We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane.

Music on the first day, death on the second. This entry was inspired by a Daily Show segment in which President Bush’s comments on stem cell research were juxtaposed with his seemingly dismissive comments about civilian casualties in Iraq, the clip can be viewed below.



I will first echo the segments consternation with President Bush over the moral hypocrisy of his statements. When asked how many Iraqi civilians have been killed in the war Bush responded, “I would say 30,000, more or less, have died as a result of the initial incursion and the ongoing violence against Iraqis.”* This seeming indifference and lack of respect flies directly in the face of early comments in which he has said, “I also believe human life is a sacred gift from our Creator. I worry about a culture that devalues life, and believe as your President I have an important obligation to foster and encourage respect for life in America and throughout the world."* The difference is that this statement is in regard to stem cell research, clearly for Mr. Bush there is a difference in worth between an undeveloped American and a Iraqi civilian.
Mr. Stewart did not touch upon another hypocrisy I believe President Bush, as well as a great deal of conservatives and liberals alike share in, namely the death penalty. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said President Bush "strongly supports" the death penalty because "ultimately it helps save innocent lives". Speaking to reporters in Washington, Mr. McClellan said, "When it's administered fairly and swiftly and surely, it serves as a deterrent."*

This is troubling on two fronts, the first of which is Bush’s own comments on the sacredness of human life. This life that we have, the only one we will ever have is sacred and the death penalty is the destruction of life. This cannot be rectified with President Bush’s supposed religious beliefs. Secondly, reports have been published again and again showing that the death penalty does not serve as a deterrent. A September 2000 New York Times survey found that during the last 20 years, the homicide rate in states with the death penalty has been 48 to 101 percent higher than in states without the death penalty. FBI data showed that 10 of the 12 states without capital punishment have homicide rates below the national average.*



Researchers did a comparison of murder rates and rates of sub-types of murder in Oklahoma between 1989 and 1991, and found a significant increase in murders, both felony and non-felony, after Oklahoma resumed executions after a 25-year moratorium.* Another saddening fact is that, according the American Civil Liberties Union, almost all people on death row could not afford to hire an attorney.* The quality of legal representation is a better predictor of whether or not someone will be sentenced to death than the facts of the crime.

In the end I feel that to dismiss embryonic stem cell research based on an opposition to a life for a life argument seems to minimize the momentous opportunity we have to alleviate incurable diseases, while turning a blind eye to other aspects of our government in which such life is discounted.