Bush would veto stem-cell research expansion

Reknowned medical ethicist Karl Rove assures the religious right that Bush is still carrying their water when it comes to suppressing federal support for embryonic stem-cell research.

The AP reports that Rove told the editorial board of the Denver Post that, should congress pass a bill to expand federal funding for stem-cell research, Bush will make it the subject of the first veto of his presidency.

Rove said he believes the legislation will pass the Senate with more than 60 votes sometime this month — "and as a result the president would, as he has previously said emphatically, veto the Castle bill."

The Bush administration has allowed federal funding only for existing lines of embryonic stem cells. Researchers and patients' groups say that policy hinders vital research.

"We were all an embryo at one point, and we ought to as a society be very careful about being callous about the wanton destruction of embryos, of life," Rove said. He said research shows "we have far more promise from adult stem cells than from embryonic stem cells."

We were all an embryo at one point..."

Really? Wow. That's deep.

This is who we have directing the policy decisions of the Bush administration. Notice that, even though Rove has ostensibly given up his policy duties, he is the one issuing policy positions on behalf of the White House. But, wait, isn't Rove also directing the political strategy for the mid-terms? Indeed, he is. Could that mean there is no difference for this administration between politics and policy? Indeed, it could.

Rove does not miss the opportunity to slip in the standard line about "wanton destruction" of embryonic life. What he fails to mention is that the majority of stem-cell research is conducted on unused embryos created during in vitro fertilization. Those embryos will remain frozen until they are discarded in a waste bin or, to put it another way, "destroyed." Perhaps Rove considers this kind of embryonic destruction to be productive and wise, compared with the cruel stupidity of conducting research that could lead to a cure for Alzheimer's disease.

It's too bad that the Bush administration's reluctance to wantonly destroy human life does not extend to the waging of unnecessary wars.