Praise Be to Kerry/Edwards!

[Guest MikeSC]

John Edwards has been quoted as saying --- and this is verbatim --- "When John Kerry is elected President, people like Christopher Reeve will walk."

 

Lovely. Apparently, Kerry is, in fact, Jesus.

-=Mike

[2GOLD 0]

Odds are the quote came before Reeves died, or Reeves will be the honorary image for a new foundation designed to use government funds to further pursue stem cell research.

 

I see nothing wrong with what Edwards said.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Well, if Edwards wants Reeve to walk again he better learn some Necromancy spells or something.

 

I wonder if John is channeling Chris from the grave?...

[Guest MikeSC]

Odds are the quote came before Reeves died, or Reeves will be the honorary image for a new foundation designed to use government funds to further pursue stem cell research.

 

I see nothing wrong with what Edwards said.

I assumed it was from before Reeve's death, too.

 

As to the problem --- there is not a doctor on Earth who claims that stem cell research can cure paralysis. To claim that, at the bare minimum, is insanely poorly thought out.

 

To claim that the election of Kerry will lead to the curing of paralysis is no better than the rantings of a faith healer.

 

Then again, Edwards is about as bad as one of them anyway.

-=Mike

[Guest Cerebus]

I check out Drudge too Mike, but any other sources?

[2GOLD 0]

Actually, the more I think about it we are still at least a decade away from finding out if stem cells can cure paralysis or not. I support the research but even I am not 100% sure it will cure all disease since there hasn't been enough study. It may help us move forward but I doubt it's the miracle cure it's being made out to be.

 

So yeah, it actually was extremely stupid thing to say.

 

I swear, Edwards is becoming the Democratic version of Dan Quayle.

[Guest MikeSC]

I check out Drudge too Mike, but any other sources?

I actually first heard about on the radio news this morning.

-=Mike

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Here's what the guy from junkscience.com had to say about stem cell research:

 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,125873,00.html

[2GOLD 0]

Stem Cell research is hope. That's it.

 

We have next to nothing in terms of what it really can and can't do. And speculation is used to get funding, which should be basic human knowledge since anyone who has ever applied for a grant knows you BETTER be able to tell a lie that might be possible.

 

Right now, AIDS, CANCER, and PARALYSIS are the grant funding buzz words. It'll be great to cure them but we don't have 100% proof that this will work at all.

 

I support Stem Cell research but I'm not blinded by it. It's possible we could be decades away from making it pratical or finding out if it does anything and even the government can't say without a shadow of a doubt they won't rip away funding year after year. Neither party can truly say that.

 

No matter, Edwards saying that was really really stupid.

[Styles 0]

So if Kerry and Mini Me get elected, when they're up for re-election can the Republicans use Edwards' words as a broken campaign promise, if in fact cripples DON'T walk again in the next 4 years?

 

I guess, you can call it a false claim anyway, on the account of Reeves being dead and all, but we've covered that.

 

Maybe, Kerry could promise to bring back the dead, and run with John Edwards. No, the other John Edwards:

 

[2GOLD 0]

Maybe Kerry and Edwards have tied Reeves body up with strings and will have him walk around the stage like a puppet at the inauguration?

 

"He will make you believe, a dead man can walk"

 

And yes, I know I am going to hell for all of that. Just stating the possible obvious.

[snuffbox 0]

If true...stupid fucking statement.

[Downhome 0]

If true...stupid fucking statement.

There is no "if true" to it, it IS true, and it was said last night I do believe...AFTER Christopher Reeve had died. I heard it on the radio news earlier today, I heard the actual audio of Edwards saying it, and it sickened me to the core. I mean, I know I heard it but I still can't believe he said such a thing.

[Guest whitemilesdavis]

It was said before his death. Reeve thought stem cell research could make him able to walk. Do an internet search for Christopher Reeve and Stem cell research, and you'll see hundreds of articles about his hope in the science. A bit overzealous? Yes, but only as stupid as Reeve himself.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

I enjoyed the South Park with Reeve/stem cell research. That summed up a lot of people's attitudes towards it quite well.

