It’s interesting.

I’m annoyed at President Bush because he’s going to do something I approve of, but for the wrong reasons.

It seems that Bush might use his veto power for the first time to strike down a bill to fund stem-cell research.

I think that it’s right for a president to veto this bill. Federal funding for research like this is improper.

However, Bush is not considering a veto because he agrees that the government shouldn’t be taxing people in order to promote medical research. He’s doing it to appease a constituency that foolishly thinks that using embryos to produce stem-cells for research is unethical because it might encourage terminations of pregnancies. It doesn’t seem to matter whether the claim is true. What seems to matter is the symbolism of promoting the idea that embryos should be treated like human beings.

I don’t know how promising embryonic stem-cell research is, but I understand that it would successfully compete with other research candidates on its technical merits. It would probably do more to promote the health of human beings than its competitors.

It just seems wrong that this is where he finally decided to exercise his presidential power to correct legislative errors. The symbolism of this act is aggravating.

So, Bush wants to veto the bill for symbolic, rather than practical reasons.

And, I’m annoyed by the veto for symbolic, rather than practical reasons.