Friday, September 26, 2008

Obama's Lies: Part Four of ?

Every morning on my way to work, I get to hear a brand new chock-full-of-lies advertisement from Barack Obama. They have been getting more and more disgraceful the last few weeks, but it’s going to be hard for him to top the one from two mornings ago.

It charges that John McCain wants to ban stem cell research, and it voices the logical extension that his opposition is standing in the way of medical progress that could cure diseases if only he would get out of science’s way. But then there’s that thing called the truth: In reality, McCain is a staunch supporter of stem cell research and even voted to increase federal funding of it.

In other words, the ad’s central contention is absolutely, unambiguously, and deliberately false.

What makes the ad especially cynical is its exploitation of an anguished mother, who does all the talking because Obama believes her pleading voice will cause millions of uninformed but sensitive voters to be moved. It begins with her stating that six times a day she tests the blood sugar of her diabetic daughter, and six times a day she prays for a cure. Then she goes on to read a litany of Obama’s lies, including one that says McCain is “running on a platform even more extreme than George Bush’s on this vital research.”

But then there’s that thing called the truth: In reality, McCain voted to lift restrictions on embryonic stem cell research that went into effect during Bush’s administration.

So what exactly is McCain opposed to? He is against creating new human embryos for the specific purpose of harvesting their stem cells and then destroying them. He is not against harvesting stem cells from already existing embryos that were created at in vitro fertilization clinics and are going to be disposed of anyway. This position is moral, practical, and probably in agreement with the vast majority of Americans.

This ad's dishonesty is not the slippery shades-of-gray variety, it is the arrogantly dismissive pants-on-fire variety. If Obama is a caring agent of change, why does he operate like a crass political thug?

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