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Either he’s stupid or he’s purposely lying to Canadians. Sadly this is the choice at CBC today, and at any of the left-wing media, which seem to have an agenda. And it’s important that we consider the ramifications of a taxpayer-funded state-owned news media which employs stupid and/or deceitful reporters and staff who seem to be leading an agenda and swaying opinions. This is my opinion.
After live coverage on the CBC of President Obama signing an executive order allowing federal funding for EMBRYONIC stem cell research, the socialism-reliant CBC’s reporter Paul Hunter repeatedly referred to it as funding for “stem cell research”, rather than “EMBRYONIC stem cell research”, the difference between which is precisely the point of this news item. (See the wording under his head on my screen capture). In fact it is the ONLY point of this news item. Federal funding has always been allowed for regular stem cell research—ADULT stem cell research. But Hunter purposely reported it as if that salient point didn’t exist. As if there is no difference between “EMBRYONIC stem cell research” and “stem cell research”. As if all or nearly all stem cell research generally had been all but banned under President Bush, but has now been freed by The Great Obama who, unlike George Bush, believes in science. This is a transparent effort to influence the thinking of Canadians, as I see it.
And it’s a lie.
While anchor Nancy Wilson was surprisingly careful and very conspicuous and absolutely correct to preface the phrase “stem cell research” with the vital word “EMBRYONIC” almost every time she said it in her reporting and her conversation with Paul Hunter, Hunter chose not to — purposely, I think, thus totally blurring the facts, and thus almost totally misinforming and further confusing the matter for Canadians.
Liberals often refuse to engage in or lead an intellectually honest debate about things when they know they’re wrong.
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The CBC banner-makers also seemed to purposely misinform Canadians during the story with their misleading banners insinuating that the news concerned “STEM CELL RESEARCH” generally, and worse, that it’s a story on an “END TO STEM CELL BAN”, as seen on the screen under Paul Hunter’s reporting and at all other times during the CBC coverage of the story.
Paul Hunter repeatedly said that President Bush had banned funding “for stem cell research”, which is essentially an outright lie, often perpetrated by the left in media and politics generally, particularly among atheists. They purposely don’t mention EMBRYONIC when it concerns EMBRYONIC.
In actual fact, President Bush had only mildly restricted—not banned—RESTRICTED—federal government funding and only on EMBRYONIC stem cell research. And in fact, he even allowed federal funding on a limited number of EMBRYONIC stem cell lines already in existence. Funding for regular ADULT stem cell research has been ongoing and has proved promising, producing lots of cures and treatments.
And by the way, private funding was always allowed for EMBRYONIC stem cell research, but simply wasn’t forthcoming mostly because of the horrific moral and ethical question of harvesting human babies—embryos—for the purpose of scientific research. It has also proved to yield comparatively few positive results, compared to ADULT stem cell research. In addition, science has found ways of creating stem cells from adults that exactly mimic EMBRYONIC stem cells, which is of course only of interest to those of us who think in an intellectually honest—and scientific—rather than an ideological—way.
Actual words used during Hunter’s report to Canadians about Obama’s short speech after signing the order:
“…One name we did NOT hear was George Bush, although there was a kind of reference to it when Barack Obama talked about you know ‘getting back on track after eights years’. Of course it was George Bush eight years ago who put the BAN on federal funding for stem cell research. Didn’t outlaw it altogether in this country but it DID mean that a huge potential—a huge source of money to go to that research—would not be forthcoming and that was FEDERAL money. So it didn’t stop it completely but it really limited the amount of research that has gone on for this type of work which as Barack Obama had said a couple of times there…”
Also see these recent posts on much the same theme:
• Media continues its lies re stem cell research; deceivingly invoking “Obama” as a savior of science
• And this column by Susan Martinuk: Results, not Bush, slowed embryonic stem cell research
The CBC should be utterly ashamed of itself, and all Canadians should be more ashamed of them.
State-owned and state-run media should be banned in this country, and that notion enshrined in our constitution.
And misleading reporters should be called to account —particularly taxpayer-paid reporters.
UPDATE:
In a later segment with new anchor Suhana Meharchand, both anchor and reporter Hunter continued to blur the story by not pointing out that the point of the story is EMBRYONIC stem cell research which Bush had (only partially) “banned”, and which Obama is reversing. Hunter repeated the lie that Bush had “banned federal funding for stem cell research”.
“…For Barack Obama this was a key promise he made during the campaign to reverse George W. Bush order to BAN federal funding for stem cell research. That was a key campaign pledge of George Bush eight years ago … there’s been so much pressure in recent years since Bush BANNED the federal funding…”
Then proving that he has utterly no understanding of the issue, he explained to Canadians that “stem cell research involves live human embryos”. But of course only EMBRYONIC stem cell research involves embryos, as people with a clue already know. The majority of research on stem cells involves ADULT stem cells, and it is only ADULT stem cell research which has yielded any treatments or cures.
“…Stem cell research involves uh live human embryos. Full stop. I mean that’s what it all boils down to…”
So perhaps he’s not misleading as much as he is simply almost totally ignorant. And any full, intellectually honest and scientific—not ideological—news story about this must include the fact that scientists have shown that they can create stem cells that exactly mimic embryonic stem cells out of adult stem cells. They failed to do that. This is absolutely terrible journalism.
Meanwhile, another misleading banner used by CBC…
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