The Talent/McCaskill election has yielded a powerful commercial:
It is, by any standards, a powerful commercial. The vision of Michael J. Fox (Alex, to many of us my age), obviously suffering from Parkinson’s, is one that certainly does pull on the emotional strings. I generally worry about emotional appeals- I still think the Democrats using Cindy Sheehan was cynical, and I was definitely opposed to John Edwards overstating what could bedone with stem cell research (“If we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk, get up out of that wheelchair and walk again.” ).
But while those other commercials featured the type of demagoguery I found objectionable, I find no problems with the commercial you just watched- there are no false promises, there are no lies, there are no distortions. Michael J. Fox isn’t saying that a vote for the Democrats is a vote for a cure, he is stating that a vote for the Democrats is a vote for research in the area, and given the GOP’s fealty to the religious right and hatred of science, I don’t see how that can be argued.
Voting for the GOP is a vote for the status quo. Voting for the GOP is a vote to keep the same stem-cell stance. Voting for the GOP is to voting to limit the hope of stem cell research breakthroughs (which not assured, are far more likely if the research is conducted than if itis not). That can’t be argued, particularly if you recognize the GOP has been taking the religious right for a ride (more accurately, riding the religious right to electoral victory). I would be willing to bet that most of the politicians who voted against stem-cell research probably have no problem with it (just like they have no real problem with homosexuals), but they do have a problem saying no to their base.
Is it a powerful ad? Yes, but part of the reason it is powerful is because it is true. A vote for the gop is a vote to limit stem-cell research so that a minority of the populaton can advance their proxy war against abortion. There is no promise that stem cell research will lead to cures, but I can promise you that not researching stem cells will produce no advancements in the area. Your call.
Proud Liberal
I agree with you John, I think it is a powerful ad. I think one of the undercurrents hurting the Republicans is that they have become the party against science. Their positions on evolution, global warming and stem cells just doesn’t sit very well even with staunch conservatives. And this ad reminds us that these positions have very real consequences for very real people.
I am getting more optimistic that this mid-term election will serve as a repudiation of everything that I loathe in the current Republican party. Time is getting short for the GOP to turn things around and I don’t think the are going to do it. I just heard that Bush plans to talk about the economy for the next two days. That ain’t going to do it. These guys are so out of touch that they think because of the GDP and stock market that the economy is good, but poll after poll says that that is not the perception of the electorate. I don’t see this helping them one iota but what else do they have?
Not much apparently and guess what? America notices.
demimondian
John, I want to quibble with your use of the term “addled”. One of the terrible things about Parkinson’s Disease is that its victims go open-eyed into the dark. The spastic chorea that Fox exhibits is a side effect of the drugs which mitigate its motor effects.
Thomas
Does McCaskill have the guts to run this ad in, say, Springfield, Missouri? Want to guess? It’s a powerful ad that McCaskill won’t dare show outside of St. Louis.
John, how is it that the “religious right” is simultaneously getting taken for a ride and getting the policy they want?
Rudi
Anybody have a link with the ad not at Youtube? My old PC running Win98 doesn’t like YT. A site with the ad using Realplayer or WinMedia would be great.
Pb
Ask David Kuo, he’ll tell you, he thought he was supporting someone who cared about the poor, and was going to do something (positive) about it. They were lied to up front, promised the world, and it didn’t pan out. Then again, Bush lied to me too, many times, but the big difference is, I didn’t vote for him because of it, and I didn’t support him for it.
The Other Steve
The Republican position against science is just flat out wrong, it doesn’t matter who you are.
Paul L.
There seems to be a word missing from this post.
Embryonic.
A vote for the gop is a vote to limit embryonic stem-cell research.
I guess this story is unwelcome.
Stem cells might cause brain tumors, study finds
More at
Michael J Fox fighting for bad science
DougJ
I’ve heard that, that stem cells may cause brain tumors. But I’ve got a different take on that — if they cause brain tumors, then we should be destroying more fetuses, not less.
Better to fight the stem cells in the laboratories of our fertitiliy clinics than in the tumors in our brains.
DougJ
Does McCaskill have the guts to run this ad in, say, Springfield, Missouri?
I doubt it — they really hate Michael J. Fox in that part of the state. Remember how one of the stations in Springfield refused to run “Family Ties” because of viewer complains about the Alex P. Keaton character?
Rusty Shackleford
That’s why scientists have to be allowed to perform their research.
Just because one method doesn’t work right away doesn’t mean you give up. If first you don’t succeed…
Paul L.
So can I say the Environmental movement/Democrats are “against science” and “just flat out wrong” if they do not support Weapons, Nuclear Fission Power Plants and Shale oil extraction research?
