GarveyBlog by Ed Garvey

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November 21, 2007
Hooray for James Thompson!
What a thrill to read the lead story in the New York Times, "Scientists Bypass Need for Embryo To Get Stem Cells." Two teams...one in Kyoto, the other in Madison, Wisconsin, took control of the debate over stem cell research. True to form, President Bush took credit. I'm not making this up. How did he help? Well, his adviser said, "Drawing the line on cloning and embryo use was a positive factor in making this come to fruition." Yah, and W. invented the Internet! Take that, Al Gore.

Arlen Specter responded, "I don't think anyone ought to take credit in light of the six-year delay we've had. You've got a life-and-death situation here." Right on Arlen Specter. But don't let Bush ruin the party. Congratulations to the Thompson team and to Jim Doyle for helping to shield the team from the radical R-T-L crowd.Those families dealing with Alzheimer's or Parkinson's got a huge hypodermic needle full of hope today. Thanksgiving for sure.

Prepare yourself: "FEC eases limits on political ads." Swiftboat here we come--on steroids! Corporations, unions, and special interest groups can run TV ads, naming candidates, right up to the election. As AP put it, "this opens the way for even more big-money advertising." The only good news? "The Commissioners voted to require that financing by unions or corporations be publicly disclosed."

Disclosure is, for the most part a joke, but it is better than a sharp stick in the eye.

Remember Iraq? If one listens to the Bushies, the war is almost over, civilian and military casualties are down, some of the 4.5 million displaced Iraqis are returning home, all is well. Except, of course, people keep dying. Today, three more U.S. Soldiers, bringing the total to 3,864. Good for Harry Reed, Dave Obey, John Murtha for holding up funding until the President sets a date for withdrawal. Finally--light at tunnel's end. Have a good Thanksgiving.




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