to get the maximum bounce from his selection.

However, I think Obama may do something unexpected: Let the delgates decide who his running mate will be. Obama currently faces the difficulty that he has no executive experience and little foreign policy experience, and no pick he can make, with the possible exception of Evan Bayh, who was governor of Indiana before becoming its senator, can cover both of those weaknesses. Complicating matters further, he has promised Hillary Clinton a roll call vote which will only serve to highlight her strength in the party and play up the deep, if frivolous, divisions currently plaguing the Democrat party.

Allowing the delegates to vote on a vice presidential candidate blunts this challenge by Clinton. If she does nothing and allows the vote to play out, her power base will undoubtedly be torn between nominating her for the vice presidency and holding out to demontrate their power in the symbolic roll call vote, and Clinton's power is diminished. If Clinton urges her supporters to vote for her, she is effectively submitting herself to Obama's leadership of the party, and the roll call vote becomes meaningless. If she urges her supporters to hold out for the roll call vote, she will be seen as deliberately dividing the party for her own benefit and runs the risk of marginalizing herself.

Furthermore, giving the delgates a vote on his running mate shows his attentiveness to the will of the party and will likely unify the party behind him. It will also help Obama market himself as a different type of politician even as that claim is becoming more and more laughable.

That's not to say there aren't risks involved. The delegates may nominate someone who accentuates Obama's far left credentials. Clinton may win the vice presidential nomination, which introduces whole new levels of uncertainty and the potential for Clinton to cause all kinds of trouble. Or it could bring her to heel. Or tensions between the Obamas and Clintons could throw the whole campaign into dysfunction. But that may be the best Obama can hope for. By granting Clinton the roll call vote, he has allowed a massive display of disunity to go forward at a time when the party's unity is supposed to be maximized, and the only way to fix the problem may be to give Clinton a shot at the consolation prize.

Obama Supports Negligent Infanticide

At least as a matter of law.

The Fundamental Absurdity of Politics

So, Democrats now claim that John McCain is likening Barack Obama to the anti-Christ.

Needless to say, that's ridiculous. If the McCain campaign wanted to compare Obama to the anti-Christ, they'd have just worn the shirt.