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Politics: President Obama on Stem Cell Research
Tania Isabel Patino
University of Texas at El Paso

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Stem cells are cells that can become any other type of cell throughout the body. Because stem cells can regenerate themselves, scientists have developed studies to understand how they can use these cells to treat disease. What scientists are trying to do is to replace cells that die due to disease with stem cells so that they can generate new cells. For this research there is a huge need of money. President Obama has approved this research and has agreed to fund this project. My rhetorical analysis will be on a YouTube video by The New York Times of President Obama accepting to fund and his point of view on this research.
There is a lot of controversy on whether stem cell research is right or wrong. Religious people find this research wrong because in order to get stem cells, scientists have to destroy a human embryo. In religious terms this procedure is like taking a life away, even though for scientists it is not a human yet. This video is for all Americans, in order to inform them that stem cell research will be funded by the president. It is for all the people who approve stem cell research and for all those with hope for cures for disease. It is to send a message to scientists that the president of the United States it is counting on them for medical innovation.
The purpose of this video is to inform all Americans that change and hope will come to this country. It is to inform all scientists that work under this research that not only President
Obama but all the people out there who want to be cured and willing to wait as much as it takes for something that will change their lives completely. It is a way to inform that stem cell research will not affect us in a negative way but in a positive. It is to get the message across to all citizens on this country that the president of the United States believes in this research and that he will fund this study because he is certain that it will work. The main purpose of this video is to let everyone know that medical innovation will come due to that President Obama will fund such a huge and important study.

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This New York Times video is very logic. It talks about a topic that has been around for many years. Since 1996 there has been a political issue on this research. Up until now President
Obama has decided to change this and support scientists to grow as a country. “Medical miracles do not simply happen by accident, they result from painstaking and costly research, from years of lonely trial and error…When government fails to make these investments opportunities are missed…some of our best scientists leave for other countries that will sponsor their work, and those countries may surge ahead of ours in the advances that transform our lives (Politics: President
Obama on Stem Cell Research, 2009).” By saying this President Obama is encouraging Americans that this research is the best for our country and to develop new discoveries that will make a big change in our lives. A president will always want the best for its country, and supporting this kind of research is a way of saying that President Obama is trying to help all Americans that need this kind of medical advances.
President Obama is more in favor of science evolution rather than moral values. By respecting others and their moral values he is willing to fund this research responsibly. “It is a difficult and delicate balance, many thoughtful and decent people are conflicted about or strongly oppose this research, I understand their concerns, and we must respect their point of view (Politics:
President Obama on Stem Cell Research, 2009).” President Obama later on his speech says that there will be strict guidelines in order to prevent misuse of this research. With guidelines President
Obama will try to prevent more controversy between those who are against and those who are in favor of pursuing this research.
President Obama presented a very strong argument that will change our society. President
Obama says he cannot promise the cure of all diseases but that he, by signing the executive order, promises to seek for the cure. “By doing this, we will ensure America’s continued global leadership

Running Head: PRESIDENT OBAMA ON STEM CELL RESEARCH 4 in scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs. That is essential not only for our economic prosperity, but for the progress of all humanity (Politics: President Obama on Stem Cell
Research, 2009).” He hopes that by funding this research many of our loved ones who are sick will have a chance of getting cured. A research of this kind is just not any research, it is a research that will give new opportunities, and the president even said so.
The president of the United States throughout his speech had a very positive an enthusiastic tone of voice. He is really looking forward to this research and the finding of cures for diseases that many Americans suffer. Obama believes that the cure will eventually come with time, and he honors those who did not have a chance by trying to give a chance to others who are sick. “But if we pursue this research, maybe one day, maybe not in our lifetime, or even in our children’s lifetime, but maybe one day other like him might (Politics: President Obama on Stem Cell
Research, 2009).” He wants to give hope to people who are sick or that are disabled. By using his positive tone of voice he really gets people to believe and support this research.
Obama uses Christopher Reeve as an example of a disabled person who believes on stem cells and who raised awareness to this study. Christopher Reeve was an actor that suffered an injury that caused him to be paralytic. He helped stem cell research get funded, since he believed that stem cells could really work and he was hoping that he could walk again. President Obama acknowledges Christopher Reeve by saying that he wished Christopher Reeve was here to be part of the signing of his executive order. “We honor those we know who used their influence to help others and bring attention to this cause, people like Christopher and Dana Reeve who we wish could be here to see this moment (Politics: President Obama on Stem Cell Research, 2009).”
President Obama signed the executive order, in order to help all of those who believe that stem cells could work to help and cure disease and any other disabilities. By using the story of

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Christopher Reeve in his speech the audience can now tell that sick and disabled people look forward this research. They are hoping scientists figure the way to use stem cells to help them regenerate their cells and cure them, and Obama is helping this research to help all those who have hope.
The most credible part of this New York Times video is that is a speech by the president of the United States. When a president gives a speech is something to consider true because the president of the United States does not give speeches that are not informative. President Obama promises many things on his speech before signing this executive order. We as Americans trust what he is saying and believe in him making us trust every word he says. “Ultimately, I cannot guarantee that we will find the treatments and cures we seek, no president can promise that, but I can promise that we will seek them, actively, responsibly, and with the urgency required to make up for lost ground (Politics: President Obama on Stem Cell Research, 2009).” Obama has made many positive changes in the United States that with this speech, people believe on him. A president’s job is to ensure that things he orders go as he expects them, and the audience knows that he will follow up with scientists to ensure that the money used in stem cell research is being used in the right way.
The New York Times is a very recognizable news organization throughout the United
States. Many Americans trust this news organization that is why one of the most popular news in the United States. The New York Times website is one of the most visited around the country, they bring news happening in our country and world news. There are different videos on YouTube of this speech and The New York Times video is the one with the most views. The views of the video Politics: President Obama on Stem Cell Research shows that viewers trust The New York
Times rather than any other video posted by other users.

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The video by The New York Times, Politics: President Obama on Stem Cell Research uses the three rhetorical appeals: logos, pathos, and ethos. The main purpose of this video is to inform
Americans and scientists that stem cell research will be funded by the president of the United
States. Its audience is to all citizens who believe that stem cell research is a way of creating a medical innovation. This video is about President Obama’s speech on stem cell research before he signs an executive order. By watching this video you can tell that president Obama portrayed the use of logos, pathos, and ethos to get his message across.