Good Ol' Politics

I seriously doubt that there's anyone who reads my ramblings who's a conservative. In fact, most of the people I know don't really consider themselves conservative, liberal, republican, or democrat -- at least that's what they say out loud, because it's what everybody else says. Most of all, I'm not an extremist. I think anybody that's a card-carryin', sign-wavin' anything political is pretty much nuts, because none of the people or ideals that they're screaming about are as good and true(or bad) and straightforward as they appear. Extremists lack perspective, and so does anybody who aligns him/herself with a political party.

This is why I haven't jumped on the Bush-hating bandwagon that permeates central Texas -- it's the old "if everybody thinks one way, the opposite is likely correct" thing. I watch. I listen to the words. I look at the results. Obviously, I hang my head and shake my head a lot. 'He did what?? He said what?? Good Lord...." Other times I say, "OK, fine, he sounds like a rich redneck frat-boy. Which he is. But what he's doing/saying about ____ makes about 99% sense, at least in its concept.' Most of the time, it's the former. But, I try to stay objective.

As I said, I don't think anybody who reads this is a conservative, so I know I'm preaching to the choir on this, but: Anybody who is against stem cell research is an absolute SHITHEAD.

With all the things that Bush has screwed up, as much as everybody hates him, as much death and destruction as he's ordered, he had one last chance to do something truly, undeniably good for mankind. To actually leave something in his legacy that has an undeniable decency. But what does he do? He uses the one and only veto he has used in his entire presidency (the only president in history to use 0 vetoes) to veto a bill to fund stem cell research. He could have taken a huge step to help cure hundreds of diseases that have plagued mankind for centuries, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and even cancer, and he chose to use his one and only veto to stop it from happening.

This is what political parties get us, folks. He hasn't vetoed a single thing until now because Congress is entirely Republican-controlled, so he signs every piece of legislation that hits his desk. Until this one. And he vetoed it because of politics, because the far-right Christian jerkasses (who are against stem-cell research) are the Republican base. If they aren't happy, Republicans don't get elected.

So, next time you see a family member or friend suffering in the throes of Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, you can literally thank politics.

Roger