How can you decipher the brain of George Bush? Better yet, I don’t know how people can continue to support him. Now, not unexpected, he vetoed a new bill which would try to bring US stem cell research into the 20th century (bringing it into the 21st century is another matter).

This is from Forbes.com:

Vetoing a stem cell bill for the second time, President Bush on Wednesday sought to placate those who disagree with him by signing an executive order urging scientists toward what he termed “ethically responsible” research in the field.

Bush announced no new federal dollars for stem cell research, which supporters say holds the promise of disease cures, and his order would not allow researchers to do anything they couldn’t do under existing restrictions.

Announcing his veto to a roomful of supporters, Bush said, “If this legislation became law, it would compel American taxpayers for the first time in our history to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos. I made it clear to Congress and to the American people that I will not allow our nation to cross this moral line.”

How pathetic is this man? What would he know about being ethically responsible–I suppose that he doesn’t consider starting a war to be unethical, or denying Global Warming, or cutting funding to the Veterans Association. Bush’s list of “ethical endeavors” would take weeks to compile.

And I love this quote–as usual, another Bush blunder. “The deliberate destruction of human embryos.” Well gee, George, what do you think happens to the leftover embryos now? Do you think that they’re being wined and dined at the Ritz? How many have you invited to come and grow in your wife’s uterus, or that of your twins?

The man’s stupidity is legendary, but we know that already. But his vetoe of this bill just adds to it. And he will not allow this nation to cross this moral line…gee, okay that millions in this country can’t get medical care or that live on the streets, and it’s okay to go kill and maim tens of thousands of Iraqis for their oil, and kill thousands of American soldiers for the glory of Halliburton, but Bush doesn’t want to cross a moral line?

Oh, I forgot, he’s a Christian. He thinks killing is wrong. I guess that is in the New Testament. Jesus did say that we should only love pre-embryos in petri dishes and no one else.

This is a very interesting part of the article. Bush says that scientists should be working with the government to add other kinds of stem cell research to the list of projects eligible for federal funding. Well, they’ve been doing that for years already. Bush isn’t saying anything new, or offering anything that already isn’t out there.

Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., the bill’s chief Democratic supporter who has a daughter with juvenile diabetes, said the executive order is not a substitute for easing funding restrictions.

“While I support these other methods of research, the consensus among the scientific community is that these methods are years behind the progress of embryonic stem cell research,” she said, adding that British scientists recently announced that embryonic stem cells may be used to cure a form of macular degeneration within five years. “This research was made possible by an anonymous donation from a U.S. donor, who has become frustrated by curbs on stem cell work in this country.”

Now here’s the big question. Would Bush, or any of his naysayers, turn down lifesaving treatment that resulted from studying embryonic stem cells? Would Bush allow himself to become crippled, blind, or die, if a treatment was available? I kinda doubt it.

Stem cell research is moving rapidly ahead in other countries, where they don’t have the hypocritical moralists like Bush running the show. If Bush has such great respect for the life of pre-embryos, then he should outlaw their destruction completely. In fact, he should outlaw in-vitro fertilization, because that’s the process that creates the excess embryos, or at the very least, restrict more embryos from being created than are going to be used in one IVF round.

Otherwise, his logic is idiotic. Is it better for the embryos to be flushed down the toilet than used for scientific research? Does that make sense? Some of these embryos have been in deep freeze for a decade or more. Is that moral?