Embryonic stem cell research has many drawbacks that the public is not made aware. Embryonic cells are uncontrollable and can develop other forms and changes in the body that could do harm to the receipient. If embryonic stem cell research were to be let go unchecked the farming of embryios would follow. This is Wrong! There is sufficient embryionic cells available from the embilical cord. I fear there are those in the scientific field that are using this platform for more than cell research but to make embryios for their own scientific purposes.
If science determined that stem cells from the aged were of great value for research to aid in defeating various diseases then would they want to terminate those people for the so called better good!
I do not support embryonic stem cell research and Michael Fox ought to be ashamed of his self interest in curing himself. Were was he before his illness as where were others who seemingly only reason to support embryonic stem cell research is to save themselves. They are blinded and misguided by those in the scientific field who have their own agendas at any cost to life and to play God!

Hello? Michael J. Fox is a CANADIAN where he gets FREE healthcare. Obviously, you get what you pay for in Canada, just like everywhere else.

By involving himself in US politics he also becomes a poster child for the failure of Government controlled health care in his own country (take note Democrats).

How much of this research is being funded by our freinds north of the border and how welcome would I be if I were lobbying in Ottawa?

Maybe Cardin can promise to cure Parkinson's just like he promised to cure cancer.

Cord blood stem cells work. Adult stem cells work with no chance of rejection.

Embryonic stems cells do not work and all the campaign lies in the world can't change that.

I think Michael J. Fox is an American citizen now, actually.

What isn't being told is that embryonic and fetal stem cell research on Parkinson's has been stopped by the researchers themselves due to horrific side effects and tumor growth -- at the same time the beneficient effects of adult stem cell research on Parkinson's isn't being told, either.

I think anyone who has loved or known someone with Parkinson's would move mountains to find a cure. But at this point, there's evidence that embryonic and fetal stem cell research does more harm than good.

I wouldn't say there is nothing to be found in this research, but I do know scientifically it way way overblown simply to be used as a political issue. Maybe Steele should get a cancer patient saying, "I don't take kindly to Ben Cardin unrealistically promising to cure my disease in 5 years."

It's not a stem cell issue. It's a money issue. Fact is stem cell research goes on everyday without restriction and without federal money. I wish Ben Cardin would tell me where the money he promises to stem cell research is going to come from. Sadly I know it's going to come from my paycheck, or from other programs that actually have concrete purposes.

What a powerful, powerful ad. Unfortunately for Steele he has no credibility on the issue. We all remember his Nazi comments.

Game over, Steele, sorry bud.

"In extremely poor taste" really means "a very effective ad that puts my candidate on the defensive on a very important issue"

Bryan,

Care to provide a link to Cardin saying that HE will cure cancer in 5 years? It is my understanding that he cited a National Cancer Institute study saying that with increased federal funding, "we", the American people could help cure many cancers within the next decade.

I'm awaiting your proof that Cardin promised the HE would cure cancer in 5 years.

Maryland's Family Protection Lobby apparently now is a leader in research.
Are these the same ones who don't believe in global warming or the ones that teach creationism?

Is your earth flat?

Scientist don't generally work on things that none of tem think will do any good.

It's what to expect from the political right.
War, torture, more guns, more bigotry.

Why bother responding to these idiots??

If someone DID find a cure for cancer some jackass republican would berate him for "having his own agenda" - nice comments, "Doug" -- or of spending money from "my paycheck" -- like dimwit Mike.

God help us all!

I have to think that Doug is a joke post. "Michael Fox ought to be ashamed of his self interest in curing himself"? Are you kidding me? Yeah, I would think someone with a terminal or otherwise debilitating illness would have a bit of self-interest in a cure, crazy thought as that may be.

Anonymous, care to post with a name? I was exaggerating a little with the 5 year claim. The headline was in 10 years I think. Either way, no candidate should be claiming that. You have a beef with it, take it up with the Baltimore Sun that wrote the headline and story claiming it!

As for this entire discussion--did anyone see Drudge recently? Alas Cardin voted against expanding stem cell research that did not use embryo's. Yet here the ad says he 'fully supporters' stem cell research. What part of fully does Cardin think is defined by the term 'partially'??????

Phyllis, any chance the WaPo will talk about the controversy arising with Cardin's vote? It is up as a release on Steele's website and up on Drudge so hopefully we'll see it here soon I think?

If researchers stopped their work every time they hit a set-back, there would be no innovation or progress of any kind. While embryonic stem cells currently cause tumors, they also currently treat pre-existing cancer. Scientists can now research the implementation off-switches, allowing the treatment of disease, while preventing new cancer.

Adult stem cells are disadvantaged because they aren't omni/pluripotent like embryonic ones. This is also advantageous because they are less likely to grow unchecked, but new cancer is still a possibility, and so they are no more worthy of further research than embryonic stem cells.

