Saturday, March 14, 2009

Krauthammer on Obama's stem cell order

Charles Krauthammer is, in my view, one of the most astute commentators in the country. He is deeply thoughtful and reasoned, and constantly makes points and looks at things from an angle that I learn from.

He wrote a typically insightful column on Obama's stem cell executive order.
In case you think that this is just another right winger hyperventilating on the pro-life issue, think again. Krauthammer is pro-choice, and he is also in favor of allowing embryonic stem cell research on spare fertility clinic embryos.

But the point Krauthammer makes is that in Obama's speech about his executive order, he revealed a lack of seriousness, indeed an utter hypocrisy, about the exercise of drawing moral lines around scientific research. While Obama said he has disconnected science from ideology, he went on to say that he would never allow human cloning.

Isn't that an ethical judgment?

Krauthammer also had interesting things to say about the seriousness of the Bush speech when he banned embryonic stem cell research, compared to the arrogance of Obama's speech overturning it.

It is well worth the read, no matter where you fall on this issue.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have a couple of questions for you Rob:

What would happen to these embryos if they're not used for stem cell research?

If life begins at conception, why do we celebrate birth days and not conception days? When someone asks you how old you are, do you date it to your birth or your conception?

Rob Kremer said...

I think you miss the point of my post and Krathammer's column.

The point is Obama's statements are clearly contradictory and hypocritical, and reveal a lack of depth and understanding of a complex moral/ethical issue than - guess who - George Bush showed in his own speech on the same issue.

The point is Obama's moral unseriousness compared to when Bush "painstakingly explained the balance of ethical and scientific goods he was trying to achieve."

I guess you didn't read it. Here is one of the many excellent points:

"Obama's address was morally unserious in the extreme. It was populated, as his didactic discourses always are, with a forest of straw men. Such as his admonition that we must resist the "false choice between sound science and moral values." Yet, exactly 2 minutes and 12 seconds later he went on to declare that he would never open the door to the "use of cloning for human reproduction."

Basically, Obama is being a demogogue.

Your questions are irrelevant to the point Krauthammer is making. He is pro-choice and not religious.

Anonymous said...

I must agree with Dr. Krauthammer and Rob. The whole research is a very confusing and rather redundant way to learn something more. Adult SCR is much more advanced here and can provide a lot more answers, why not stay with that?

"If life begins at conception, why do we celebrate birth days and not conception days? When someone asks you how old you are, do you date it to your birth or your conception?"

Because we always celebrate events that we can see, that we can observe and be part of. We always celebrate results, not the beginning of something. Nevertheless, your questions are irrelevant anyways.

Take care, Julie

Anonymous said...

If one could extrapolate the exact conception date, I'm sure some people night celebrate that as their birth day. So what?

Anonymous said...

anon 12:09 is a knuckle dragging liberal moonbat. Incapable of following any discussion without attempting to dishonestly misdirect said conversation to a position of defending his own indefensible and silly argument.