What kind of lives do we value?

Two excellent posts about, well, values and values.

• First Digby does a rant at Hullabaloo about the stem cell research debate, and makes a striking point about what kind of life we seem willing to sacrifice (think petri dish no, Iraqi kid yes).
  
  
• Greg Saunders, temping at This Modern World, points out that this sort of dichotomy extends to the provision of subsidized medical care -- apparently it's ok to give viagra to sexual predators, but also ok to erect insurmountable barriers between homeless and destitute folks and allegedly free medicines.

We do indeed live in a doublethink world...

Update: Saletan at Slate looks at the stem cell arguments against the death penalty arguments and also comes up a bit short. (via the Daou Report)