"Adult stem cells are disadvantaged because they aren't omni/pluripotent like embryonic ones."

Wrong! We are finding that they can adapt to whatever is needed without immune-system reactions.

The more truth you know, the more embryonic stems cells become a losing proposition.

Bryan, if you step away from the crazy political kool-aid and actually look up the facts related to Cardin's vote, you'll find that Cardin didn't vote against the bill at all. He just voted not to suspend the rules of the chamber in order to permit expedited review of the bill.

Why was expedited review necessary? Because the president had decided to use his first veto on a stem cell research bill that the vast majority of the public supported, and he wanted to be able to sign as many other half-ass stem cell research bills as possible at the same time to try to muddy the obvious message that he doesn't care as much about sick people as he does about embryos. Cardin, who had voted for the bill the president vetoed, refused to help give the president that sort of cover. Bad Cardin. No biscuit.

Just like the Republicans to distort the facts.

Rush Limbaugh is a sick and hate filled man with a drug habit. Why does anyone listen to him?

Michael J. Fox is my hero on the stem cell issue. Along with a lot of other Democrats, he's out there trying to help all of us by furthering the stem cell research cause. Together we can save some lives and improve so many others with responsible stem cell research.

Bryan,

Care to answer my question? Where is the link? When did Cardin say that "HE" would cure cancer? I paraphrased what Cardin said. Again, where is the quote from Cardin saying that "HE" will cure cancer?

This is another sad attempt by conservatives to change the debate. Most Marylanders support federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Steele opposes using federal funds for embryonic stem cell research. He supports the Bush veto of legislation that passed a Republican led Congress. Cardin supports using federal funds for embryonic stem cell research. Care to prove me wrong?

Did everyone see the interesting article in the Post today on Michael Steele? It is very favorable on his political skills and abilities but also points out that he really has never successfully done anything else. After reading about his background,I find it very interesting that he's running against the "typical politician in Washington" when that is exactly what he is and always has been. The article is worth a read.

I feel for Michael Fox and he is welcome to be active in the political arena as he sees fit, but the ad was in poor taste I'm afraid.

Now the ad blasting Ford in TN is damn funny.

Web guru/g-d. can you please provide a link to the Steele article. I think both Dems. and Repubs. will find it interesting.

If BG from PG would stop his anti-Canadian rant and take the time to check his facts before blithering on like the ugly American stereotype - he would find that Michael J. Fox is an American citizen, and has been for some time. I guess you'll have to find another reason for hating him. Good looks, perhaps?

Pathetic to hear the allegation that Michael Fox is a Canadian and his propaganda is financed by Canadians. Hey folks that kind of conspiracy is the norm of American red necks and banana republics. Fox is an American and does not come to Canada for health care. What does his nationality have to do with anything anyway. But hey never let facts get in the way of a good American rant against the world and one that feeds your ignorance.

How is Michael J. Fox being exploited, exactly? He is a seasoned actor who has a disease, and he chose to support candidates who he believes will help further research into his disease. I find the intimation that Fox is now some kind of weak-minded idiot being exploited by evil democrats to be beyond ridiculous. HE JUST HAS A DISEASE.
And showing the effects of that disease is not in poor taste. It's reality.
He's a man who is making choices based on his beliefs and experiences. Just like you prejudiced jerks criticizing him. I know that must scare the hell outta you guys.

Rush Limbaugh's drug abuse and arrest record speak for themselves:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/28/national/main1561324.shtml

The hateful Limbaugh has no idea what Fox is going through and had no medical basis to comment on Fox's condition. Perhaps Bill Frist can diagnose Fox from the Senate floor, as he attempted with Terry Schiavo.

And why is the right-wing "culture of life" so hateful toward people who need medical help?

No comments about the fact that MJF himself has stated that he stops taking his medications before hearings or ads to make his case stronger? I do sympathize, he has every right to lobby for whom and what he wants.... but as with most else, the whole truth is not being told.

how uncomfortable must it have been for Fox to stay off his meds and appear publicly in this commercial to state the facts? Pretty uncomfortable, I bet--but I, for one, thank him for it!
If druggie Limbaugh was ever actually PRESCRIBED MEDICATION, BY A DOCTOR, well, that would be one thing. He just takes drugs for the recreational aspect. They just keep raising the bar, don't they?

