First, let me begin with a shameful plug. Please bear with me.

I woke up this morning with butterflies in my stomach. And then I remembered: The Democratic Primary is one week away! Seven days! Count them: Seven! YIKES! I can't believe we're down to the last seven days! So if you haven't given money to your candidate or candidates, now is the time, especially if they have only a primary. There are candidates (TJ COPELAND) who desperately need it, whether it be $5.00 or $50.00. And don't forget, your time is equally valuable. There's still a lot of canvassing to be done, and these guys (TJ Copeland) could use the help. Okay, that's my shameful plug for our Young Democratic candidate TJ Copeland, who could use an extra pair of hands and an extra couple of bucks if you can spare it.

Now, let's get to this "Culture of Life" business. I was scanning the headlines on MSN.com, as I do every morning, when this idiotic statement caught my eye (and elevated my blood pressure): BUSH WOULD VETO STEM-CELL BILL, ROVE SAYS. Why does that not surprise me? President Bush, of course, is not a fan of stem cell research. He believes that embryonic stem cells are human life and should be given the same rights as actual living human beings. He doesn't want them to be destroyed. That's nice President Bush, but what about the living?

I wonder if he realizes that, if I understand this correctly, the cells in question have no real chance of becoming life. They're slated to be discarded anyway. If this is the case, why aren't we using these cells to save people from terrible diseases like juvenile diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's? If I'm not mistaken, these cells have the potential to help people who have suffered horrible spinal cord injuries as well.

President Bush and the others of the right wing have said they want to create a "Culture of Life." If that is the case, why do they show so little concern for saving the lives of those afflicted by these horrible diseases? A "Culture of Life"...not so much. What kind of "Culture of Life" stands in the way of essential medical advancement? The opportunity to cure these diseases and others is at out finger tips, but President Bush and Karl Rove would prefer to let people die. Culture of Life?

Of course, they profess sympathy for those afflicted with these diseases, and that's all well and good, but we need more than that from President Bush, much more. Actually, I'd like to tell him where he can stick his sympathy because it's not his father, mother, wife or child who is stricken with these illnesses. I wonder if he would change his rhetoric if it were. I wonder if he would open his mind to the possiblites that science has to offer all of us. I wonder if he would be so hell bent on closing the door to the future.

We know that stem cell research has great potential for advancing medicine, but right now, we can only see the tip of the iceberg. We have no idea of the true potential of this type of research, and we won't know until we boot President Bush, his party, and his "Culture of Life" out of office. Closing the door on this type of research is criminal, and that crime alone should get him thrown out of Washington. You, Mr. President, are holding medical research hostage--OUR medical research. Give us medical advancement, and keep your sympathy. We don't want or need it.