Jimmmm
Paul, using the Anchoress to bolster an argument that scientists don’t know science is practically Pythonesque.
The Other Steve
One of my favorite shows as a kid was Family Ties, and his role as Alex P. Keaton was superb.
BarneyG2000
Rush is claiming that Fox was “Faking” his condition for dramatic effect.
Pb
Paul L.,
Actually, that’s a good example of why more research is needed–and, for that matter, good reporting. If you want to know the real story, then read up on the details:
and
The Other Steve
If Democrats are opposed to any of those, it’s on implementation grounds and not science grounds.
A whee bit of a difference, and is a far more mature and responsible position.
Conservatives don’t like to argue or debate, so instead they vote to cut funding so they don’t have to deal with it.
Walker
Are they against the research? Really? Or just the current implementation of these technologies? Where is the link that they are actually against the research? If you can find it, then sure, I’ll give you that.
There is a line between science and science-informed policy. You can consistly oppose Kyoto as a flawed policy but still accept the science on global warming. The Kincaid branch of the Republican party crossed that line. That’s the problem.
Punchy
Kos posted this ad last week, and I damn near cried.
I’m old enough to remember the show, and all the “BTTF” sequels. He’s a fucking wreck in this commercial, as compared to how my brain wants to remember him. Scary fucking shit. If this doesn’t sell the need for a cure (ESCs or otherwise), nothing will.
RSA
From Paul L.’s link:
Only one way to find out. And of course this is not welcome news, but it all has to be fit into the scientific big picture. It’s not like Republican science (e.g., celestial drops or the Big Bang “theory”) in which all information has to pass through a political filter before it can be released.
Paul L.
PB, Nice inaccurate headline from your link,
A sobering setback in embryonic stem-cell research.
Face
I guess Paul would be surprised to know that the first research with x-rays led to tumors (from overexposure). Further research solved the problem (less energy, less exposure, lead protection), and now they’re necessary and ubiquitous clinical diagnostic tools.
But in Paul’s world, they should have stopped the research immediately. So that today, I could have a priest or rabbi get a “one on one” with the Almighty to “know” if my bone was broken.
Mike S
The lovely idiots at Redstate have sokmething to say about Fox.
Sick, stupid children.
Perry Como
Paul L. Says:
Fixed that for you.
Pb
Paul L.,
First, it isn’t all embryonic stem-cell research; if you (or The Anchoress) could read, then you might have found that out. And second, are you arguing that embryonic stem-cell research isn’t stem-cell research? There’s nothing inaccurate about it.
Pb
No, they don’t actually care about that–if they did, then they’d be shutting down fertility clinics too.
DougJ
So you say. I won’t go near one of those damn x-ray machines, no matter what any of these so-called doctors say.
Andrew
DougJ, I recommend a tin foil jock strap, just in case.
Zifnab
The religious right gets lead around by the nose, offered things it thinks it wants – a Department of Faith-Based Initatives which doesn’t get any new funding, legislating away gay marriage without actually passing laws against gays, a ban on stem cells that serves as a surogate for an actual ban on abortion itself. In each case, the guys at the top refuse to pull the trigger on the real issue. States could easily have passed State Amendments (or even a National Amendment) banning sodomy once and for all. Think it would pass? I sure as hell do. The Senate could have triggered the nuclear option off of a bill to outlaw abortion nation-wide and go head-to-head with the Supreme Court like they did with Terri Shavio.
But these issues carry too much political water for the party in power. So long as the law isn’t actually on the books, they can dangle it over their constituents for votes without upsetting non-Evangelical Dick and Jane who are normally to apathetic to vote anyway.
In other news, flu vaccines could potentially cause the flu. Therefore, don’t get flu shots.
Face
And writing about gay issues can make you gay. Just ask John. He got the gay last week.
demimondian
Hey, Paul! Did you know that cells taken from the spinal cords of adult rats are not *embryonic* cells, even if they are stem cells?
Mr. Moderate
I was hoping someone would post that “stem cells cause brain tumors” story. I should call it a non-story, if you have been studying the research into this area of stem cell research at all. It is one of the known possible side effects they warned you about, and why the location of implantation is critically important during the procedure. In a similar procedure used to help patients with Huntington’s Disease. If the cells were implanted into the correct region then they would morph into the proper cells. If they were implanted into the nearby brain tissue they could morph into cancer cells, or they could just die. The research goes into having more information on side effects, ways to mitigate them, and how to have more successful implantations.
My guess is that you didn’t bother reading the article or study the science because you just can’t stand the idea that this may actually be saving people’s lives.
Punchy
Paul thinks stem cells are cells you harvest from stems.
