Jib Jab’s Year in Review

Jib Jab’s Year in Review

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Run Al, Run! (pardon the many disruptions here)

Now that he has won the Nobel Prize it seems only natural to me that he jump into 2008 campaign and run — it feels like he spent his entire life readying himself to be president and caught a bad break in 2000 but times have changed.  The issue he championed in his book Earth in the Balance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_in_the_Balance), global warming may not be the top issue on Americans' minds but it has moved up the ladder.  Honestly, Iraq still tops the list of what people care — and there are plenty of good reasons for that, as a short-term issue there is no more important one facing our country.

The long-term is a different story.  Our dependence on oil is one of the reasons we are in this Iraq mess (or so many people think).  When we invaded Iraq there was another cruel dictator who remains a real threat to us, Kim Jung Il, has always posed a bigger threat than anyone else.  And just a side note; by attacking a county without nuclear weapons to remove one without them just inspires would be nuclear powers (look at Iran) to build them.

Back on point: global warming is the most important issue of this generation.  We need to find new, renewable sources of energy, we need to conserve — give up our gass guzzling cars, that make up a huge amount of the energy we use, if every house went solar tomorrow we would still have to deal with transportation, look at things like ethanol — though Brazil imports no oil because of their own reserves and the fact that they use sugar to make ethanol but it's not a perfect solution, the water required for this conversion has sucked up a lot of that important resource there and heed the other suggestions made by groups studying the problem.  It's a security issue that affects our national and economic security.  People talk a lot about getting us off oil so that we do not have to depend on our allies in the Middle East but we should be as selfsufficient as possible, we have already let China buy all our bonds we need to reclaim at least part of our country.  Additionally, there are great jobs in this industry — the 'green business.'  There are good, non-outsourseable jobs in this industry.  We need people to develop the technology and show people how to use it.  There are a million of options here, all were championed by Al Gore long before it was popular to do so.

I was never an Al Gore 'fan' if you will but I have read his book and watched his movie and thought they were both brilliant.  That's one of his problems.  Bill Clinton is the best politician of my time (David Brooks of the NY Times said the only campaigner who comes close is John Edwards) but he is the reason we have Dubya living in the White House.  I do not think Dubya is an idiot, regardless of how I feel about him personally, he is not a dumb man except for the way in which he has governed but that's the stuff of books not blog posts.  Bill Clinton is brilliant but he is also 'Bubba.'  He is a guy people would like to go for a beer with.  In 2000, his personality was split into two people; Al Gore was the brilliant side and George W. Bush was the fun guy.  At their heart, campaigns at every level, are popularity contests, and I have heard more than one person say "I voted for Dubya because he reminded me of Bill Clinton."  Their policies are very different but his public and privare personas are very different.  In small meetings or at small events, he can be a really nice and funny (I mean that) person.  On TV, during that election cycle, he was stiff and boring.  The Mets were in the playoffs that year and I watched the Met game one night while the debate was on  Granted I had made up my mind, NY is a D state so I did not think it would hurt anyone and a girl has to have priorities.

Now that both parties have had 100 debates each and even political junkies are not watching so all they are doing is provide the other side with footage for campaign ads, I think Mr. Gore should jump in.  Shake things up a little.  People might be pissed, they've been running for a lifetime already — who is he to join the race now?  He is the last Democract to win a presidential campaign, that's who.  He may not live at 1600 PA Ave, NW but his new, relaxed nature and the substance of his work and ideas would add some much needed fresh air to a campaign  — that has more than a year left — desperately needs. 

Is Al Gore the best candidate?  No one will know until he runs therefore I say, run Al, RUN!

 

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Veto Number Three

Stem Cell Research Veto Number Two

 

In the six and a half years that Dubya has held the position as President he has used his veto power three times.  Granted for most of his time in Washington Congress was run by Republicans and acted more like an extension of the West Wing than its own, separate branch of government (the whole point of an independent legislature is to be a check and/or balance on other branches like the executive).  Therefore, few bills crossed his desk that had not been vetted by his staff already.   Hopefully that is an exaggeration but I do not think it is very far from the truth and is scary.

