Debate and Science

Sorry about the massive lack of anything to say (if anyone is reading this and I'm not just shouting into the void). I've had some personal things going on, and haven't felt up to doing very much.

I did see the debates. The first one has, of course, been dissected and rehashed until we're all sick to death of it, so I'm going to spare you. Except to say, is it just me, or did anyone else expect Bush to just pitch a fit on the stage? "But, I WANNA bomb Iraq! I WANNA. Daddy got too!"

Last night...I actually kind of feel lukewarm about it. I haven't seen any post-debate coverage yet, but so far I don't think either one did exceedingly well. Not necessarily from a political analysis point of view, but from an average voter point of view.

I thought Kerry could have done better on the question of if he flip-flopped. Maybe I am being naive, but I think he could do better than pretending he's not ever changed his mind. He made a decision, new information was made available, he revised his opinion on the basis of what he knew. THAT IS WHAT LEADERS DO.

Good leaders do not stick to a position that is wrong, even as more and more information crops up to PROVE them wrong. They adapt. They change. It's about being able to integrate new information into your strategies and plans. It's not just changing your mind for no reason. I think Kerry could have played that up more, but maybe there are reasons I'm not seeing for his answer.

I did like Kerry's line about "a campaign of weapons of mass deception". I also thought he came off well talking about stem cell research, by putting the focus on patients not the embryo debate. Granted, I'm biased on that issue. My grandmother died of Parkinson's disease (or complications from, rather, the actual disease doesn't really kill you) and there is a lot no one knows about that--including whether or not it is hereditary.

But then I've never understood how anybody could place the destruction of an embryo--it is NOT yet alive, it merely a collection of cells--above a living, breathing person. These embryos are not going to become babies. They've been frozen, leftovers from people who were having IVF or who froze them because they were having medical treatment that could make them sterile (more commonly that's just sperm or eggs frozen, but people have frozen embryos; I believe I've read that frozen embryos implant more easily than fertilizing a frozen egg. I could be mistaken, however). They are just taking up space, and they could be used to help people.

The patients that need embryos--that's the most important science. It's not Viagra or a cure for baldness or botox or breast inhancements. It's people with Parkinson's disease, cancer, diabetes, many neurological conditions, who knows what else? It's about helping people with families, with children and grandchildren they want to see grow up. It's about kids with a future ahead of them, kids who have to sit back and watch their friends grow up and dream and play while they are stuck wondering if they will even survive. These people are already alive. They are already here. Let's try our best to keep them that way.