As soon as I returned from the much-needed Italian vacation, my work feet hit the ground running. Today was spent entirely on a business trip to Houston – my head is filled with so much geophysics and related questions, I’m surprised anything else can issue from it. On the bumper-to-bumper-traffic-ridden drive back to Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston’s NPR station KHOU kept me entertained. I use the word “entertained” loosely.
Immediately on locating the radio station, the news came that Head Doofus In Charge has vetoed embryonic stem-cell research. This is an issue very close to my heart since the end of Bush Sr.’s administration; in fact, when in high school, I forced my debates instructor to put me on the opposition to what was then known as the moratorium on fetal tissue research because I simply couldn’t stand to argue for a ban on such life-saving science, not even for the hell of a debate. Anyway, we all knew Bush II was going to veto the stem-cell measure based on the morals of his constituency of one. Then came the Gotcha statement:
“I made it clear to Congress and to the American people that I will not allow our nation to cross this moral line. Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical. And it is not the only option before us.”
So, let me get this straight. It’s not alright to destroy human life to save other human lives. But, in the case of The War In Iraq, it’s alright to destroy human lives in the hopes that American and Iraqi lives will be saved. A is A, and A is not A. Aristotle spins in his grave as does my head. What makes embryonic life so much more valuable than the lives of our men and women in uniform and the millions of Iraqi civilians at risk? War is not the only option before us, either. 578 days and counting, y’all.
Following this, the local announcer chirped something to the effect of, “Displaced New Orleanians in Houston can now return home thanks to the Road Home program. You can go home now! Just call the 1-800 number or visit the website,” along with a Road Home representative informing the displaced that over and above FEMA and insurance money, they are entitled to Road Home funds up to $150,000 — “register now, call the number and find out where you are in the process, but register first!” The July 31st deadline was never mentioned and the whole thing had an air of a) being announced on local NPR air for the first time as a news story and b) an invitation to move back to Louisiana with no regard for the pitfalls, hurdles, potholes and money suck that have come to define the Road Home to Louisiana. Just on May 24th of this year, Morning Edition told the nation how this Grant Program Fails Louisiana Storm Victims and here you have Houston public radio broadcasting an advertisement / news segment on behalf of the same program. Hmmm …
You’ve got to leave a place periodically and look back on it to know where you stand, or where others think you stand.
