Our National Tragedy

Warning: the following post is political and critical of the President. If you are a steadfast supporter of his and are just going to get annoyed, you may want to skip it. If you're going to spam me, don't waste either of our time, and definitely skip it.

It's been a long 6 years.

I'm not one of those vocal Bush-haters. I don't think he's run our country into the ground. I don't think he's inherently evil. I'm actually really happy with his support of Israel and condemnation of Hezbollah. I don't think we'd be better off with President Gore or Kerry. But I stopped liking the guy a long time ago. And today, he actually did something I thought was absolutely impossible: he made me wistful for the Clinton days.

Today, 5 and a half years into his Presidency, George used one of his office's most powerful tools, the veto, for the first time. Not to increase our national security or bolster our economy. Not to keep felons in prison or improve education. He used it against expanding funding into promising stem cell research that could offer hope to so many people, not just in the U.S., but ultimately worldwide. He chose ideology over hope and over life. Who do you know that suffers from Parkinson's? Or a spinal cord injury? Or all the other diseases and disorders that stem cell therapy offers hope to? Today, our President told them that saving cells in a petrie dish is more important than relieving their suffering or giving them the chance to walk, run, or dance. the chance to pick up their children, perhaps, or to hold the hand of a loved one, or to feel the hand of a loved one comforting them.

Just about any Democrat and many Republicans would, if they were in the President's shoes, proudly sign a bill that advanced medical research and seeked to transform and save lives in ways that were previously thought to be impossible. Not our George though. Instead he's having us put our blinders on and embrace a narrow ideology that does nothing for those who are actually here but discount the value of their lives, their suffering, their potential. Rather than lead the world in research, America will hang back and let our citizens pay the price.

You got this one wrong George. Little kids don't belong in wheel chairs. Our parents and grandparents, not to mention our own generation, don't deserve to lose their lives to Alzheimer's, ALS, or Parkinsons. Try explaining politics to the kid who just wants to jump out of his wheel chair and run with his friends. Or to the parents who can do nothing but watch their child suffer or even die. There's nothing moral about this.