Slate's Will Saletan accuses President Bush of hypocrisy and challenges him to reconcile his statements about stem-cell research and the death penalty; these statements, for example:
"The President is committed to medical research that does not violate the dignity of human life or exploit one human life for the benefit of another."Such statements are reconciled easily, by inserting the understood but unspoken word "innocent" in the proper places:—White House fact sheet, State of the Union, Feb. 2, 2005
"I happen to believe that the death penalty, when properly applied, saves lives of others. And so I'm comfortable with my beliefs that there's no contradiction between the two."—Bush, April 14, 2005
"The President is committed to medical research that does not violate the dignity of human life or exploit one innocent human life for the benefit of another."It's easy to understand the President's point, if you are willing to do so.
"I happen to believe that the death penalty, when properly applied, saves innocent lives...."
UPDATE: Eugene Volokh (he of the eponymous Conspiracy) points out that the White House and the President did make the point about innocence in the very transcripts linked to by Saletan. But Saletan selectively (and dishonestly) omitted those portions of the transcripts.
