1115.org

The level of bombast surrounding the stem cell legislation currently moving through Congress keeps getting better and better. Just two days ago, we mentioned the controversy and the contradictions inherent in the arguments of the legislation’s opponents, who complain about embryos being used for stem cell research when those very same embryos are being discarded from fertility clinics without comment. But no story like this is complete without a quote from Tom DeLay, and the Bugman did not disappoint:

He equated reducing the funding restrictions imposed by Bush to a “vote to fund with taxpayer dollars the dismemberment of living, distinct human beings for the purposes of medical experimentation.”

The above images are human embryos as used in fertility clinics around the country for procedures such as in vitero fertilization. Tom DeLay considers them live human beings, which is especially interesting because a grouping of cells can’t possibly hold a pen to write a campaign contribution check. It’s also a nice touch to add in the part about being dismembered for medical experimentation, which dovetails nicely into the wingnut cry that stem sell research is the 21st century version of the Holocaust.

Despite the warnings of dismemberment and mass carnage, the House wound up passing the legislation. It will now head on to the Senate before a likely date with George Bush’s veto pen. But there is a chance if will never come that far as Kansas Republican Sam Brownback has threatened to derail the legislation by using — wait for it — a filibuster. Weren’t they supposed to be a bad thing?