Palin calls Fruit Fly research an "Earmark" even though research found breakthroughs for Autism

[LynneSin]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/todd-palmer-and-rob-pringle/in-case-you-werent-scared_b_138089.html

In Case You Weren't Scared Enough: Palin on "Fruit Fly Research"

Today, we are blogging from Durham, North Carolina, where we are trying to do our humble bit to help elect Barack Obama. On Friday, Sarah Palin gave us yet another reason to feel good about what we're doing here.

We are far from the first people to comment on this subject -- even within the Huffington Post -- so we'll keep it brief. But Palin's mockery of "fruit fly research" during her October 24th speech on special-needs children was so misconceived, so offensive, so aggressively stupid, and so dangerous that we felt we had to comment.

Here's the excerpt from the speech:

"Where does a lot of that earmark money end up, anyway? <...> You've heard about, um, these -- some of these pet projects they really don't make a whole lot of sense, and sometimes these dollars they go to projects having little or nothing to do with the public good. Things like fruit fly research in Paris, France. I kid you not!"

It's hard to know where to begin deconstructing this statement. This was a speech on autism, and Palin's critics have pounced on the fact that a recent study of Drosophila fruit flies showed that a protein called neurexin is essential for proper neurological function -- a discovery with clear implications for autism research.

Awkward! But this critique merely scrapes icing off the cake.

Fruit flies are more than just the occasional vehicles for research relevant to human disabilities. They are literally the foundation of modern genetics, the original model organism that has enabled us to discover so much of what we know about heredity, genome structure, congenital disorders, and (yes) evolution. So for Palin to state that "fruit fly research" has "little or nothing to do with the public good" is not just wrong -- it's mind-boggling.

[Marrah_G]

1. Someone needs to tell her to stop embarrassing herself.

She is the worst possible role model for girls.

[theoldman]

2. Do any of you know why fruit flies are used for research?

I think it is because they have a very short life span and mutate at a high rate.

[HughMoran]

4. Yes, there was a poll about this and most of us passed the test

Unlike Sarah who is oblivious to simple facts.

[theoldman]

5. I am impressed because most of the people I know have no

knowledge about research. Of course I live in a very red area.

[LynneSin]

6. I did semester of genetics - I know all about the fruit fly

and I know it has significant importance for genetics research in general.

We're not studying why a fruit fly is attracted to fruit. We're studying mutations and usually in a couple of days you can get a fresh set of mutations from the last generation.

[HughMoran]

3. "calls" versus "causes"?

Anyway, she is an utter moran - she has no idea what she's talking about 90% of the time.

[LynneSin]

7. sorry, haven't had my morning tea yet

:eyes:

[old mark]

11. But that never stops her from talking, does it?

The idea that Palin is qualified to be president of the US is an insult.

mark

[QueenOfCalifornia]

8. She and those who

adore her don't give a fuck about finding a fix for autism. They are religious kooks who find a way to incorporate the "end of times" within everything - They do not "believe" in science - they think of it as voodoo and are scared to death of people like me who eschew their religious dogma and instead look to science for answers to understanding the universe.

Autism is just another sign that the end of times in getting closer and closer.

[Kokonoe]

9. It brings back some memories of 6th grade for me.

Palin must be a squirt of Reagan's ketchup is a vegetable era.

We have some work to do.

[TZ]

10. As I said elsewhere...

The complete assholery/imbecility of this is that she has a child with a GENETIC DEFECT (Downs syndrome) and yet she has NO CLUE about genetic studies? That is more than just appalling its downright embarrassing that illustrates she has learned nothing even with her own child!

[PA Democrat]

12. Bush didn't put a single cent in his budget to fund the Combating Autism Act

which would among other things have funded more of just this type of research. There have been other earmarks for autism research this past year because the Bush administration refuses to directly fund it as a line item in his budget.

[LynneSin]

13. Yeah but you know what Michael Savage says - it's all just brats with bad parents

:grr:

[jberryhill]

14. The actual grant to which she was referring

Is a $211K study of olive fruit flies in Montpelier, France as part of a broader program by the USDA to combat invasive species.

It's valuable work, but not genetic research:

http://www.cagw.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=11396

$211,509 in olive fruit fly research in Paris, France;

[LynneSin]

15. BTW Biden is going to be in Newark tomorrow

of course I have a hair appointment I can't get out of but incase you're interested it's at 10:30 at Memorial Hall at UDel.

If it was Obama I would cancel the appointment but I've seen Biden so many times that I'll probably skip this one.

[jberryhill]

16. That's a great spot

Makes me wish I still had my Evans Hall office from grad school.

Leaving for Cairo tomorrow (already voted absentee)

[marions ghost]

17. Sarah Palin = a cross between Peggy Hill and

Dick Cheney.

It's like Peggy gets selected and goes to Washington on the same day that Hank survives an alien abduction. Peggy gets drunk with power and turns e-vil. But at least she keeps us safe from the aliens....