Sometimes, it’s nice to know what the Chronicle‘s editors think of large segments of their readership.
And in this “endorsement” of Representative John Culberson (R), it’s pretty clear:
The Chronicle has differed with Rep. Culberson on several fronts, most notably his opposition to rail transit. However, Culberson, a Republican, promises to support the plan approved by the voters last year. The Chronicle trusts he will use his growing influence in Washington to see that Houston not only gets its share of transit funds, but is allowed to catch up. Culberson’s district now includes the Texas Medical Center, and the congressman has promised not to let superstition and ignorance be obstacles to federal support for the most advanced and promising forms of medical research. Almost alone among his colleagues, Culberson is alarmed at the growing federal deficit and promises to exert restraint.
That’s a not-so-subtle reference to stem-cell research, and an even less subtle reference to the generally conservative, church-going folks who make up Representative Culberson’s district. It’s nice to know what the Chronicle‘s editors think of Culberson’s supporters.
Some relevant advice was recently offered by Charles Krauthammer:
First, the inability of the human spinal cord to regenerate is one of the great mysteries of biology. The answer is not remotely around the corner. It could take a generation to unravel. To imply, as [Senator John] Edwards did, that it is imminent if only you elect the right politicians is scandalous.
Second, if the cure for spinal cord injury comes, we have no idea where it will come from. There are many lines of inquiry. Stem cell research is just one of many possibilities, and a very speculative one at that. For 30 years I have heard promises of miracle cures for paralysis (including my own, suffered as a medical student). The last fad, fetal tissue transplants, was thought to be a sure thing. Nothing came of it.
As a doctor by training, I’ve known better than to believe the hype — and have tried in my own counseling of the newly spinal-cord injured to place the possibility of cure in abeyance. I advise instead to concentrate on making a life (and a very good life it can be) with the hand one is dealt. The greatest enemy of this advice has been the snake-oil salesmen promising a miracle around the corner.
Surely the editors of the Chronicle can’t object to any of that, or reject it as the rambling of some ignorant, superstitious conservative.