[NYU 0]

If true...stupid fucking statement.

There is no "if true" to it, it IS true, and it was said last night I do believe...AFTER Christopher Reeve had died. I heard it on the radio news earlier today, I heard the actual audio of Edwards saying it, and it sickened me to the core. I mean, I know I heard it but I still can't believe he said such a thing.

Tad melodramatic, are we?

 

Personally, I don't see why this quote got its own topic. Especially after the stuff that has flown out of Bush's mouth over the past four years. But then again, I guess that's why I'm not Mike.

 

Now, it just seems to me that this quote has been taken out of context. This comment from Edwards deals moreso with the entire concept of stem cell research, rather than exploiting the death of Christopher Reeves. Under Kerry's administration, there will be research in the field of stem cells. This research COULD do a fair amount in helping those who are paralyzed, giving them an improved life that they may not have had otherwise. Yes, they might not have the ability to walk - but any progress in their paralysis would be good progress. Under the Bush administration, there is no hope in the field of stem cells because there just is no research being allowed.

 

This was all John Edwards was saying with his quote. If he did use the exact term "Christopher Reeves would be able to walk," then sure, that's probably incredibly unrealistic. But I think it's easy to understand the main gist of his speech was that Christopher Reeves' life COULD have been improved under the Kerry administration because stem cell research COULD have helped. It's not a guarantee, but it certainly is a possibility.

 

The message here is not all that difficult to understand, kids.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

You make terrible excuses just so you know.

[NYU 0]

This isn't an excuse. This is common sense.

 

The Conservative outrage is completely unwarranted here. It would just be much easier and more sensical if everyone found something else to be terribly offended about.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

No, it's you trying to downplay a completely stupid fucking thing one of your guys said.

 

You can't take something out of context when he fucking said it. Had he thrown a "help" in there yeah it would be overreacting but he didn't.

[bob_barron 0]

Now, it just seems to me that this quote has been taken out of context. This comment from Edwards deals moreso with the entire concept of stem cell research, rather than exploiting the death of Christopher Reeves. Under Kerry's administration, there will be research in the field of stem cells. This research COULD do a fair amount in helping those who are paralyzed, giving them an improved life that they may not have had otherwise. Yes, they might not have the ability to walk - but any progress in their paralysis would be good progress. Under the Bush administration, there is no hope in the field of stem cells because there just is no research being allowed.

 

It's Reeve btw. The quote wasn't taken out of context- that's the whole point of the controversy.

 

We don't know what stem cell research could do and for Edwards to say that is incredibly stupid and makes him look even more like an idiot.

[Downhome 0]

A bit overzealous? Yes, but only as stupid as Reeve himself.

*sigh*

 

I heard the AUDIO this morning where John Edwards himself said it. Before the quote that is included in this thread, he was talking about how sorry he was that we had lost Christopher Reeve, talked about him being so important to the nation in life, etc..., blah blah blah, and was obviously trying to get people to look at Bush as the big bad monster who allowed Reeve to die without ever walkling again. After all of that trash, he THEN went on to say this "When John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk. Get up out of that wheelchair and walk again."

 

The date was 10/11/04.

 

So you tell me. Is 10/11/04 before or after 10/10/04.

 

The answer is that it's after.

 

 

EDIT:

 

This happened at Newton High School in Newton, Iowa from what I've been able to find.

[Styles 0]

So I guess we can put this one up there with the "I'm sure you love your gay daughter" comment to Dick Cheney on the ever growing list of patronizingly brazen and obnoxious trial lawyer quotes made by John Edwards during this campaign.

[bob_barron 0]

This isn't an excuse. This is common sense.

 

The Conservative outrage is completely unwarranted here. It would just be much easier and more sensical if everyone found something else to be terribly offended about.

I don't think anyone but DH is truly outraged.

