In the Best Interest of a Parkinson's Disease Cure

It's Time to End the Demonising of the President

I'm worried that there is a sideshow detracting from the real issues that face PWPs (People with Parkinsons)

I voted for Obama because among things, I wanted the stem cell ban lifted. When he took a long time to do that, I was a little upset. Now that the new guidelines are being written and comments are available to review, I see that they really aren't as open as many of us expected. I'm hoping this doesn't slow down critical research on treatments for Parkinson's disease.

I wonder how many of the right wing conservatives who oppose stem cell research actually know about the Parkinson's, ALS, diabetes, cancers, MS prognoses; how many would like to endure the agonizing wait while religious leaders and politicians posture about everything but the real health-care issues while letting the best research hope we have go to waste. The research already lost 8 years and if this grandstanding continues, many more people - young and old -are going to die. Millions worldwide. Look, this is about leadership...not the fear of losing listeners or not being re-elected or just hearing the sound of one's own voice.

Why is it that the right wing can't accept the election of Obama to the presidency? Why the need to detract and distract? In this election the presidential vote wasn't even close. What is different about this president? Is it because he's intelligent? That he hit the ground running? Is it because he didn't graduate from a Bible College.....or face it, could it be the race of one of his parents?

America is facing terrible problems at home and abroad and we all need to be pulling together to deal with them. This is grownup stuff. Do we really believe the staccato angry sound bytes of Rush Limbaugh who says that he hopes the President's policies fail, that the people who work for non-profits don't actually work, who believes that if somebody doesn't die from being water-boarded 6x a day then it isn't torture...because he didn't die, who believes in pain for others but not for himself? Are we believing Dick Morris who doesn't understand history but writes well? Or Alan Lee Keyes who calls the President a focus of evil blaming him for the ills of the world?

And what about quick-fire Dick Cheney who can't understand that Republicans who crossed party lines to vote for the Democrat candidate are still Republicans and who now wants CIA files on torture for his memoirs? And then there's Newt Gingrich... I sympathize with fellow Ohioan, John Boehner who appears to either have a memory problem or doesn't listen to the words that come out of his own mouth although he has a difficult job as minority leader. But I think that what these pwaps (people with a platform) are doing is contemptuous of the citizens of the world, dangerous to the dignity of this country and played like a street corner shell game. Just how stupid do they think we are?

Oh yeah, then there's the Dr Strangelove-type stuff. From the desk of Donald Rumsfeld when he was Secretary of Defense came the bizarre, the very frightening stuff that we think only movies are made of but not real life. The World Wide Intelligence Updates issued by Mr Rumsfeld do not meet the standards for that very important position; although the ABC disclosure certainly helps to understand what really made recent history.

These men should stop being caricatures of politicians and preachers and should deal the real life and death issues: moving forward on stem cell research and greater funding and reformation of the health-care system. If they prefer to continue playing games that are not constructive they should resign or remove themselves from public life, write their memoirs on torture and refrain from interfering with the serious business before this country. America can't afford their inability to discuss important issues in an intelligent, civil manner. It is time to be adults and to act like statesmen. Let's move on.