Where Left Is Right / The Old Site

This morning's NY Times carries an op-ed piece by former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, presenting a proposal for resolving the issue of when (or whether, for that matter) embryonic stem cells may be used for research purposes. In it, he points to one obvious flaw in the administration's handling of the issue -- a flaw which should trouble the president's supporters as much as his detractors (emphasis mine in this quote):

No doubt the president's belief that human life begins with fertilization is shared by millions of Americans, including many Christians and evangelists. But it remains a minority view and one that the president applies inconsistently. Although Mr. Bush believes that destroying an embryo is murder, he refuses to demand legislation to stop commercial interests that are busily destroying embryos in order to obtain stem cells. If their conduct amounts to murder as the president contends, it is hardly satisfactory for him to say he will do nothing to stop the evil act other than to refuse to pay for it.

Of course, on one hand, it's absurd to demand -- even expect -- ethical consistency from an administration evidently addicted to John Mitchell's famous Watergate-era formulation, "Watch what we do, not what we say." But noting its inconsistency on this issue, as well as others dear to the hearts of its benighted admirers, can be an incredibly effective tool of debate. (Which assumes, yes, that both sides are interested in a legitimate debate in the first place.) A good starting point is "President Bush: Flip-Flopper-in-Chief." And yes, it's already out of date (the Bushies have, after all, had over ten months to add to the steaming pile). As IU said, though, a good place to start -- if for no other reason than to establish the track record.

Another point which Cuomo makes struck me as a little idealistic (albeit soul-stirringly so) in the face of the BushCo Rough Riders' approach to quote-unquote democracy:

...our pluralistic political system adopts rights that arise out of consensus, not the dictates of religious orthodoxy; and if such rights are adopted - approving abortions or financing stem cell research on leftover embryos - they will be the law of the land, even if religious dissenters, through their tax dollars, end up helping to pay for things that they find anathema. Every day Americans who abhor the death penalty, contraceptives, abortions and war are required to pay taxes used in part for purposes they consider offensive. That is part of the price we pay for this uniquely successful democracy.

As for Cuomo himself, he remains one of my favorite Presidential candidates who were never Presidential candidates. On everything from style to substance, Cuomo has always greatly appealed to what I like to think of as my best instincts. If you're young, especially, or have otherwise never encountered his particular flavor of passion coupled with eloquence, I encourage you to hunt down some of it on-line. Here are some of my favorites:

• Keynote address at the 1984 Democratic convention
• Address at the University of Notre Dame a couple months later that same year, "Religious Belief and Public Morality -- A Catholic Governor's Perspective"
• Address at the 1996 Democratic convention. Love this passage in particular, which is as relevant now as it was almost ten years ago:

  Listen to me, listen to me, please. Listen to me, please. Forget a lot of this political argumentation. Forget about new Democrats, old Democrats, conservative Democrats, liberal Democrats, neo-liberal Democrats. The truth is ageless. Either we make it together, all of us of every faith and color, straight or gay, with or without disabilities, whatever our accent, whatever our task... wherever we are in this great land, whether we are rich, struggling, desperate, either we make, all of us together, or there is no America worth the gifts that God has given this blessed place.

• More recently, these two pearls:
• Speech to the National Press Club, January, 2003
• Response (focusing on the anti-filibuster "nuclear option") to Bush's radio address of April 30, 2005

Sigh. Speakers like this don't come out of a sausage factory.