Or maybe a stem cell is a hidden group of Stem Terrorists
Paul told me in private that the stem cell is where he puts his plants when they break the law
and he plans to buy Motorola’s new eco-friendly, green-colored and round handset, the Stem Cell.
fwiffo
By Paul L.’s logic, we should have stopped building suspension bridges because of the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows bridge.
Pb
Just don’t get him started on ‘flying machines‘ or ‘automobiles‘.
RSA
Fire: the greatest danger to
the human raceearly hominids.cd6
These “stem cells” probably just have a book to sell
Paul L.
By your logic, we should look into/research using DC instead of AC for electrical power distribution.
What are you talking about? Link please
A sobering setback in stem-cell research
Andrew
Not to mention that a particularly insidious cabal of stem cells apparently formed into Hillary Clinton in order to kill Vince Foster.
Punchy
Stem cells were just outed by blogger Mike Rodgers on some radio show. Now Bush is pushing a constitutional amendment banning the use of gay stem cells for treatment or marriage.
jaime
Fixed Circa 1961
Damn that opportunist Kennedy and his raising of false hopes of flying on space machines.
jaime
Umm…no.
Pooh
Seriously here, OCSteve, you see Paul L? THAT is why we need you here. Better wingnuts please. Or failing that, a conservative who doesn’t make consistantly self-negating arguments.
capelza
Boy oh boy, the Red State crew has really outdone themselves.
That is a powerful ad, well done. I’ll have to ask my mom if it is playing arounf Springfield or Joplin. Probably is playing up in KC and Jeff City though.
jaime
Meanwhile at Freeperland:
fwiffo
During the pioneering days of electricity, some folks advocated exactly that. DC’s biggest booster was some nobody named Thomas Edison. In fact, safety was one of the primary aguments he used against AC. He went as far as purchasing puppies from neighborhood children for a quarter, then electrocute them in public demonstrations to discredit his AC rivals. After years of significant research into both AC and DC, the Tesla/Westinghouse AC system won out in the marketplace of ideas.
It’s ironic that the links you provided cite safety as an argument against research into embryonic stem cells. Electricity, used improperly, is very dangerous. But research has allowed us to understand and harness electricity and mitigate against those risks.
Punchy
Holy Christ.
capelza
jaime..I can’t bring myself to go over to Freeperville…is there anyone there that understnads what Parkinson’s does to a person?
My mother-in-law is suffering from it (she can’t walk anymore) as did an uncle. He had to be so doped up for his mother’s funeral so he could be a pall bearer…it wasn’t funny at all.
Disgusting people…I wouldn’t wish this disease even on them.
ThymeZone
One clings to hope that at least some of this cruel crap is spoof. But some of it is real, and that’s a sobering thought.
Andrew
Vote Hillary ’08.
Interment Camps for Freepers.
Zifnab
Remind me again of the law they passed barring Federal Funding for the use of DC current? Or the one banning the study of bridges?
If we were smart, we’d be building bridges out of something sturdier. Like wood. Or stone. Or witches.
Zifnab
And don’t get me started on that bastard Magic Johnson getting AIDS. Who’s he trying to fool? Everyone knows black people are born with AIDS. That’s why we should have laws against interracial dating.
Rayilyn Brown
Fox’s involuntary movements are dyskinesias caused by reaction to Sinamet which unfreezes him. He is not acting. I don’t take Sinemet because it only helped me once, so I don’t have dyskinesias. We Parkies are all different with respect to progression of the disease and reaction to drugs and treatments. I had 2 DBS brain surgeries for which I had to be awake to put electrodes into my subthalmic nucleus and leads to neurotransmitters in my chest to control my tremors. I strangle when I try to speak. I can barely walk and my hands are like paws. Parkinson’s sucks and I am an ovarian cancer survivor. There will be no cure in my lifetime (I’m 70, have had PD since I was 60)but it would be nice if people took a little time to learn what it is like. I could be YOU in a few years.
Richard 23
Thanks for the info, Rayilyn. And for taking the time to comment about this personal issue. The idea that some might suggest Fox is acting due to their own partisan view and dehumanizing one’s “opponent” is disgusting to me.
Pooh
Plus, correct me if I’m wrong, but he’s Canadian, isn’t he?
fwiffo
I believe he’s had dual citizenship for a while now.
Perry Como
You know who else had dual citizenship?
Hitler.
Randy
Michael J. Fox is worse than Hitler. You can argue all you want to with old Adolf but at least he didn’t fake some illness to justify the Holocaust.
Richard 23
If Fox cuts and runs, he’s done.
Concerned Dilettante Vacillator
Plus, isn’t he the Mexican President, too?
