So he does have a red pen

President Bush dropped the veto hammer for the first time in his five and a half years in office today. Was it on a profligate spending package or a measure that chips away at civil rights or a bill that hikes the cost of federal student loans? Of course not: The very first rejection of his presidency came on a plan to provide federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

Here's the Bush syllogism: 1) The public shouldn't fund things that are wrong. 2) Murder is wrong. 3) Embryonic stem cell research is murder. 4) The public shouldn't fund such stem cell research.

If you accept the third step, the conclusion makes perfect sense. Of course, after you reach that conclusion, you'll want to stop pondering the issue or else you might end up asking inconvenient questions like "If embryonic stem cell research is murder, why hasn't Bush pushed to ban it entirely?" So stop pondering already.