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Great speech, Joan, and thank you. Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joan Snyder" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 9:54 PM Subject: Re: website and unity dinner debbie and mackenzie: i am sure that OCB is not happening with everyone who takes dopamine agonists and i certainly cannot and do not look for something to blame for the choices that i have made but i have heard enough horror stories from people all over the world who have done things completely against their nature for this thing to be called "a crock." but i have no evidence nor can do anything except to tell you my experience. i would only like to help others who may have this problem with whatever the addiction to find help and i believe that this is a good website to check out if you are so inclined. on saturday, sept. 9th, i was given the opportunity to speak at the democratic unity dinner for illinois. this was the 3rd year in a row that i was asked. i was overwhelmed by the company that i was keeping!! i sat at the head table with Senator Dick Durbin, Congressman Lane Evans, Congressman Jerry Costello, Congresswoman Jan Scharkowsky, the first female president of the afl-cio, judges and other luminaries along the man whom Lane Evans has endorsed to take his seat in the US House of Representatives, Mr. Phil Hare. here is a copy of my speech: Good evening ladies and gentlemen. It is a fact: I don’t know Phil Hare as well as I know Lane Evans. Lane & I share a common disease that lends itself to a somewhat “cosmic consciousness” of knowing what the other is thinking without speaking. But over the years that I have known Lane, I have had the opportunity to watch Phil in his dealings with Lane & that relationship tells me all I need to know about this man and to support him in his run for the House of Representatives. I understand the almost unbearable strain that comes with seeing someone you love being stolen away by a disease that you are helpless to deal with. Phil never treated Lane with anything but the utmost respect. It is easy for a person with Parkinson’s Disease to fall into the role of victim; of adopting the “poor pitiful me” routine and allow the caregiver/employee/friend to assume a more vigorous role in this complicated alliance. It becomes easy to assume that just because a person’s body goes to hell that his mind isn’t also out to pasture. Andrea Lane Zigna has yet to figure this out. In all the times that I saw Phil with Lane, Phil never once talked down to Lane, never got cross because it took Lane perhaps more time to get up and get moving, never indicated irritation with Lane’s soft voice and I know that Phil never spoke to Lane in that annoyingly cloying way that people reserve for idiot savants. This tells me that Phil has many of the qualities that I wish to see in my elected official: compassion, integrity, commitment, the ability to empathize, devotion, and a humanness in his heart. I have never met anyone so willing to take the pitches, the swings, the misses, the wins and the losses as Phil Hare. He realizes that this is an awesome task for anyone to attempt…to fill the shoes of a bona- fied hero but yet he has the gumption, the good ideas, and the brains to know that in this country, we can do better. We can do better than to send our Sons and our daughters…our brothers and our sisters to die in a country that spurns our desire to help them and mutilates our soldiers. We can do better in treating our seniors on fixed incomes who must decide to buy either home fuel or prescribed meds. We can do better in our attempts to bridge the gap between church & state to celebrate the diversity for the majority of the people rather than to be held hostage by one group and one faith. We can and we must do a better job of what is a cause near and dear to my heart: stem cell research. I am a Roman Catholic; proud to call myself pro-life and I am also a firm believer in embryonic stem cell research. We cannot continue to keep our researchers from exploring all avenues of scientific inquiry and expect to remain a leader in world health. _We_ _cannot continue to equate stem _ _cell _ _research with abortion. The two _ _are not the same._ Which seems to you as the more pro-life position: to protect the invisible divided cells which have been frozen from eggs which were fertilized in a petrie dish rather than from an act of love, which are considered “leftovers” by the couple who use this method to conceive in-vitro; will never become implanted in a woman’s womb, will never become a baby and are destined for incineration as medical waste or to use these undifferentiated cells to help, say a man like my friend Allen in Texas? Allen is a 50 year old, married father of four who always led a productive life. He worked as the sound director at his local public TV station, paid taxes and would never think of acceting a handout…until pd entered his life. Now Allen sits in an apartment alone because his wife split and took the kids (a common fact of life for many people with Parkinson’s). She was overwhelmed by the far- reaching consequences of this damn disease. Allen spends his time reaching out to people on his computer, trying to help others in his situation not to loose hope. He hasn’t worked in 5 years and collects social security disability. Allen never complains-most parkies don’t-they know that others have heavy crosses to carry. I don’t see a moral dilemma here. I cannot understand why abortion, in-vitro fertilization and sperm banks are legal yet it is immoral to use these stem cells for the good of humanity. As Governor Rod Blagojevich said: “It would be wrong to ask sick and injured people and their loved ones to wait for the tides in Springfield and Washington to change before research into potentially life-saving cures can move forward. That’s why I am directing $5 million in state funds this fiscal year to continue supporting the research being done. Investing in research that can save lives and prevent serious illnesses is more than a sound public health strategy, it’s our moral obligation. I personally feel that Bush’s veto of the stem cell legislation passed by both houses of congress is a crime against humanity. Having said this and hoping that there are no FBI-types nor homeland security guys hanging around, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to a man who is a professor and a dedicated stem cell researcher at Bradley University in Peoria, IL. His work has given me and many others with parkinson’s a reason to hope and to believe that a cure is possible in our life-time. This man is Dr. Craig Cady. Dr. Cady can tell you why it is imperative that he be able to add embryonic stem cells to his already groundbreaking work with adult stem cells, rat stem cells and cord blood stem cells. Even his students know how important it is. One intern at his lab this summer says: “The primitive nature of embryonic stem cells makes their use in research an absolute necessity to understanding the potential of all stem cells for the treatment of PD and many other diseases.” I believe that a cure is out there. I believe that Phil Hare is the man that we need in the United States House of Representatives to help us get the legislation passed that will override a president’s veto. I believe in you and the rest of the district to vote for the man whom you know in your hearts will carry on the great work of Lane Evans. I believe in Phil Hare for the House of Representatives!!! i think that the speech went over pretty well. -- Joan Blessington Snyder 54/16 [log in to unmask] www.calipso-pd.org “Hang tough……..no way through it but to do it.” Chris in the Morning Northern Exposure ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn