Well folks I hate to break the news to you all but the "overwhelming majority" of people do not back stem cell research.  They do not oppose it either.  The overwhelming majority struggle with the moral issues surrounding it and hope there is a resolution some day.  I am one of those.

I have gone through great lengths to make a point that when you blame others for your situation you will make no progress.  When you divide you will make no progress.  When you put your own personal twist like "President Bush has declared war on all Americans" you are not speaking the truth.  You are not conveying the facts.  You are going about building support in the worst way possible.  You are not gaining ground.  You are alienating those who would be on your side.  You are awakening the emotions of people who will take actions in opposition.  That is not productive.  It halts production. 

I will try to make this point once again and make it very clear.  There have been many scientists quoted here, mostly taken out of context.  Scientists that oppose are not quoted here and there are many that oppose.  I would suspect as many that are in favor.  There is one thing I am certain that the majority of them would agree on.  That is if you want to move forward you have to find common ground.  Finding common ground places you in a position to move forward in the quickest manner humanly possible.  That is what you must strive for.

The quest for a cure will proceed at the fastest pace possible when we work together.  As we have found so many times in the past placing all our hope and resources making a bet on a single horse will most likely prove to be disappointing.  By distributing our resources and considering the alternatives is how we were able to stumble on the wonders of stem cells in the first place.  That is called diversification.  Imagine if a US president and congress were to pick only one disease to work on.  Imagine if they picked the number one killer "Heart Disease."  What would happen if all of our resources were spent on "The Cure" for heart disease?  We might improve our the survival rate of heart patients but at what cost?  Imagine if the people with heart disease were pitted against people with Parkinson's?  Imagine if political candidates each picked a disease to pledge to fight for and expend all capital for?  Let's just say Bush picked Parkinson's and Kerry picked heart disease, what then?  Would there be silence on this board regarding political agenda's?  Probably more so than there is now.  

By the way I am in favor of most stem cell research.  I do have some limits and I do struggle with the moral implications.  I am in the majority make no mistake about that.

I don't blame this disease on political leaders and I don't look to political leaders to find a cure.  They won't, science will.  Science will work best when allowed to proceed in the most cooperative environment possible.  The most cooperative environment will be achieved when people stop making it a political agenda and form coalitions that focus energies on finding a common ground to move forward.  We will proceed at the most rapid pace when people focus on the common goal.  No Bush is not the roadblock, religion is not the roadblock, science is not the roadblock... we are.

This forum will provide the best support for sufferers and caregivers of those with Parkinson's when we strive to keep political agendas off this board.  I do believe in freedom of speech and I guess I will continue to be "dumb enough" to exercise it.  I will refrain from being the first to throw a stone but I will not be silent when political rhetoric is thrown about and detracts from uniting this group for the common cause.

The best move for all would truly be to move political comments to another board.  Of course if you all want to keep this up I will feel that is the will of the majority and continue to make the case for uniting for a common goal instead of wasting time attacking those who will not find a cure.

Peace and love to all.


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Frank