Berkshire Eagle Column 5-2-04
Berkshire Eagle
I, Publius

Foregone conclusions
By Alan Chartock

Saturday, May 01, 2004 - Here are some no-brainers:

We know that stem cell research will save lives. This research promises the possibility of help for those who have suffered spinal cord injuries or who are living with cancer, heart disease, Parkinson's disease, MS and a host of other illnesses too numerous to name. Polling data overwhelmingly demonstrates that Americans want to proceed with this important research. They want longer and more productive lives. They want their children to have better lives.
The problem is that the president of the United States needs to preserve his conservative, right-wing fundamentalist political base. Thus, his administration has offered up a very limited line of stem cells that may be used to pursue this research.

Long ago, there were religious institutions that opposed opening up the human body for any reason or that saw as heretical the views of astronomers who believed that the planets revolved around the sun. The descendants of some of these same folks are now standing in the way of American stem cell research.

This research is being done all over the world, and our own medical institutions, arguably the best in the world, are falling behind. Soon, those with money will be traveling abroad to Israel and to other countries where the research is being done to take advantage of medical care that they should have had in the United States.

Can you imagine how far behind this will put this country and the damage it will do to our institutions of higher medical learning? George Bush ought to be ashamed of himself.

Even his conservative Republican backers are split on the issue. Major Republican senators think he's wrong and have stated their opinions publicly. Were I running the Kerry election campaign, I would certainly make a commercial out of this one. If your religious beliefs preclude you from taking advantage of progress brought on by stem cell research, then just don't have the procedure done, but don't prevent other lives from being saved to satisfy your religious agenda. The idea of your cutting my child's life short to honor your religion is a little too much for me to bear.


We ought to be opening up relations with Cuba. Refusing to do so is patently absurd. Our country does business with some of the world's worst creeps. We are now opening up relations with Libya, of all places. We do business with the Saudis, who are known to chop off the heads of princesses for consorting with commoners. Are we so scared of communism and of the middle-class Cuban-Americans who will vote to keep Castro on the most wanted list that we can't open up relations with a country that is certainly no worse than Khadaffi's Libya?
Americans want to go to Cuba, they want the freedom to travel there and to invest in the country. George Bush, the man who would deny Americans the right to abortions and stem cell research to preserve his questionable electoral incumbency, also would sacrifice a relationship with the Cubans to get back into the White House. The last time my wife, Roselle, was in Cuba, the American Bar Association was there at the same time. Hey, something doesn't compute.


We have to get out of Iraq. Our kids are getting killed, and we are making enemies not only of the Islamic world, but also of the world's other democracies. I respect the Bush administration's position that we should restore democracy, but what does that mean? We all know that if you have flat-out elections with no constitutional provisions for minority representation, the majority Shiites will win the election. Iraq will then turn into an Iranian-style theocracy.
The concept of the United States turning over the government to a group basically appointed by the United States is deeply flawed. All we have succeeded in doing is creating the ingredients for a rise in Iraqi nationalism and opposition to American occupation similar to what we saw in Vietnam. It was once inconceivable that we would force the Shiites and the Sunnis to unite in a common bond forged by the American presence in Iraq. Sooner or later, we are going to have to figure out a way to get out and stay out.


The final no-brainer is the selection of David Capeless for Berkshire County district attorney. Capeless did an admirable job backing up the late Gerry Downing, who did a very good job as DA. Although Capeless won't say it, he and Gerry were very good partners, and it makes great sense to continue Capeless in the job. He's earned it. It's a no-brainer.


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Alan Chartock, a Great Barrington resident, is chairman and executive director of WAMC Northeast Public Radio and a professor of communications at SUNY-Albany. His web site is www.alanchartock.com

- posted by Alan @ 5/02/2004 06:55:00 AM