Tornado Alley (PROG)

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Christopher Reeve’s Death Exploited by John Edwards
Editorial by CK Rairden
October 13, 2004

John Edwards must have a very short period for grieving. Less than one day after the passing of actor and activist Christopher Reeve, the democratic vice presidential candidate was looking for a way to capitalize politically on Reeve’s sudden death from heart failure. Edwards found his opportunity on the stump in Iowa.

Christopher Reeve, the former Superman actor, was injured in a horse-riding accident in 1995. He was nearly completely paralyzed in the accident. He was a tireless activist and spokesman for the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation. That organization combined with others to raise over $45 million since 1998 for spinal cord research. He played a Superhero in the movies and through his work for the last nine years became one in real life, working hard to raise money in an attempt to help other paralysis victims, especially ones who were so distraught they were contemplating suicide.

He was dealt a tough hand and could have given up, but instead worked very hard to not only help himself, but also assist others. He was truly a gentleman.

But in a moment of extreme political opportunism, John Edwards wishes to tarnish that legacy by making incredibly unsubstantiated claims in an attempt to benefit John Kerry and John Edwards’ attempt to win the White House in November. Christopher Reeve’s death was announced early Monday morning at around 12:35am on the Matt Drudge radio program. And by Monday afternoon, John Edwards was ready to attempt to capitalize on it politically when he was on the stump in Iowa.

“Christopher Reeve just passed away, and America just lost a great champion for this cause, somebody who was a powerful voice for the need to do stem cell research and change the lives of people like him, who have gone through a tragedy, Edwards said. “Well, if we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk, get up out of that wheelchair and walk again.”

It’s difficult to find words to describe such a blatant exploitation of a man that recently died a sudden death for nothing more than partisan political gain. To offer up pure politics and exploit the hope and fear of families is not only unforgivable, but cruel. It was as if John Edwards was back in a courtroom in Carolina, capitalizing on others suffering for his own personal gain. But this wasn’t some jury that would fall for Edwards’ so called “charm,” his statement went out in the new media and some people who are in the same position as Christopher Reeve was just a few days ago warned against the hyperbole of the trial lawyer’s statement.

Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer injured his spinal cord when he was 22 and has since been in a wheelchair. He appears regularly on FOX News as a “panel all-star” on “Special Report with Brit Hume.” On Monday’s show he let his feelings known saying, “For Edwards to make the claim he did is the worst demagoguery I've heard in Washington in a quarter century. To imply that Christopher Reeve was kept in the wheelchair because of the policies of the Bush administration on stem cells is ridiculous and insulting.”

Rockford, Illinois alderman John Beck was injured in a diving accident and has been paralyzed since he was 16 years old. He credited Reeve for his work to find a cure and while not specifically speaking to Edwards’ statement also warned of the irresponsible type of hope that John Edwards is trying to sell. "I've been in a wheelchair now for about 26 years, and when I broke my neck, doctors said it would be five to 10 years before they would find a cure. Obviously it's 26 years later," Beck told WTVO in Rockford, Illinois. "For those of us who have lived with a spinal cord injury for a long time we can't base our lives on the hope that we're going to find a cure."

Republican Senator and physician Bill Frist also chastised Edwards. "I find it opportunistic to use the death of someone like Christopher Reeve -- I think it is shameful -- in order to mislead the American people," Frist told CNN. "We should be offering people hope, but neither physicians, scientists, public servants or trial lawyers like John Edwards should be offering hype.” Frist wasn’t finished bluntly lecturing the crass trial lawyer, "It is cruel to people who have disabilities and chronic diseases, and, on top of that, it's dishonest. It's giving false hope to people, and I can tell you as a physician who's treated scores of thousands of patients that you don't give them false hope."

Every family in America has watched as a loved one has suffered from some type of disease or illness. Many have prayed and all have hoped for a miracle cure to help their loved ones through their difficult times. Medical research has advanced every day, and gives incredible reason for hope, but the tonic of stem cell research that Edwards is selling in the name of Christopher Reeve carries no guarantee. Especially as a cure for paralysis.

The topic of stem cell research does very well in focus groups as Americans want hope of the cure of disease. And adult stem cell research shows tremendous promise. But embryonic stem cell research is another story as many see it as crossing an ethical line. In the last debate, John Kerry stumbled as he tried to answer the ethics of destroying life to try to save it. He even mentioned “Chris Reeve” by name and will likely try that approach again in tonight’s debate.

And why not? Both John Edwards and John Kerry have now proven that the Kerry/Edwards ticket is not only willing to leap over that ethical line but exploit the hopes and fears of Americans who are dealing with disease and illness for nothing more than a partisan attempt to garner votes.

The exploitation in a word—disgusting.

CK Rairden is the National Editor of the Washington Dispatch

http://www.washingtondispatch.com/opinion/article_10307.shtml