Obamateurism of the Day
posted at 8:06 am on March 26, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
At Tuesday’s press conference, Barack Obama tried offering this defense for his support for stem-cell research:
I think that the guidelines that we provided meet that ethical test. What we have said is that, for embryos that are typically — about to be discarded, for us to be able to use those in order to find cures for Parkinson’s or for Alzheimer’s or, you know, all sorts of other debilitating diseases, juvenile diabetes, that — that it is the right thing to do.
Alzheimers? Would embryonic stem cells hold promise for Alzheimer’s? Let’s ask one of the men Barack Obama has on his short list for the Office of Science and Technology, former Washington Post reporter and analyst at the liberal Center for American Progress Rick Weiss. After all, if anyone in Obama’s administration should know whether this is true, it would be someone working in Science and Technology, right?
But the infrequently voiced reality, stem cell experts confess, is that, of all the diseases that may someday be cured by embryonic stem cell treatments, Alzheimer’s is among the least likely to benefit. …
But given the lack of any serious suggestion that stem cells themselves have practical potential to treat Alzheimer’s, the Reagan-inspired tidal wave of enthusiasm stands as an example of how easily a modest line of scientific inquiry can grow in the public mind to mythological proportions.
It is a distortion that some admit is not being aggressively corrected by scientists.
“To start with, people need a fairy tale,” said Ronald D.G. McKay, a stem cell researcher at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. “Maybe that’s unfair, but they need a story line that’s relatively simple to understand.”
People need a fairy tale. Apparently, that includes our President. Since he’s using fairy tales to justify the destruction of human life, it gives a whole new meaning to Grimm’s Fairy Tales, doesn’t it? (h/t: Michael S.)
Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at obamaisms@edmorrissey.com with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.
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Ugh.
Rollie on March 26, 2009 at 8:10 AM
So Obama believe we need to kill life to find ways to make life better… Just another version of from each according to their abilities to each according to their needs…
doriangrey on March 26, 2009 at 8:12 AM
Cynical, even cruel manipulation of people’s hopes? But of course, that’s Obama, and there will be buyer’s remorse on this issue when families with Alzheimer’s realize they were conned.
Wethal on March 26, 2009 at 8:16 AM
This reminds me of the “country that invented the car” error. Science and history are not The Precedent’s strong points – well, not outside of the third world, at least. And it is amazing that he gets away with these idiotic rantings offered as arguments to push his twisted ideas. This guy would be failing out of any normal high school with idiocy like this – a real high school, not a liberal cage for teenagers. Unreal. The Audactiy of Marxist Stupidity. I would really LOVE to get a peek at this moron’s SATs.
progressoverpeace on March 26, 2009 at 8:17 AM
Well, this is interesting,by the 1:20 mark,Hopey
stumbled,stalled,and was working overtime blowing
fuses in a mad panic to gather up his thoughts!!
Or,heading up a river to go fishing,and you
accidently hit about four logs one after
another!!
canopfor on March 26, 2009 at 8:18 AM
It’s just a little bit hard to imagine anyone more needy than an unborn child.
It’s really always been: “to each according to their political connections and from each according to their lack thereof.”
logis on March 26, 2009 at 8:19 AM
BooHoo!
Stop picking on the One! You do not understand his onenistudeness. You stop it. Leave Barrcak alone!
BooHoo! (shedding crocodile tears)
skatz51 on March 26, 2009 at 8:22 AM
Meanwhile,the Lefty’s think Governor Sarah Palin isn’t
as read,or speaks better then Obama,
well,in this video,Obama stutters and stammers,trying
to grasp his thoughts,
and yet,SarahCuda could run rings around Obama at
any debate!
canopfor on March 26, 2009 at 8:23 AM
To the Marxist the unborn are a resourse to be exploited, whether as future proles or as spare parts.
doriangrey on March 26, 2009 at 8:24 AM
Facts? Thay dont need no stupid facts!! No facts for you!!
*cue the balloons and unicorns*
becki51758 on March 26, 2009 at 8:25 AM
That “man” is a total, complete idiot because he’s a liberal. He’s just plain dumb because, well, he’s just plain dumb!
SouthernGent on March 26, 2009 at 8:25 AM
I really don’t understand why the narrative on Obama is that he is so intelligent. I don’t think he is.
He doesn’t seem to be thinking or processing information so much as he is regurgitating back things that he has read or been told. That, of course, is a handy skill, but it doesn’t mean that he is deeply intelligent.
myrenovations on March 26, 2009 at 8:26 AM
This President has a very cold heart and a very large thirst for power… Combine those dynamics with his obvious hatred of America, and we have a President who will do what ever it takes to destroy the mechanics that have allowed America to be the greatest nation this planet has ever created.
