Because my Mom suffers from Parkinson's Disease, I want to share a couple thoughts about Rush Limbaugh's recent comments about Michael J. Fox.
Rush was annoyed at Fox's appearance in a couple of political ads, wherein Fox is supporting certain political candidates because of their positive stance on stem-cell research. During the ad, Fox was displaying classic Parkinson's symptoms, lots of body movement, slurred speech, head jerks, etc. Commenting on Fox's appearance in the ad, Rush said, "Come on people. Either he hadn't taken his medicine or he was acting."
As usual, Rush missed the point. Those are Fox's symptoms. And as far as Fox skipping his meds to impact the ad, so what? The point is-- THOSE ARE FOX'S SYMPTOMS. Those are some of the things that your body can do when you have Parkinson's. Quite possibly, Fox wanted to strip himself bare and show what this disease does to people. In doing so, people could see the symptoms in the raw, and maybe those people watching would vote to support the candidates who back stem-cell research.
Sorry if it made you uncomfortable, Rush, to see Fox jerking around, waving his hands. That's what Parkinson's looks like, you dumbass.
I've noticed that lots of the people who think stem-cell research is unethical are also people who haven't had to deal with the diseases or the challenges the research would benefit.
A very cruel part of me hopes that something horrible befalls them or a very close loved one, something like Parkinson's or paralysis or anything that could benefit from stem-cell research, just so they can see what it's really like for the folks who are dealing with it every goddamn day.
1 comment:
Whether a fetus is a human at any given moment, and where, if anywhere, that threshhold should lie is an idea I struggle with, and I will admit I haven't found a satisfactory answer yet; but considering a ball of undifferentiated--undifferentiated, dammit--cells THAT AREN'T VIABLE ANYWAY are human and deserve to live in stasis more than people presently sentient and in the world and suffering deserve to live at the cells' expense is so fucking ridiculous to me, so--well, it's batshit insane, dammit. It's like believing a hunk of aluminum is every bit as much a soda can as a soda can is. What, other than insanity or ignorance, could objection to the use of embryonic stem cells possibly be based on?
You know who people like Limbaugh remind me of? Blue Meanies. With that in mind, I try to wish them as much happiness as possible--so much happiness that they will be able to get their shit together and stop being so horrible to other people.
Thus far, my efforts have mostly ended in me being depressed and eating huge quantities of cake while watching *House* on DVD. I fight the good fight.
I am so sorry your mother suffers from a debilitating disease, and I'm so sorry that cures for this disease are being delayed by arrogant, evil people. I so, so hope that the next presidential and congressional elections will provide enough of a change that the scientific community can really get going on the research.
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