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6 Stalemate and the Idioms of Science-Based Controversy GeorgeW. Bush’s Manichean Idiom and Barack Obama’s Return to a Scientistic Idiom onAugust 9,2001,President GeorgeW.Bush delivered his first televised policy address to the nation.He announced his policy for ES cell research,what the administration called a compromise policy that allowed funding for research only on ES cells that had been derived prior to his speech.The incessant drumbeat of criticism from both opponents and proponents of ES cell research began immediately after the speech aired.While compromises will always leave both sides somewhat dissatisfied with the outcome,this speech and the policy it announces are particularly problematic for two reasons. first, the speech is untimely—it fails to have an appropriate kairos, the proper time and opening to effectively persuade. Second, the speech veered away from the scientistic idiom used in other forums, and it presented the debate in a Manichean idiom that undercut the possibility of finding the grounds for compromise. President Bush’s speech on ES cell research exacerbated the divide between opponents and proponents by presenting both sides of the debate as inexorably joined to religion or science and by not managing to adjudicate the claims of both sides to create the space for successful compromise.The policy his speech announced produced a stalemate:Public debate repeated the arguments by definition established prior to Bush’s speech and maintained a strong science-versusreligion divide, while scientific research performed an argument about definition aimed at clarifying and reifying the concepts extant in the research and also worked to produce ES cells that circumvented the restrictions of the Bush policy.This state of affairs continued until March 3,2009,when President Barack obama established a new policy on ES cell research that he articulated in a scientistic idiom. The Early Presidency of GeorgeW. Bush Many have noted that George W. Bush’s tenure in the White House is a tale of two presidencies.The first is a pre-9/11 presidency in which the president took office having lost the popular vote by a slim margin,lacking the mandate to push Idioms of Science-Based Controversy / 119 forward many of his programs,and facing a Senate controlled by the Democrats. The second is the post-9/11 presidency during which, as a wartime president, Bush wielded extraordinary political power. Commentators have enumerated the various challenges Bush’s pre-9/11 presidency faced (frum, 2003; Hilliard, Lansford, & Watson, 2004; Hult & Walcott, 2007; Kraus, McMahon, & Rankin, 2004).one issue is especially pertinent for understanding the process that led to Bush’s August 2001 speech on stem cell research: perceptions of his intellectual ability.According to Campbell (2004),“In the 2000 election, George W. Bush had been portrayed as not intellectually up to the presidency” (p. 21). Hult and Walcott (2007) note that Bush was “seen widely as an intellectual lightweight” (p. 364),and Kirtley (2004) discusses speculation that Bush is dyslexic.Bush and his staff had to alter this perception and reassure Americans that the president was capable of addressing the complex issues the nation would face. Bush and his staff chose the issue of ES cell research, believing it would be an ideal topic in which the president could show he was intellectually capable of addressing complex issues and engaging policy debates.To have the president successfully address such a multifaceted issue involving entrenched political constituencies, intense ethical debate, and complex, innovative science would eliminate doubts about his intellect. During the month leading up to his decision ,White House staff emphasized the president’s direct engagement with the most complex aspects of the ES cell debate. In June,White House chief of staff Andrew Card discussed the president’s deliberations about stem cell research with reporters:“He’s actually put quite a bit of time into this. . . . He’s talked with ethicists. He’s talked with scientists, doctors. He is spending a lot of time. It should not be treated as an easy issue” (Gilbert & Skiba, 2001). In mid-July, Cnn reported,“SeniorWhite House aides have tried to project an image of a studious President, one who is taking opinions from all sides, one who met just last night with a group of bioethicists”(“D.C.Police Search,”2001).In the hours leading up to Bush’s speech,nBC news told audiences,“for months,the president has agonized over a choice that has tremendous political consequences. Sources say he’s even raised the dilemma during unrelated...

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