Anybody who suited-up, threw the family in the car, and willingly listened to the likes of Rev Wright for 20 years, can only be described as anti-American. I never heard one sound bite coming from Wright’s church, that indicated a desire to teach religious principles.
Keemo on March 26, 2009 at 8:26 AM
tree hugging sister on March 26, 2009 at 8:28 AM
What the hell did he say? Listening to him ad-lib is like watching a tennis match.
TinMan13 on March 26, 2009 at 8:28 AM
Well hell. Bill Clinton was right.
BacaDog on March 26, 2009 at 8:29 AM
Barack Quote,
I’ve got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.
Barack Obama
canopfor on March 26, 2009 at 8:30 AM
It’s theatah
‘Line! Can I get a line?’
TinMan13 on March 26, 2009 at 8:31 AM
It is unfortunate that the opponents to embryonic stem cell research have made the mistake of concentrating on the pro-life aspects of this controversy, while ignoring the scientific aspects. The therapeutic use of embryonic stem cells has been linked to fatal tumors in lab animals.
eaglescout1998 on March 26, 2009 at 8:33 AM
rather than take out our ire on the Won, write your congressmen about the 3.6 TRILLION dollar budget. and protest. we can change Congress faster than bambi.
though i agree that bambi is the worst. on every topic & at every level.
kelley in virginia on March 26, 2009 at 8:33 AM
If he doesn’t care about a living, breathing infant dying in a Chicago linen closet, why should he bat an eye over the destruction of embryos?
We can’t have anyone “punished” with a human life, after all.
hillbillyjim on March 26, 2009 at 8:33 AM
Mark Levin’s new book:
Buy it, read it, and pass it on…
I’m 1/2 way through, fabulous read and very well researched. Every American should read this book regardless of one’s personal ideology. Liberals would understand Conservatism if they read this book; they would also understand history a lot better than they currently do. Every teacher in this country should have to read this book in order to maintain their teaching credentials. This could fall under the category of continued education.
Keemo on March 26, 2009 at 8:34 AM
Dude, you beat me to it.
hillbillyjim on March 26, 2009 at 8:35 AM
Proteins Linked To Stem Cells Could Lead To Alzheimer’s Treatment
sesquipedalian on March 26, 2009 at 8:35 AM
If they can get stem cells from umbilical cords, why dont they use them?
becki51758 on March 26, 2009 at 8:37 AM
I have been saying this about Barry for two years. Any man that subjected his own children to the filth in that church is unfit to hold ANY office in the US government.
That he received a pass for his racist churh from both the MSM and John McLame sickens me.
DeweyWins on March 26, 2009 at 8:38 AM
sesquipedalian on March 26, 2009 at 8:35 AM
Itchee Dryback on March 26, 2009 at 8:42 AM
Why do the White House reporters all have that deer-in-the-headlights look? Are they all embarrassed to be there, knowing that they are merely props to support the Skinny Ego? Maybe they’re worried about their jobs. Maybe they know we’ve elected a Moron-in-Chief and they’re sworn to secrecy.
EMD on March 26, 2009 at 8:45 AM
Personally I think Barrack Obama’s entire political philosophy is based on a fairytale.
Dreadnought223 on March 26, 2009 at 8:46 AM
Dude,you beat me to it.
hillbillyjim on Mar 26,2009 at 8:35AM.
hillbillyjim:
Tee Hee! Was this Teleprompter free,or was Obama winging it
freestyle!
And,this is the best video of evidence,that takes
the`ART` out of ARTICULATION,because Obama took
about 10 seconds to get his thoughts going,one
after another on the questions being asked!!
canopfor on March 26, 2009 at 8:46 AM
if only stem cells cured liberalism
blatantblue on March 26, 2009 at 8:47 AM
Nope… Their scared to death they might accidently slip up and ask “The One” a difficult question and have a fatal accident on the way home afterwards.
doriangrey on March 26, 2009 at 8:47 AM
An article about Adult brain stem cells. Not one mention about embryonic stem cells.
geckomon on March 26, 2009 at 8:47 AM
I don’t know if embryonic stem cells hold promise for Alzheimer’s, but those kids with Down syndrome that he insulted with his Special Olympics joke do.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5151232.stm
Candy Slice on March 26, 2009 at 8:48 AM
Late-term abortion
Legal euthanasia
Human embryo destruction
Population suppression as global warming strategy
Promulgation of erotic behavior incapable of producing life
Advocacy for condemned murderers
You’d almost get the impression that the left is not fond enough of human beings to make any provision for their continued existence.