So not only does he have dual citizenship, he’s secretly forging a vast, encircling anti-American alliance. Shameless.
Richard 23
In a post entitled Shake, Rattle and Rolling into November, Dan Riehl, the carniverous conservative, shares a little joke with his readers:
Hahaha! Boy that’s funny — get it? Jerky Boyz, shaky position! That’s some great material, asshole.
Zifnab
A support for stem cell research is a support for Micheal J. Fox and his illegally immigrated Hollywood elitiests. With acting like that, he’s probably a Commie spy and should be blacklisted.
Ben
People like Paul L. act like it’s ONLY stem cell research that the Religious Right has a problem with… but the actual laundry list goes on and on and on: Geology, Paleontology, Biology, Genetics, Climentology, Meteorology, Cosmology, Phsyics, etc.
It’s like they’ve suddenly become agressively Amish and want to force horse and buggies on everyone.
mds
It’s like they’ve suddenly become agressively Amish and want to force horse and buggies on everyone.
Just the buggies. Include horses, and next thing you know some San Francisco liberal is gonna want to marry one.
canuckistani
Hey, don’t forget astronomy! Even astronomers who aren’t cosmologists contradict the Bible too.
As for the Amish, did you see what they did to that guy who killed the Amish kids? They forgave him, and comforted his wife and family. What kind of bible-thumping Republican would do that? Only a Christian would do something like that.
The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me
Why does Mexico hate America? Have they, too, remembered the Alamo?
We must strike now, while Texas is mighty and Mexico is weak. It will not be an easy struggle, but with God’s help, one day they will pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America from Baja to the Chiapas to the Yucatan. And that one nation, under God, will be founded on Fox’s bones.
Put THAT in your smoke and pipe it, Hollywood!
mds
FWIW, since Paul L. made the argument so convincing by linking to two takes in the popular press that focus on the doom, and bolstered it with the informed opinion of the Anchoress, I decided to check the advance online publications for Nature: Medicine. From the abstract:
Weirdly, there’s nothing in there that concludes that banning federal funding for HES research is therefore a good thing. Granted, I’d trust Yahoo’s sensationalist headline before I’d trust the actual researchers, but it looks to me like they found some promising results, along with potential roadblocks that mandate more study, the sort of thing that’s hampered by a hypocritical ban on federal HES research funding while the fertility clinics grind on. Well, perhaps the Globe and Mail article suggests we might as well throw up our hands and abandon embryonic stem cell research.
But wait, it just gets better:
The primary finding of the research is that this is a promising avenue for treating Parkinson’s, and hence… Michael J. Fox is full of it? Or perhaps Paul L. and the Anchoress are either dishonest or ignorant (These are clearly not mutually exclusive).
Tax Analyst
Maybe someday some of those who think Fox is “acting” will have to deal with Parkinson’s, either themselves or in a loved. My Dear Uncle Manny had it…I remember how very old and fragile he looked when I first met him…it was in the late 1950’s…we had just moved out to California so it was 1959 – I was 9 years old…he looked like a man in his 80’s…the late side of his 80’s. Manny was about 50 years old at the time. He walked with a slow, shuffling awkward gait, his speech was so slurred you could barely make out a word without having to ask him to repeat himself. His wife, my Aunt Minnie (Yeah, I’m not kidding, Minnie & Manny…go ahead have a laugh, it’s OK) made him stay in the world…go out and do things and try to function…it couldn’t have been easy for either of them. Looking back it’s amazing how much dignity he managed to maintain…he was kind and decent…when he saw you he asked how you were doing and showed real interest in what you said…you know, it wasn’t easy for him to do that…the simple act of asking, “How are you?” could take perhaps 30-40 seconds I would guess – and might require that he repeat himself. The first time I was completely taken aback…but after that it was just the way he was – it was too bad; we wished he did not have it, but he did, and yet he was still part of our family and my Uncle. As awful as those side effects we saw in Michael Fox appear Uncle Manny would have been thrilled to be able to have them if he could have been able to talk and move better…even in that jerky/shaky fashion…but, of course, those drugs treatments didn’t exist in 1959 – it took years and years of Research to develop the drugs that Fox and other Parkinson’s sufferer’s are able to take today…with more Research perhaps someday people with Parkinson’s will have more full and complete lives…I don’t have to draw a picture from here, do I? Let me add that when those heartless, cretinous assholes make fun of Michael J. Fox they make fun of Uncle Manny, too…yeah, and that pisses me off but PLENTY.
Michael J Fox Rules!
How dare you compare Michael J Fox to Adolf Hitler! Michael happens to be a very sweet person – and he exudes peace and harmony! This world would be a much better place if we had more people like Michael in it!