You Can't Say Kerry/Edwards Lack Optimism

John Edwards updates us on Kerry's health care plan:

We will do stem cell research," he vowed. "We will stop juvenile diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other debilitating diseases. America just lost a great champion for this cause in Christopher Reeve. People like Chris Reeve will get out of their wheelchairs and walk again with stem cell research."

Wow! That is going to save a huge amount on health care costs. Kerry-care has just got to be the way to go!

But how does it work, exactly? Somehow Kerry can make the lame man walk, and the blind man see, but what is involved? Do I have to get on a bus and go to Washington, or will Kerry tour the nation working his wonders?

And I must confess that not everyone is as excited as I am. The MinuteWife, when given the Good News about John, claimed to have heard it before. "What does he have in mind?", she asked. "Is he going to go around laying his hands on people? That sounds like Bill Clinton's plan."

Skeptics abound.

Comments

[Brian]

What, exactly, is the point of this post?

[Xrlq]

These wild claims make Al Gore's claim to have invented/created the Internet seem modest by comparison.

[The Kid]

Brian -

Methinks that John Edwards doth promise too much. Wouldn't you agree? I'm just waiting for him to start handling snakes.

It may be time for Kerry to find a more stable, responsible running mate , one more in tune with the sedate Kerry message, one who can stay focused on the Target...

[Joel B.]

You all just don't get it John Kerry is like the second coming or something!

[Reid]

Virtually nobody with any actual knowledge of the issue believes stem cell therapies will provide any hope for Alzheimer's patients.

[BD]

Brian:

I doubt you don't know what the point of the post is.

But on the chance that you're sincere ....

Edwards is claiming that the only impediment to cures is the political will to pursue them - in short, that people like Christopher Reeve were/are in wheelchairs because GWB won't let them out.

And that is pure, unadulterated B.S. People have been trying to figure out how to get nerve cells in the spinal cord to regenerate for years, with no success to date, and embryonic stem cell research, which is the "be all & end all" for the left for some reason (I sometimes wonder if it isn't because they think cloning embryos & then destroying them somehow makes their precious abortion right more secure), is so far from producing viable therapy that, in fact, there are some who wonder whether anything useful will ever come from it.

When you cut through all the crappola, what Edwards is peddling is

"Elect John Kerry and the the deaf will hear, the blind will see and the lame will walk."

Thing is, there's nothing in the Bible about Jesus returning to run for President.

[Tim]

Yeah, this is pretty crass stuff. Undoubtedly Dr. Edwards, after years of deep research into molecular cell biology and DNA has come to the irrecovable decision that federally funded stem cell research, and only federally funded stem cell research, will cure all diseases. Indeed, I think I recall an interview with Dr. Edwards in which he touted historical research in which Ponce De Leon was simply looking for stem cells whence looking for the fountain of youth. Pity he didn't find it. Oh well, once Dr. Edwards is elected Vice President he'll ensure that billions and billions of dollars are spent to ensure that Christopher Reeves and other unfortunates are cured, once and for all.

Oh, what's that? You say Edwards is a trial lawyer, and not a doctor? Hmmm, I suppose there's lots of money to be had suing the federal government and medical therapy companies for failing to deliver on the promise of stem cell research. By the way, just curious - if stem cells are so unbelievably promising, how come the Euro-twits have yet to discover their promise? Seems to me that Bush, by virtue of executive order, has pretty much conceded market share to the Euros and Asians. Let them use their own children for eugenic fodder - after all, they have experience in these matters... Finally, if you support stem cell research, just ask yourself what should be done with the spent embryo remains. Why not pet food, if it isn't human life and all that...?

[David]

Your wife is at least as funny as you, TM, if not funnier.

[Brian]

The Kid,

"Methinks that John Edwards doth promise too much. Wouldn't you agree? I'm just waiting for him to start handling snakes."

Uh, no. I don't think you were meant to take him literally. He was rightfully speaking out against a typical anti-science policy of the Bush administration. The fact that he went a little far isn't too hard to imagine.

At least he's not inventing wild fantasies about Bush's positions, like Bush and Cheney are doing with Kerry's health care plan.

[Brian]

BD,

Of course I knew what Mr. Maguire was indicating. I am just not sure why he made an entire post out of it. In other words, why does this post exist?

"Edwards is claiming that the only impediment to cures is the political will to pursue them - in short, that people like Christopher Reeve were/are in wheelchairs because GWB won't let them out."

Now that's one good straw man.

"'Elect John Kerry and the the deaf will hear, the blind will see and the lame will walk.'"

Two for two.

[BigFire]

Is this before or after John Edwards sues the medical industry into ruins?

[perfectsense]

Kerry is going to cure the sick with his magical Cambodian CIA hat.

[Toby Petzold]

I'd like to get a firm source on this Edwards quote because I've seen two substantially different versions. I think he's intimating the same promise of "miraculousness" in both versions, but I'd like to hear actual tape.

It's creepy, though. I was thinking in the very moments I first heard that Reeve had died that Kerry would make mention of it, since he had dropped Reeve's name in the debate last week. And here they go. What users.

And did I hear that Kerry got a cell phone message from Reeve on the day he had his heart attack? It must have been one of his last conscious acts. I very much doubt that Kerry won't try to milk it tonight.

[TM]

In other words, why does this post exist?