maladapted on March 26, 2009 at 8:48 AM
Along the same line of reasoning; Lotto Tickets Sold at 7-11 Could Make You Rich.
thomasaur on March 26, 2009 at 8:49 AM
DeweyWins on March 26, 2009 at 8:38 AM
Amen comrade…
Keemo on March 26, 2009 at 8:52 AM
“Change” is the big fairy tale.
abinitioadinfinitum on March 26, 2009 at 8:54 AM
Can we suspect that in Obama’s world, (according to Wright), Jesus was also a fairy tale only used in passing with respect to human life? So far, I see only a died in the wool liberal with Obama’s actions with regard to abortion, EsCR, and other social policies that pander to the left’s ideology—-hardly what I would call “Christain-like” according to the gospel of Christ.
Rovin on March 26, 2009 at 8:59 AM
Wow, all the questions that are too hard for anybody else to answer wind up on HIS desk? Can you say NARCISSIST? When will he decide what the meaning of life is?
ctmom on March 26, 2009 at 9:00 AM
The fact that The Precedent showed everyone how stupid he is with his classic “profit AND earnings ratio” (using “AND” to describe the two factors of a ratio, incorrect as he also was in identifying those factors, demonstrating that his mathmematical understanding ends around the 7th grade level, if that) and yet he still has the temerity to act as if he understands anything about science, at all. IT would be enough to keep people laughing their heads off, except that this retard holds the levers of Executive power. Unreal. The Precedent has to go, and he has to go soon. I hope the SCOTUS gets their act together. I pray for it.
progressoverpeace on March 26, 2009 at 9:01 AM
Rovin on March 26, 2009 at 8:59 AM
Amen brother. This guy has turned out to be exactly what we were describing several months ago. It really wasn’t that hard to predict, when using the application of “influences” the man chose to mold his character with.
The rest of the nation is very slow to learn.
Keemo on March 26, 2009 at 9:05 AM
Is this an Obamateurism? It’s just a lie, which admittedly, is all he says, but an Obamateurism implies the other thing he is best at, stuttering and being a moron.
amkun on March 26, 2009 at 9:13 AM
This man does NOT struggle with morality or ethics on any issue, as he has no morality and he has no ethics.
He, and only he can solve all of the heavy issues of the world.
maryo on March 26, 2009 at 9:15 AM
Uh, did you, uh, listen to the, uh, video?
hillbillyjim on March 26, 2009 at 9:16 AM
I think it’s also based on his “Daddy issues” and from the one quote I’ve seen from his father, about how tax rates could be 100% and outputs would not change, all I can say is that his father was an idiot.
venividivici on March 26, 2009 at 9:18 AM
You must give up your right to life for the good of the many:
First they come for the unborn
Then they come for the elderly
Then they come for the disabled
How is this different from Nazi Germany in its early stages?
MochaLite on March 26, 2009 at 9:23 AM
Let’s knock off one of the others on Obama’s list — juvenile diabetes:
We have an autologous (non-embryonic stem cell) cure in the works NOW.
As for the embryonic version?
No mention of a cure for juvenile diabetes (although the pro-embryonic stem cell group Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is “hopeful” even as they discount on the pages autologous procedures. In the above article, the guy is taking anti-rejection drugs to counter his body’s desire to reject the pancreatic stem cells from another person — the process which would be the last stage of any embryonic stem cell cure, since the science is that embryonic stem cells come from another human being, regardless of what proponents might wish:
Hmm…
unclesmrgol on March 26, 2009 at 9:38 AM
And when you combine it with the media (Limbaugh) attack, the attempt to take over the finance, insurance, auto, medical and pharmaceutical industries, the proposed forced adolescent volunteerism…
Not different at all.
whitetop on March 26, 2009 at 9:40 AM
Hehe, you’re right. But I have to amend my comment, because if an Obamateurism is based on Obama just stuttering, then everything he says is clearly fair-game :P
amkun on March 26, 2009 at 9:43 AM
embryonic stem cells could be engineered to emulate certain genetic defects that are known to lead to alzheimer’s. using these models, we could learn about how the disease develops, and screen possible compounds that might lead to a cure.
there’s no scientific consensus about the usefulness of ES cells to treat alzheimer’s, but that doesn’t mean that it’s amateurish to say that there’s a possibility. you don’t have to be a liberal to see that.
along the same line of reasoning, why not stop cancer research?
sesquipedalian on March 26, 2009 at 9:44 AM
Obama loves his fairy tales. He had his SOS Clinton out repeating another one yesterday: that the guns used by Mexican drug gangs are coming from the U.S. (it’s been shown that they’re actually coming from South American militaries and from overseas).
