It only begs the question: Why??

Despite recent thought in the medical science world, Obama has gone ahead an reversed a Bush policy just to make a point.

Burnadine Healy, MD, a medical blogger for US News and World Report, just last week wrote a blog entry on "Why Embryonic Stems Cells are Obsolete." Interestingly, Dr. Healy pointed out on March 4 that "President Obama has been rightly taking his time in addressing a campaign promise to lift the ban on federal funding for research using new lines of stem cells to be taken from human embryos." These embyonic stem cells no longer have the steam they once did since the private research that is going on is yeilding no promise. In fact, notes Dr. Healy, president Obama was presented with information including "a report from Israel published in PLoS Medicine in late February that shows embryonic stem cells injected into patients can cause disabling if not deadly tumors." Yet, less than a week after Dr. Healy wrote this article, Obama has made the decision to, once again, overturn the Bush policy.

In the article, Dr. Healy goes on: "These still-mysterious cell creations have been removed from the highly ordered environment of a fast-growing embryo, after all. Though they are tamed in a petri dish to be disciplined, mature cells, research in animals has shown repeatedly that sometimes the injected cells run wildly out of control—dashing hopes of tiny, human embryos benignly spinning off stem cells to save grown-ups, without risk or concern." Somehow, this did not phase Obama in being sure to fulfill his promise to publically fund research in the embryonic stem cell field.

What's more is that adult stem cell research has been found to go far beyond the power that was originally expected of them. Within the past few months adult stem cell research has become increasingly promising for curing disease. In fact, there are many who argue that adult stem cells are better as you may use stem cells on the patient that are a 100% DNA match, rather than the random DNA of another human embryo.

So, why would Obama ignore the research and go for it anyway? Because he can. It's an in-your-face move that is worthy of the 3rd grade playground, not the US presidency. It is absolutely ludicrous, given the strides made in the past few years with adult stem cells, that our tax dollars should be going to these endeavors. Aside from the fact that these have proven to be volitile at best, there is an ethical issue that many Americans, inculding myself, would choose not to participate in the funding of harvesting of human embryos. It just doesn't seem to make sense that Obama would want to unfocus the efforts of stem cell research and diminish the bright spot of adult stem cell research to make his controversial move.

I can only attest this short-sightedness to the arrogance and power hungry nature of our new president. Something for which we all wish he will either grow out of, or grow unpopular.