Yeah Right-Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ Convinced Bush To Ban Embryonic Stem Cell Research

[kpete]

Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ Convinced Bush To Ban Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Shortly after taking office, President Bush announced a policy allowing federal funding of research only on existing stem cell lines, despite the urging of several of his advisers and the scientific community for expanded funding. Bush has nevertheless remained stubborn, twice vetoing legislation that would have lifted the restrictions.

In a new piece in Commentary magazine, Jay Lefkowitz — who advised Bush on stem cells — reveals how the President formulated his 2001 policy. While Bush heard from a variety of groups on both sides of the issue, the turning point appeared to come when Lefkowitz read from Aldous Huxley’s fictional novel, Brave New World, and scared Bush:

A few days later, I brought into the Oval Office my copy of Brave New World, Aldous Huxley’s 1932 anti-utopian novel, and as I read passages aloud imagining a future in which humans would be bred in hatcheries, a chill came over the room.

“We’re tinkering with the boundaries of life here,” Bush said when I finished. “We’re on the edge of a cliff. And if we take a step off the cliff, there’s no going back. Perhaps we should only take one step at a time.”

more at:
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/12/26/huxley-stem-cell-bush/

[C_U_L8R]

1. And to think, we were only a step away

from Bush going over a cliff.

I expect he'll have his Wile E Coyote moment soon enough.

(note to agent mike.. it's a cartoon dammit)

[ixion]

2. but he's perfectly willing to have the FBI build a biometric database, etc

yeah. right. whatever.

[baldguy]

3. In his heart, he's afraid he's a Delta.

Or an Epsilon.

[scarletwoman]

4. Well, the part about someone having to read the book FOR him certainly rings true.

As for the rest, it doesn't seem totally out of the realm of possibility to me, that he would let something like an emotional reaction to a piece of fiction be the deciding factor in his "decidering". Duhbya, after all, famously relies on his "gut" for all kinds of decisions.

On the other hand, I also think just about everything about bush* is fictional, especially the stories told by sycophants.

:hi:
sw

[Patsy Stone]

5. Gammas are stupid.

I'm so glad I'm a Beta.

[ingac70]

6. Brave New World was adapted into a children's book?

When? :evilgrin:

[old guy]

7. Total fabrication!

No way * has ever said anything like that. The whole structure is 180 degrees out from all his normal speech patterns. He just doesn't talk like that. Just saying.

[Richard Steele]

11. Agreed. He never spoke those sentences. nm

[Echo In Light]

12. I doubt he's as "stupid" as he's staged to be...although I agree he likely didn't use those words

[puebloknot]

8. Trivial, I guess, but I just can't wrap my head around the idea...

...that George Bush said, quote, "Perhaps we should only take one step at a time.” Perhaps? That doesn't sound like a word Dubya would have in his very limited vocabulary. "Mebbe," Maybe!

[Ichingcarpenter]

9. I wished I'd had lived on Huxley's "island" with george.

and could have taken him out into a youth group
that could have prevented this bad acid trip of his dystopia.

What next, oh yes, Camus, Shakespeare and Sartre?

I can't believe this rewriting of this moron's esoterica studies.

I wonder if he ever read Orwell or just got the cliff notes from his father

[Orsino]

10. Count on * to push Teh Stupid.

He doesn't need a book to opt for the path of greatest ignorance.

Meanwhile, he doesn't seem afraid of alcohol in his blood-surrogate.

[peekaloo]

13. "and while we're at it have the FDA look into that Soma stuff".

bullshit detector is screaming.