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?

Rick Weiss, 2004:

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 [email protected] 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.

Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!