 

Back on point, Dubya vetoed S5 or the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Bill of 2007 today marking the second time he has nixed a bill on this issue.  This legislation:

 

“Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 – (Sec. 2) Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct and support research that utilizes human embryonic stem cells, regardless of the date on which the stem cells were derived from a human embryo. Limits such research to stem cells that meet the following ethical requirements: (1) the stem cells were derived from human embryos donated from in vitro fertilization clinics for the purpose of fertility treatment and were in excess of the needs of the individuals seeking such treatment; (2) the embryos would never be implanted in a woman and would otherwise be discarded; and (3) such individuals donate the embryos with written informed consent and receive no financial or other inducements.

 

Directs the Secretary to: (1) issue final guidelines to carry out this Act within 60 days; and (2) submit annual reports on activities and research conducted under this Act.

 

(Sec. 3) Requires the Secretary to develop techniques for the isolation, derivation, production, or testing of stem cells that are capable of producing all or almost all of the cell types of the developing body and may result in improved understanding of treatments for diseases and other adverse health conditions, but that are not derived from a human embryo. Requires the Secretary to: (1) provide guidance concerning the next steps required for additional research; (2) prioritize research with the greatest potential for near-term clinical benefit; and (3) take into account techniques outlined by the President's Council on Bioethics and any other appropriate techniques and research.

 

Sets forth reporting requirements.

 

Authorizes appropriations.”  (From Thomas,  – a great research tool that can be accessed through the Senate and House web sites or directly http://thomas.loc.gov.  Another wonderful research source is the Congressional Research Service, aka CRS.)

 

According to the New York Times, “In August 2001, Mr. Bush announced the current rules: tax dollars could be used to study colonies, called lines, of embryonic stem cells, if the embryos themselves had already been destroyed. The bill he vetoed would have allowed research on fresh lines drawn from surplus embryos destined to be destroyed by fertility clinics.”

 

I know people feel very strongly about this issue and it is often lumped in with another controversial issue (abortion) but I just do not get how people can actually favor denying people access to research that could save or improve their lives, especially when the cells themselves are slated to be destroyed.  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a great website that gives almost all the information you could ask for about this issue and the good stem cells could do for millions of people.  I am pro-choice (no one that I know anyway, is pro-abortion or ‘pro-death’ and am probably more ‘pro-life’ than people who call themselves that because I oppose the death penalty) so it makes sense that I support this research.

 

Dubya has been walking a tough line  – for him, not me – politically because I think he knows most Americans support this research but his conservative base does not.  He has also pushed this issue to the front and center of the already underway 2008 presidential race, a move that I think helps Democrats.  I will not pretend to understand their motivation here and if past acts say anything the only phrase I can think to describe their actions is tone-deaf.  When Rush Limbaugh claimed Michael J. Fox was going off his meds intentionally to make his symptoms look worse than they were I think most Americans were disgusted, which was the only rational response to such nonsense.

 

The only good news for people waiting for this to help them is the knowledge that there is a good chance they will get their wish.  I believe it was Limbaugh who also criticized Fox by saying – and I paraphrase here – that it was stupid for Americans to think their vote for a Senator would translate into any meaningful change in because more and more these elections are being won by smaller and smaller margins.  Whoever said that was wrong and every vote matters.  My hope is that people will see that, will see that – especially when it comes to issues like stem cell research, people’s vote may actually save lives.

 

I hope anyone reading this is either registered to vote or will go take care of that right away.  You can call your local Board of Elections, DMV or go to this web site: http://www.usayfoundation.org/ (I do not know enough about it to endorse or oppose it) but election day is the one day that all of us have a say, we should not let it go.

 

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