Frist Rips Edwards for 'Shameful' and 'Dishonest' Reeve Promise
Calling [Christopher] Reeve "a powerful voice for the need to do stem cell research," [John] Edwards pledged Monday, "If we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve will get up out of that wheelchair and walk again."
I'm of two minds about this. First of all, I think it's absolutely absurd for Edwards to make promises that should John Kerry get elected, he'll suddenly become like Steve Martin's character from
Leap of Faith. He's a politician, not a faith healer. I will accept that Kerry has a different opinion on stem cells and stem cell research and that there's a good possibility that such research could help people like Christopher Reeve and Ronald Reagan.
"I find it opportunistic to use the death of someone like Christopher Reeve -- I think it is shameful -- in order to mislead the American people," [Bill Frist] said, in comments first reported by CNN.
Yes, it's "shameful" that people are using the death of Christopher Reeve to promote an agenda. Personally, I think we should all honor his memory by paying tribute to him for all the good work that he did--both on-screen and off. But then again, no one thought it was "shameful" for Nancy Reagan to use the death of a popular ex-president (who had a condition that the research into stem cells could have helped, mind you) to criticize the administration for its current policies on stem cell research.
posted by Michael Hickerson at 10/13/2004 08:07:00 AM |
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