|
the Stem Cell Page time and ignorance are the enemies |
|
Jim Talent’s ANT manifesto |
|
April 3, 2006
Senator Jim Talent is back in school. He’s taking a remedial course in Civics 101, a refresher course in representative government. He’s re-learning that at the end of the day - or term, as it were - the voters rule.
Bankrolled by so-called “country club” Republican moderates and elected by votes from the religious right, Talent found his niche as Bush’s lackey. Since taking office, he built a consistent record of doing Bush’s bidding. He went so far as to abandon Missouri in favor of the White House plan when the military was downsized. What Bush requested, Talent subserviently delivered. Described by some as “the President’s lap dog,” his agenda was set by the White House and he was only too happy to accommodate.
But then came a political tornado, forming fast, moving with great velocity and wreaking havoc before he realized the storm was upon him. Talent co-sponsored a bill which would ban and criminalize SCNT stem cell research. His financial base took exception, not to mention those with family members suffering from as yet incurable diseases and injuries.
On this issue, one which transcended party lines, Talent had missed all the signals. Somehow he wasn’t aware that his constituency favored ALL forms of stem cell research by nearly a 70/30 ratio. He apparently never engaged his friends with the deep pockets and he ignored Missourian’s letters, faxes and emails. [Author’s note: I personally sent a letter to both Missouri Senators. At least Kit Bond responded with a courteous, if uninspired, form letter. Jim Talent, however, never bothered to reply.]
The result? Some former supporters angrily and publicly decried how far he’d gone to bow to Bush and the extreme right. Caught by surprise, Talent morphed from presidential lap dog to the proverbial deer in the electorate’s headlamps.
The senator was in the midst of his worst political quagmire and the next weeks became a flurry of attempts at extrication. The first order of business was to remove his name from co-sponsorship of that SCNT ban and second was to break from the administration on the port issue. But let’s examine these in reverse order...
While his stand on the port issue was designed to give the impression he was independent of the White House, it wasn’t really hard to do. Most Americans had reacted furiously to an Arab nation in control an American port - and nearly all Republicans draped themselves in that constituent anger, particularly after the revelation that Bush hadn’t even been informed of the deal.
While Talent didn’t lead the choir, he joined in song. Terrorists, Talent explained, could be rollin’ on the river, heading up the Mississippi toward the St. Louis Gateway Arch. Meanwhile, few Republicans mentioned that many of our ports are already owned by foreign interests. The port issue became the lifeboat that those facing re-election, like Jim Talent, hoped might safely distance them from the sinking White House ship. After all, a 35% approval rating isn’t exactly politically buoyant in an election year.
But on the issue of embryonic stem cell research, Talent’s political fortunes turned to famine. Well, it was more like folly and ridicule. The religious right branded him a traitor while his Democratic opposition reveled in his turnabout, charging that he stood nowhere on the issue. This was reinforced by Talent himself, opting for a “policy of no policy” until and if the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative gathered sufficient signatures to become a certified ballot issue. Only then, he said, would he let Missourians know his stand, leaving both sides of the embryonic stem cell issue wondering if Talent was friend or foe, and neither trusting him.
Meanwhile, he delivered a statement to the Senate proclaiming Altered Nuclear Transfer (“ANT”) stem cell research as the savior of his political soul. ANT, he asserted, holds the same promise as SCNT but without the moral questions.
Interestingly, ANT actually is SCNT, but pre-treated with a genetic modification which shuts down the ability of the cells to implant in a woman’s uterus. Chemically kill the ability to implant, Talent reasoned, and the religious right would be placated. Never mind that SCNT derived embryos would never be implanted in the first place.
But nonsense begets nonsense. Senator Talent’s offering merely ensnares him in the very same trap that he and his extremist base attempted to set for embryonic stem cell supporters. Leaving the embryos in a Petri dish is just as effective a barrier to implantation as genetically altering the cells so they can’t implant – but which scenario is more likely to be construed by religious extremists as tantamount to playing God? Wait until the religious extremists mull that one over. It shouldn’t surprise the senator to hear them characterize ANT as “the Petri dish equivalent to the morning after pill.” Talent should know that he who lives by nonsense, risks nonsense effectuating his demise.
Perhaps Senator Talent wasn’t thinking clearly when he rolled out his ANT Manifesto. But then, when deer are caught in the headlamps they don’t think. They freeze. As the Senator is no doubt learning in his refresher course, his real awakening from this trance will come in November when Missourians go to the polls to rule once again. And the price of “no position” on such an important issue could well be his involuntary retirement.
- Jeff Eisen —— UPDATE, May 1, 2006: Talent finally took a public stand. He opposes the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative. To read about his statement, click here. —— To be notified by email of new editorials, CLICK HERE —— |
|
To contact us: Click Here |