I KNEW not to take this headline literally.

[The Kid]

Sorry if I choke over your allegations of the “typical anti-science policy of the Bush administration.”’ As part of his “leave no federal agency’s budget under-funded” Bush has pretty much boosted science of all types. As the first president to approve federal funding for stem cell research, Bush is now blasted for adding some ethical strings.

What’s so deliciously ironic is that the lefties who object (and I understand that not all of the objectors are left-wing) to the Bush-imposed funding restrictions are the same ones who turn a blind eye to the terrorists – yes terrorists – who threaten, attack, intimidate, and seek to put out of business those engaged in experimentation using animals.

The PETA folks are mild irritants compared to the hardcore shock troops bent on disrupting and destroying essential research.

But I digress. Let’s just get out the blenders, add the embryos, and heal the sick, without ethical restraints of any sort. That’s what Kedwards promises and wants, even though researchers have no idea how to use embryonic stem cells today.

[BD]

Brian

Straw man, huh? Well, you're entitled to your opinion.

Fact is, though, Edwards intends to suggest these cures are imminent when they aren't.

One would think a candidate of 'nuance' would be a bit more honest than that.

I'm pretty comfortable being on Krauthammer's side on this one.

[The Kid]

Re BD's point, for those who don’t know, Krauthammer has been in a wheelchair from a spinal injury since age 22. He’s written that for 28 years he’s been hearing that a cure is just a few years away, but as a doctor (he’s a shrink), he has discounted such nonsense.

[Benjamin]

Forget about all this nonsense. The Yankees battered schilling like the punk loser that he is. Let's talk about that huh?

[Brian]

"Fact is, though, Edwards intends to suggest these cures are imminent when they aren't."

No, see, a fact is something that is certain. You know, something like...saying George Bush is a Republican. That's a fact.

Your "facts" are nothing more than your interpretations of what Edwards said. They are wildly off the mark.

[John]

Brian, This is the quote from Edwards, taken verbatim from the Boston Globe. Additionally, I heard the remarks on CNN. Where is the interpretation wrong?

''If we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going to get up out of that wheelchair and walk again,"

[Terminal Man]

As a lawyer, Edwards earned fame (and MILLION$) by channeling the unborn.

Why is it so difficult for you folks to believe he has developed this talent?

Obviously, as a VP Nominee, he has risen to the level where he can now channel individual fetal cells!

[Jim Glass]

"People like Chris Reeve will get out of their wheelchairs and walk again"
~~~~
Isn't he saying that he and Kerry will resurrect the dead?

[ed]

Hmmm.

As someone who has total renal failure (kidney disease) and who is on dialysis I can tell you that this stem cell stuff is being hyped way out of control. Embryonic stem cell research has mostly achieved the ability to create malignant cancers from out of control stem cells. Adult stem cell research, which is preferred IMHO, is still not more than a curiosity as yet.

Look it's just completely irresponsible for Edwards to be talking like he is. If I didn't know better and I heard that quote then yes I'd probably be inclined to vote for Kerry/Edwards but there's just no way that any kind of cures could be possible in such a short 4 year time period. Even if you threw tens of billions of dollars more into research it wouldn't achieve anything as the vast bulk of that money would simply be wasted.

I think what bothers me so much about this is that there are bound to be people, who are really suffering, who will take hope from these statements. When these people find out that this hope isn't at all justified then what? Seriously folks, this is when people start thinking some pretty dark thoughts.

It's just plain irresponsible and there's no defending it. Someone who is hoping to be elected Vice-President shouldn't be making these kinds of statements.

[DelphiGuy]

So, in 4 years Kerry will halve the deficit, cure numerous diseases, and fight the WoT as agressively as Bush (and with a similar monetary cost one assumes) all without raising a single tax on 90% of the population?

Perhaps this election is more about how naive the US citizenry are.

Regarding stem cell research, it could be said that in Europe, where they don't have a bible thumping ruler choosing to keep quadraplegics in wheelchairs by not funding stem cell research, these illnesses are still ravaging their populations even with such research going ahead.

Methinks the Dems have changed strategy to the "Hail Mary" approach. If it succeeds, it will be fun watching the Kerry administration break promise after promise.

[Mantis]

I don't know much about the science behind stem-cells or if their study is capable of what some people think it is, but you should probably get your quotes right:

"Christopher Reeve just passed away. And America just lost a great champion for this cause. Somebody who is a powerful voice for the need to do stem cell research and change the lives of people like him, who have gone through the tragedy. Well, if we can do the work that we can do in this country -- the work we will do when John Kerry is president -- people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk. Get up out of that wheelchair and walk again."

Watch the clip

[anonymous coward]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1530&u=/afp/20041128/wl_asia_afp/health_stemcell_paralysis_skorea&printer=1

"SEOUL (AFP) - A South Korean woman paralyzed for 20 years is walking again after scientists say they repaired her damaged spine using stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood.

Hwang Mi-Soon, 37, had been bedridden since damaging her back in an accident two decades ago.

Last week her eyes glistened with tears as she walked again with the help of a walking frame at a press conference where South Korea (news - web sites) researchers went public for the first time with the results of their stem-cell therapy.

They said it was the world's first published case in which a patient with spinal cord injuries had been successfully treated with stem cells from umbilical cord blood."

who's the idiot now?