The F-Word

Flip-flopping again, Senator Frist?

On July 18, 2001, Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) stood on the Senate floor urging his colleagues to buck conservative orthodoxy and support federally funded research on embryonic stem cells. As the Senate's only physician, Frist made headlines -- and gave momentum to the controversial science -- with his endorsement.

The following month, however, President Bush announced a policy that was far more restrictive, limiting federal research to already existing embryonic stem cells, and Frist acquiesced.

A few weeks after Bush announced his policy, Frist said the differences between the two were minor because scientists at the National Institutes of Health had "informed the president that more than 60 cell lines exist and that this number is sufficient to provide ample opportunity to research the potential of embryonic stem cells."

Today, Frist is again at the center of the stem cell battle. Unlike four years ago, when he sought an influential role, the Senate majority leader has shied away from the issue, frustrating once-admiring researchers and patient advocates who now accuse him of exchanging sound medical thinking for with political calculations.

See, there's NOTHING strange about a rubber-stamping majority party, led by a President's pet. But seriously, Bill... You don't have to be so subservient. Or at least you can learn to shut your mouth until Big Boss makes up his mind, so you can blindly follow him... no matter what your conscience or knowledge decides.

Pathetic. Despicably incompetent. *mumbles to self*