THE STEM WEDGE. Apropos of my earlier post, Jim Talent can probably consider himself lucky that Claire McCaskill's only throwing Michael J. Fox at him. If you want to see some real chin music, take a look at this ad on a similar theme, which is being run against Josh Marshall's old pal, Count (Chris) Chocola, and in a number of other races across the country. (Thanks to the redoubtable Mr. TBogg for the original tip). The beauty of stem-cell research as a wedge issue is that it not only forces the Republicans to defend the most radical of their Christianist allies -- note that the star-studded extravaganza from Missouri doesn't even mention religion, but has Jesus Caviezel mumbling Aramaic in front of some graven image -- but it also subtly positions the party as grotesquely anti-science. There are still enough people alive who remember that scientific achievement was one of the ways we were going to defeat the godless Russian Commies. Hell, we put a man on the moon and invented Tang, Vel-Cro, and Teflon along the way.
And the best non-Rapture answer the GOP can come up with is, "Well, there aren't any breakthroughs yet and there never may be any." (This, of course, is not to mention Mrs. Raymond's fear of a Clone Army marching on Jefferson City.) Who hates America now?
--Charles P. Pierce