Dobson (Surprise, Surprise) Won't Apologize For Comparing Embryonic Stem C

[JABBS]

On the Aug. 3 broadcast of the Focus on the Family radio show, James C. Dobson compared embryonic stem cell research with Nazi science experiments.

DOBSON: You know, the thing that means so much to me here on this this issue is that people talk about the potential for good that can come from destroying these little embryos and how we might be able to solve the problem of juvenile diabetes. There's no indication yet that they're gonna do that, but people say that, or spinal cord injuries or such things. But I have to ask this question: In World War II, the Nazis experimented on human beings in horrible ways in the concentration camps, and I imagine, if you wanted to take the time to read about it, there would have been some discoveries there that benefited mankind. You know, if you take a utilitarian approach, that if something results in good, then it is good. But that's obviously not true. ... I will give our critics this: For the embryos that die, there is no suffering, there is just death. So there is a great difference between the two, but morally they are tantamount to each other because they both result in experimentation on human beings that leads somewhere."

It should be pointed out that Dobson brags about how he has advised the Bush Administration ...

***

Dobson's "science" doesn't make any sense. It follows the religious right theory, supported by the president, that no taxpayer money should be used "to promote science that destroys life in order to save life."

But that's conservative spin, not science. Stem cells are extracted from embryos that would otherwise be discarded, from places such as in vitro fertilization clinics. The embryos considered were not considered candidates to be fertilized, so as far as medical science is concerned, no life is destroyed.

The embryos can be manipulated to create various human-blood and tissue cells. Stem cell lines are cell groups extracted from embryos and are capable of reproducing themselves. Advocates say that ultimately, embryonic stem cell research will lead to cures for a variety of diseases, most notably Parkinson's Disease.

***

On his Aug. 5 show, Dobson said he wouldn't apologize to the Anti-Defamation League for his comments. "And to imply that I need to apologize to the Jewish people for my comments about that is just off the wall. And I reject it categorically," he said.

But that shouldn't come as a surprise. Last October, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) made similar comments. And he never apologized.

In truth, conservatives are funny people. They pick and choose when Nazi references are offensive. They decide which Nazi references demand apologies.

Sessions didn't apologize for his comments. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) didn't apologize after he said on May 19 that Democratic complaints about the "nuclear option" to ban judicial filibusters are "the equivalent of Adolf Hitler in 1942 saying: I'm in Paris, how dare you invade me, how dare you bomb my city. It's mine."

But conservatives were up in arms when on June 14 Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) quoted from an FBI agent's report on the deplorable conditions at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba, then said: "If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime -- Pol Pot or others -- that had no concern for human beings."

***

So, don't expect Dobson to apologize. In his mind and in the minds of his followers, he did nothing wrong and he said nothing insulting.

Had he not been a conservative leader, though, the rules would have changed dramatically.

***

This article first appeared at Journalists Against Bush's B.S.

[Catch22Dem]

1. Human beings?

Experimentation with stem cells is NOT experimentation on human beings. Fucking ignoramous.

[Lars39]

2. He's not just a "conservative leader", he's leader of a hate group.

Southern Poverty Law Center officially declared Focus on the Family a hate group.
That ought to be the message being pushed about Dobson.

[Erika]

3. "These little embryos" - what blather

Emotional and without fact. They are not little people. They are cells which will never become people unless certain conditions are met.

It's embarrassing that some are so easily misled.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. The man is a total moron,with no social or moral redeeming values.

Why even bother to consider his remarks worthy of comment? He is barely 1/8 inch of dung higher than Phelps on the scale of humanity.

We give him more validity than he is worth by paying so much attention to his comments. They are not worthy of our indignation.

[JABBS]

7. why bother?

Because he claims to be an advisor to Bush. So you have to assume that if he thinks this way, he and his followers are hoping Bush thinks this way, too.

It'd be different if Dobson were someone that Bush never listened to, like, say, someone from the UN or (heaven forbid) a Democrat.

[Vickers]

5. When he beats off, does he save it and safeguard it?

:eyes:

What a stupid motherfucker.

[Lars39]

6. Like Moon and his handkerchief?

:puke:

[DemGirl7]

8. Dobson is a sub-human

I wish for once he would shut that mouth of his, and do the country a favor. We need less of these irrational assholes, and more rational people who will be willing to give them a taste of their own medicine.

[dansolo]

9. Hmmm... Destroy lives in order to save lives

Doesn't that sound remarkably similar to the justifications for preemtive wars? Too bad Dobsen isn't advising Bush about the morality of war... Oh wait, he was.