Obama knows if you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes (accepted as) the truth.
AZCoyote on March 26, 2009 at 9:57 AM
Let’s take a shot at the other disease Obama mentioned — Parkinson’s:
An autologous (non embryonic) cure in the works.
Another.
Another:
Hmm.
And some potentially sad news::
[This indicates that any cure may only be temporary/palliative.]
As for embryonic methods? From Israel in 2004. As for the upbeat profile in the Israeli research, I’m wondering if they eventually got the message British researchers got in 2005:
There’s been no further news from the embryo people on this.
Hmm….
unclesmrgol on March 26, 2009 at 9:57 AM
Ed, thank you for putting this up. It’s so important to continually point out the evil this man perpetuates, even as he lies about it.
This raises the obvious observation that he feels that it’s necessary to lie about it. He knows that telling the truth would not further his agenda.
INC on March 26, 2009 at 10:03 AM
Yes, I should have referenced your comment in mine.
INC on March 26, 2009 at 10:04 AM
The OS for this POTUS’s brain is Windows XP. Somebody keeps hacking it with worms and viruses.
Yoop on March 26, 2009 at 10:05 AM
Yeah, a fairy tale, aka “Hope.”
misslizzi on March 26, 2009 at 10:06 AM
I view this as a philosophical foundation, not a mistake.
If you believe an embryo is a life, killing it is wrong even if it could benefit someone else. If the morality of ESCR is based on “does it work?,” there is always the argument that it didn’t work “this time,” but we need to try again, use different methods, etc. and “maybe” it’ll work next time.
I see the fact that ESCR hasn’t produced good results as the strongest secondary argument against it. Drive home the message that we are stopping the biological processes of embryos, many view them as human life, and it doesn’t even work.
I think that’s the proper tack.
cs89 on March 26, 2009 at 10:08 AM
Everything’s a possibility. Big whoop. This is a matter of ticking off a huge percentage of America in order to gain little, if anything.
You have to be liberal to use that as an argument. Thanks for playing.
Er … (to make you feel at home, as if your stuttering messiah were speaking) … uh … no one has stopped Embryonic Stem Cell research, genius. This is a question of federal funding. Cancer research does not tick off a large percentage of the populace. To shove embryonic stem cells down everyone’s throat, forcing federal funding of it, is stupid and nasty. Typical of liberal policies, though.
And the guy leading the charge for you to force people to fund embryonic stem cell research is a retard who doesn’t have two brain cells to rub together, himself. LOL. We’d be better off just stuffing embryonic stem cells into The Precedent’s ears, hoping they take root as brain cells in his empty head.
progressoverpeace on March 26, 2009 at 10:08 AM
One justification for ESC research is that the embryos used are left over from IVF procedures and going to be destroyed any, so why not put them to good use and find cures to… you name it.
OK, suspose it works and cures are found. Where will the embryos come from when the the processes are scaled up and put into mass production? Will they start paying people to produce the raw materials needed for the production process?
Welcome to the slippery slope.
BillyRuffn on March 26, 2009 at 10:08 AM
Cancer research have shown results. E/S research is legal, while I find it wrong, I just don’t think taxpayers should foot the bill.
thomasaur on March 26, 2009 at 10:09 AM
Well that is not emotive at all.
/sarc
Ares on March 26, 2009 at 10:19 AM
Seriously, why should anyone be surprised that a product of affirmative action would lack knowledge in matters concerning science, history, geography, economics and mathematics?
Apparently he’s too busy posing in front of a camera to even brush up on this stuff before he speaks.
Barb Dwyer on March 26, 2009 at 10:24 AM
Fairy tale? His whole fucking administration is one big FAIRY TALE! So much for the guy who doesn’t say anything “until I know what I’m talking about”.
GarandFan on March 26, 2009 at 10:32 AM
I suppose next he’ll suggest that we will be able to raise Christopher Reeves from the dead.
mankai on March 26, 2009 at 10:32 AM
John Edwards didn’t already do that?
Talk about dead, see “John Edwards – Political Career”.
At least he’ll always have that 27,000 square foot mansion. Pity that the servant of the poor couldn’t have made more of an impact.
NoDonkey on March 26, 2009 at 10:41 AM
The teleprompter does better with answers
seven on March 26, 2009 at 10:56 AM
I don’t think that is really the base reason. As near as I can tell, it is actually the idea (fear?) that pregnancy and childbirth are the ultimate victimization of women, the equivalent of rape. The rest amounts to overcompensation, and walls-around-walls.