 

But you can't deny that it's a very stupid thing for Edwards to say and shows his weakness as a Veep candidate.

[Downhome 0]

I don't think anyone but DH is truly outraged.

I am only outraged because by him saying something like that, it really makes light of the entire concept. Not to mention that I'm willing to bet that there are some morons out there that will hear such a thing, and accept it as fact.

 

Yes, I'm sure there are people out there like that.

 

Not to mention that it possibly gives false hope to these people, and that right there is enought to piss me off.

[teke184 0]

It was an incredibly fucking stupid thing to say because:

 

1. Stem cells haven't yet proven that they could do anything that has been claimed, such as repairing spinal cord damage *in humans*. (Giving enough saccharin to lab rats produced cancer in them... however, no one has ever reported a case in which it was reproduced in humans.)

 

2. Even if we poured the entire GNP of the United States into stem cell research, we probably wouldn't see any practical applications within 4 years if only due to FDA restrictions.

 

 

All it does is make Edwards look like an idiot who's exploiting Reeve's death for political capital. Not that Reeve's family would mind it if it DID mean stem cell research went forward, but there's no guarantee that it would ever get done if the two Johns get elected.

 

(The Dems don't control the House or Senate now and probably won't come Inauguration Day. If the Johns are in the White House, they'd need the entire set of Dems in the House and Senate along with some left-leaning Republicans to pass anything.)

[Special K 0]

Hey.

 

 

 

 

It ain't braggin' if it true.

[Swift Terror 0]

This comment from Edwards deals moreso with the entire concept of stem cell research, rather than exploiting the death of Christopher Reeves. Under Kerry's administration, there will be research in the field of stem cells. This research COULD do a fair amount in helping those who are paralyzed, giving them an improved life that they may not have had otherwise. Yes, they might not have the ability to walk - but any progress in their paralysis would be good progress. Under the Bush administration, there is no hope in the field of stem cells because there just is no research being allowed.

 

 

And the lies keep a comin'

 

 

 

Bush is the first president in history to allow federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. He has put limits on it, however. This was a compromise that was reached because he is against the destruction of embryonic life. Some may not consider the embryos as life, he does. He was urged to disallow federal funding altogether.

 

Private research of embryonic stem cells has been left completely alone by Bush. There are no limits whatsoever. Any individual or company is free to research to their heart's content.

 

Of course, adult stem cells are being researched with federal funds.

 

Your statement is hopelessly ignorant.

 

I can only surmise that you have spent time in graduate school.

[NYU 0]

But you can't deny that it's a very stupid thing for Edwards to say and shows his weakness as a Veep candidate.

I'm not going to say it wasn't a partially stupid thing to say. The effectiveness of stem cells has not been proven yet, and the assumption that it would have automatically improved Reeve's condition is probably unfairly jumping the gun.

 

With that being said, I don't really agree with the fact that Edwards was trying to exploit Reeve's death - Reeve has come out in recent months for Kerry/Edwards on this very issue - and if Reeve's family don't find the comment to be offensive, I don't really see why anyone else should have a problem.

 

I also don't think that this one comment shows weaknesses Edwards has a Veep candidate. As we've noted time and time again, Bush has had quite a few flubs and insensitive remarks in his speeches and debates. Conservatives certainly don't think this highlights his weaknesses as the President, and shouldn't be reelected again as a result. Why does Edwards have a different standard to hold onto?

 

Again, was this comment a dumb thing to say? Maybe. Does it deserve its own topic, followed by numerous posts talking about how horrible John's statement was and how it proves just how stupid and sleazy he is as a human being? I really don't think so.

[snuffbox 0]

I honestly dont think this will hurt the Kerry campaign too much but, damn, what a stupid statement to make...

 

As a Kerry campaign worker, this is frustrating news.

[snuffbox 0]

Christ, and now Drudge has added that Edwards said ''We will stop juvenile diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other debilitating diseases'...

 

I didnt see that earlier.

 

I want to actually hear this speech...