As your piece demonstrates, they have no better talking points. They'd actually have to come up with, like, policy objections. Fat chance.

It's a distraction for the right, as their religious base will now be bugging them to do something about it and they will have to spend money and effort attaching amendments to whatever they can to appease their base.

If the right is going to complain about this, they're going to need better talking points.

The right's talking points have never been such as to withstand critical scrutiny, but then again that's not what they are for. The idea was always to rally the tribe and give the Villagers a reason to continue putting them on teevee and into print for one of these absurd "he said she said" sessions.

It's only natural for repubs to distrust the notion of walking and chewing gum at the same time. They don't seem to have anyone who isn't challenged by either.

If the right is going to complain about this, they're going to need better talking points.

Why? The people they're actually talking to are not that discriminating (at least, not in that way). It's just another dog-whistle warning about the radical socialist agenda; it's not meant to be understood by the reality-based community.

Cantor accidentally says it all:

Let's take care of business first

The reanimation of Newt's political corpse is proof alone that they are out of ammunition, rhetorical and otherwise.

It makes perfect sense once you realize that everything the gop says or does has 1 goal- make Obama/dems look bad. That's it, all they care about is scoring political points. That is the lens in which all of their actions must be viewed. Therefore no argument is too stupid or baseless.

I want cantor & co to stay right on top of all these issues that appeal strongly to about a quarter of the electorate.
If there is even the beginning of a recovery in Q3 of 2010, it's bye-bye time for all these jerks come November.

The Republican position on anything having remotely to do with education and research can be boiled down to:

Religion and fantasy: GOOD!
Science and reality: BAD!

i'm lovin' newt's new high profile!
and so self-prophetic!

who knew that obama's sanity about science would intensify the criticisms of the nay-sayers like Newt about distracting from the real business at hand (the economy -- where they are, uh, also the nay-sayers)?

well, damn! Newt knew it! How does he do it? How DOES he do it?
(and how did the media know to ask him? these modern day miracles are just amazin')

How dare that Obama make a rational broadly-supported decision, distracting us from the ability to attack him on the economy!!!

I bet 99% of folks don't even know what stem cells are.

Lifting the ban will be a boost to research.

The repugnacans seem to think science is dirty.

I think it's kinda cool to think the USA just may regain her edge in

medical science, just as we can with energy innovations.

Why is Cantor appearing on talk shows during this crisis? Shouldn't he focus on the economy? Isn't that job No. 1?

er...um... wasn't this an majority approved item that was vetoed by Bush? All obama is doing is the will of the people.

Are the wingnuts actually suggesting Obama is running a two pronged diversion? Both the Limbaugh attack and the stem cell directive? If I were a conspriacy theorist, I might throw in Michelle Obama's sleeveless dresses and the swing set. Maybe even the dog. Has anyone noticed how long he has dragged that sucker out? Hmmm.

how long does it take to sign your name to a memo? 2 or 3 seonds.
i think that leave the prez lots of time to work on the economy.

It doesn't take that long for the president to sign an executive order.

It does if you're George W. Bush. Recall in the halcyon summer of 2001 how the president spent weeks -- weeks! -- agonizing over this issue to the exclusion of other concerns such as, say, shark attacks.

Recall in the halcyon summer of 2001 how the president spent weeks -- weeks! -- agonizing over this issue to the exclusion of other concerns such as, say, shark attacks.

And "Bin Laden determined to strike U.S."

Goddamn Obama! While I was posting that comment, I totally ignored the economy! It's all his fault!

This is absurd. Weren't Cantor and the Republicans the ones who were masters of the "Look! A shiny penny over here!" technique of distraction for the past eight years?"

There's a war going badly in Iraq - Oh Look! Kerry looks FRENCH!

The economy is tanking - Oh Look! Drill baby drill!

Global warming is a looming disaster - Oh Look! Terry Shaivo!

Disgusting.

Projection much, repubs?

The decision to lift the ban on federal funding on embryonic stem cell research by Obama has been received with criticism and praise. Would this lead to a better or a bitter tomorrow? Share your views with us at
www.allvoices.com/journalism .

(One gets the sense that anytime teh White House does anything the right doesn't like, it will necessarily be dismissed as part of a conspiracy to take our minds off the economy.)

You don't mean that the GOP is re-playing the same anti-Clinton strategy, like when they complained that his response to the embassy bombings ( attacking Al Qaeda strongholds in Afghanistan and the Sudan) was merely an attempt to distract the nation from the serious business of a blow-job in the oval office?

Now why would they do that?

If Republicans were in power the distraction would be the economy as they moved forward with right wing social agenda (while secretly stuffing the pockets of the rich.)

Even Nancy Reagan is in favor of overturning the ban. Hey, GOPers, that's your beloved Ronny Raygun's widow, who thinks that expanded research might find cures for, oh, I don't know... Alzheimer's Disease?

The GOPer's are on the wrong side of this issue and the American people know it. Keep on talking Cantor, et al.

After 8 years of the lazy, incurious fratboy approach to governance, it can be hard for some people to remember that it is *possible* to tackle several issues at once -- the economy, health care, the wars, foreign relations, DADT, DOMA, stem cell research... And after 8 years of neglect and mishandling, they all NEED prompt attention.

Now, let's be fair to Cantor and Gingrich. You can't expect them to make sense because they're both idiots.

I'll have a lot of respect for the first opponent of embryonic stem cell research to state the he/she positively will not use any treatment resulting from this research should he/she contract Parkinsons, diabetes, Alzheimers, or have a spinal injury resulting in paralysis. And urge other opponents of this research to refuse it for themselves. Otherwise, they're just pissing in the wind.

perhaps the gop can't grasp the concept of "multi-tasking."

by the way, i'm almost certain that lyndon johnson's espression was "they can't fart and chew gum at the same time."

Halperin was hawking this idiotic idea at The Page as well. The foolishness absolutely boggles the mind.

As you mentioned, lifting federal-funding restrictions will likely have a positive effect on economic growth in the short term, but it's the benefits in the long run that could be truly staggering.

There's a reason that Nancy Reagan supports the research. It's because she's seen the devastation of Alzheimer's firsthand, and she knows there's a reasonable chance that stem-cell research can lead to a cure.

Can you imagine the long-term benefits to our economy if we could mitigate Alzheimer's effects on patients -- and their families? How much does our economy lose every year from the effects of this disease on patients and those who care for them? And that number is only growing as the population ages.