Count to 10 on March 26, 2009 at 11:04 AM
There you go!
petunia on March 26, 2009 at 11:16 AM
I believe when Bill Clinton pointed out that truth in the Primary–that point of view was deemed racist.
You better watch what you say the gestapo is reading this.
petunia on March 26, 2009 at 11:19 AM
Why is everyone so upset? Bill Clinton recently clarified that these embryos wouldn’t ever possibly be fertilized, or they wouldn’t be used for this…
This isn’t the fairy tale, an “embryo” (i.e. fertilized egg) that is also unfertilized and never to be fertilized is more of a “fairy tale” isn’t it?
gekkobear on March 26, 2009 at 11:26 AM
What ethical test? Why would embryos “typically” be “about to be discarded”? Why would anyone “discard” a human embryo?
So, in Obama’s ethics, a laboratory or sperm-and-egg bank could deliberately create human embryos by IVF, write some bogus memo that, “oh, gee whiz, nobody wanted those embryos, we were going to discard them”, and that satisfies the Obama test for destroying them for stem cells.
In other words, calling a human embryo garbage gives a lab the right to kill it for stem cells, that never cured a single patient of a single disease.
When do we get to discard Obama?
Steve Z on March 26, 2009 at 11:49 AM
Obama is the fairy tale.
Built on mincing unicorns of HOPE and prancing pixies of CHANGE.
Where human embryos are just a “storyline” to exploit for power.
Except this Frogbama is secretly the Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers, so we’re left stuck in his steaming socialistic swamp.
profitsbeard on March 26, 2009 at 11:52 AM
And the Oscar goes to…
It just continues to show that Obama’s knowledge on issues outside of his socialist ideas & ACORN training is very limited. But those of us who have really been watching and listening already knew that. It was the people who confused his theatrical skills in reciting speeches with his supposed talents as a great orator (he can’t even make it through an interview on a serious topic without giggling – thank you CBS for not editing this out). And because he is such an intellectual light-weight, he has surrounded himself with people willing to use him to further their agendas.
My Hope is that the MSM and public at large will Change their minds now that they are seeing the ‘real’ Obama.
gobblemom on March 26, 2009 at 11:58 AM
FIFY
I’ve been running XP for at least 5 years but I at least keep it protected and with all free stuff. Never spent a dime on protection software and it works great. I like my Ubuntu and Puppy Linux, too.
Kind of like how it is simple to protect your kids brains against liberalism. It’s called being a parent. Browser Helper Object’s gramma? EPIC FAIL for letting him associate with those brainwashers.
TASS71 on March 26, 2009 at 12:39 PM
I suggest we remove non critical organs from death row inmates before execution. At least corneas, one kidney, half a liver. a few arteries.
They could be taken right from surgery to execution, by changing the IV
It would benefit desperately ill people
During WWII, according to a NYT aricle I read many years ago, the Japanese had an infamous barrack where they experimented on living POWs. They operated on men without anesthesia to measure the bodily reactions. This is quite valid experimentation that could lead to breakthoughs for emergency triage during natural disasters. They also put people into sealed chambers and removed the air to observe how they died as air pressure dropped and the eyeballs popped out etc. Again, useful information that could be used to save lives, courtesy of folk who were going to be discarded anyway
There is so much we could do to help others
disclaimer: the above is the opposite of my cherished beliefs
entagor on March 26, 2009 at 12:53 PM
you obviously never heard of fertilization clinics.
sesquipedalian on March 26, 2009 at 1:21 PM
Without lies this administratin would have nothing to say. This might better be called the lie of the day, except that he’s said many more lies today than that one.
Christian Conservative on March 26, 2009 at 1:49 PM
Plus, the Executive Order he signed has no ethical guidelines in it whatsoever, so that was pretty much a lie.
Evilwhiteguy on March 26, 2009 at 2:07 PM
Obama is pretty much a lie.
darktood on March 26, 2009 at 2:31 PM
My Hope is that the MSM and public at large will Change their minds now that they are seeing the ‘real’ Obama.
gobblemom
Get your disappointment over with now, gobblemom (I’d really love to know the origin of that moniker). If the public at large were paying any attention we wouldn’t be saddled with this lying crapweasel to begin with. We have to hope they are at least paying attention to the sucking chest wounds inflicted on their savings and retirement plans. People do respond when you hit them in the pocketbook, and nobody has ever bitch-slapped our pocketbooks like Ogabe and his step-n-fetchit at Treasury.
SKYFOX on March 27, 2009 at 4:43 AM