Stem Celebration...

Today Jeff Jacoby lauds the President's stem cell policy even though the columnist himself does not accord entirely with Bush's view on the matter.
Jeff compares the "principles and ethical values" that have allegedly guided the President in respect of the issue with the science-first demogoguery of his opponents.
At first glance, this is a reliable Jacoby gimmick, the hearty well meaning morality of an embattled band of conservatives as opposed to the craven opportunism of democrats and liberals....ho hum!
It is an old story to be sure, the only surprising aspect is Jeff's credulous and naive belief in the purity of the President's motives, I man you'd a thunk Jacoby would've learned someting after seven years of GWB.
But no, right on cue, Jeff puffs out hs chest and reduces the debate on a denunciation of science worshipping liberals.
Waaal that may be so, but President Bush has a sort of "religious right first" policy, hell keeping Spartanburg North Carolina laughing and scratching has been the whole of GWB's domestic policy for seven years now.
From my perspective, this is less "Principles and ethica values" and more like craven truckling, selling out pure science in the name of sectarianism is always a cheap way to pay off ravenous supporters, more than a few of whom has skirted the laws of the Republic to keep Bush II in office.
Rightly, Jeff worries about where the line of morality is drawn as the research goes forward. Well we are all worried about that...I'm worried about a politically bankrupt loser of a president drawing that line to keep the dregs of his coalition going for a few more months.
However, before we can draw any line we need to know what exactly is on offer so that we can evaluate what the trade-offs physical and ethical might be.
Defunding research is foolish grandstanding, the work goes on financed by other means and in other countries as well...science can't be stopped that way. If we don't choose to go forward, that doesn't mean that others won't.
The debate over stem cells ought to fgo forward lively and constant....and lets not assume anyone's motives are pure either.