Fighting Alzheimer's

Bravo, Nancy. From the Center for American Progress:

President Ronald Reagan's battle with Alzheimer's has motivated lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to call on President Bush to reverse his deeply flawed stem cell policy as a true monument to the 40th president. In recent years, first lady Nancy Reagan has become a staunch advocate for embryonic stem-cell research, which leading scientists believe could be the key to breakthroughs in treatment for Alzheimer's disease as well as for other ailments such as spinal injuries, Parkinson's and diabetes. Although much of Mrs. Reagan's work has been behind the scenes, last month she finally spoke out, saying, "Ronnie's long journey has finally taken him to a distant place where I can no longer reach him. Because of this, I'm determined to do whatever I can to save other families from this pain. I just don't see how we can turn our backs on this."

I would imagine that Dubya would quickly reverse his position if his dad were to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He seems completely incapable of acting outside of his own narrow self-interest. But I'm obviously not wishing Alzheimer's on his dad--instead, let's hope that Dubya's urgency to thought of as Reagan's ideological heir will prompt him to start unreservedly supporting stem-cell research in light of Nancy's stance.