i, too, have parkinson's disease. it began at age 41 and there are countless others who acquire this INCURABLE, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER even earlier in life. what rush limbaugh lacks in knowledge he makes up for with his ignorance. i would like to make a personal challenge to mr limbaugh.......walk for just one day in mr fox's shoes, or mine for that matter, and see how your perspective changes. you are little more than an ignorant moron who has no interest in educating himself. it is easier to put others down and make fun. how sad. if you had done your homework, what you witnessed was the result of mjfox taking his medication. this is callled dyskenesia and is the dreaded result of taking levodopa for an extended period of time. it is as debilitating as the disease itself. many people think PD is just about tremor. well, it is not. that can, and often is, replaced by severe rigidity. rush, try getting up in the morning, stepping waist deep in wet cement and trying to walk through your house like that. at least with dyskenesia you do move which, funny as it sounds, can almost be a welcome change because at least you aren't fighting to move. let someone close to you get pd and see how your opinions change. i am 52, have had brain surgery twice, dbs is a treatment and not a cure, and stll have my struggles every day. i admire mr fox for having the guts to appear in public when he cannot control what his body chooses to do. yes, mr lilmbaugh, it is not controlable nor is it something one can imitate or exaggerate. it is the uninformed comment of a 'donkey' like you, and i chose to disguise that a little, that makes people with parkinson's fight that much harder to find the cure. i have had many friends with the disease end their own life when it became too much to bear because they felt it was the only way to end the torture. wouldn't a cure be a better choice. i am not going to continue to try to convince you of he horrors of this disease becauses, frankly, i don't think you are intelligent enough to understand it's implications and trials. may God have mercy on your soul and if i could give you just one thing for christmas this year, it would be my personal battle with parkinson's. but then, you'd have to take up acting wouldn't you? you totally disgust me so i will say no more but remember your life is not through yet and PD is not prejudice. let's just hope it finds the right targets when it hits.

Oh Canada:

I love Canada, Rush (the band, not the fat pill popper-these words are from the mouth of a conservative mind you) and I'm even an avid hockey player. I didn't much care for Jean Chrétien though as you probably don't for Bush. I don't know exactly what you mean by "stereotypical American". To me, those words are as ignorant as the stereotype your attempting to describe. That's like uttering the words stereotypical black, Jew or Mexican.

As I don't keep up with Hollywood pukes or their political agendas, I do stand corrected on M.J. Fox's recent citizenship change. But, if he wants to play politics, he better get used to criticism. It's also publicized by M.J.F. himself that he purposely skips his medication before a Parkinson's related event to get the dramatic effect. In a nation so deeply divided, he would serve himself better by sitting this one out.

If there wasn't already enough evidence that Rush Limbaugh represents the most base of all human viewpoints then this has surely made it obvious. Like many conservatives who don't understand science at all and insist on not questioning their preconceived prejudices about 'right' and 'wrong', he has insulted a group of sick sick men and women for political gain.

However folks there is a silver lining in all of this, the american people are sick and tired of this sort of demagogery and comments like Rush's actually aid in cementing the view of the majority of americans that social conservatives like him are completely out of touch with the realities of anything beyond their own political self interest.

If we can get enough people like Rush to keep the airwaves full of this sort of mean spirited and narrow minded bigotry, then in 2008 the democrats won't even have to run a campaign to win.

Like susie, I can give an "expert" opinion on the political ads featuring Michael J Fox because I also have Parkinson's Disease. Mr. Fox was not acting. He also was not exhibiting tremors (shaking), but dyskinesia (literally, bad movement), a condition where one makes jerky, uncontrollable movements that usually are larger and more noticeable than tremors. The dyskinesia is not a symptom of Parkinson's Disease per se, but an effect often seen in patients who have been taking medicine for many years to control the disease. The medicines tend to get less effective over time, and the patient often alternates between "off" periods and periods of dyskinesia. The "off" periods are characterized by slow, stiff movements (sometimes virtual paralysis) and tremors. A Parkinson's patient might cycle through these periods several times in a day, which might also include some "on" or "good" time, time when he/she is neither off nor dyskinetic, and his/her movements are close to normal.
I do not wish PD upon Mr Limbaugh, but I do wish that he would refrain from commenting when he is totally ignorant about a subject. Mr Fox should be commended for his willingness to make these ads; no one likes the whole world to see that he/she has difficulty controlling his/her bodily movements.
I would like to add that I am not a Cardin supporter, but rather I support Kevin Zeese for Senator. I support Zeese primarily for reasons not related to PD nor to stem cell research, though he does support stem cell research, including embryonic, and his overall health care platform is by far the best in the Senate race.

Hi, I'm a student from Georgia doing a research project, so I actually haven't seen the ad and I don't usually listen to talk radio, but this sounds exactly what both Mr. Fox and Mr. Limbaugh would do. I commend M.J. Fox for his bravery and think Rush Limbaugh is as much of an idiotic bigot as I ever did. Some of the things said here scare me no end. What I really wanted to say was just condolences to Mr. Lefstein and Susie for your pain. My grandmother died a few years back from Alzheimers, and I still have scars from having to watch her become this frail shadow of the incredible woman she had been. I think people sometimes lose track of who stem-cell research actually benefits, or who it will benefit, since any cures won't be developed, much less approved, for several decades, but you have my sympathies and best wishes, whatever they may count for.