With the recent rescinding of the stem cell research restrictions, BHO mentioned that cloning was "dangerous, profoundly wrong," and that the government would not open the door for reproductive cloning.
This, to me anyway, is a fair compromise. Stem cell research does have its advantages that can be used to possibly save lives, but there are controversies regarding the ability to use stem cells to clone and the issue regarding killed embryos. We can talk about dead embryos, dead fetuses (feti? Bah - using fetus for now) on the subject of abortion, and besides, a bigger concern is stem cell research's potential gateway to cloning, which BHO warned against.
Now let's talk about cloning, shall we? Let's just take a look at why reproductive cloning, the subject people generally consider "cloning" (therapeutic cloning is generally a lesser known [and lesser "clear cut"] issue than reproductive cloining), to be "dangerous," and "wrong," to use PrezBO's terms.
While having your own Clone Army manufactured in Montana may sound like a fun idea, chances are other people with equal or greater resources than you are doing the exact same thing. And that can be dangerous, since most people who want their own private massive army want to do so to dominate the world, and that's traditionally done through militaristic methods. Well, I suppose you could achieve WD diplomatically, but that could be a lot more time consuming and ineffective. So there's one reason to be against cloning - and I do apologize if I spoiled anyone's secrets.
Another issue with cloning is, how will society and the law view clones? What rights will they have? From a certain viewpoint, clones would become the new slaves. I mean let's face it - if one soldier in your clone army died, you probably see it as a statistic and not tragic. Clones, because of their means of origin, can be seen as expendable, and more like things instead of people.
You also have the issue of clone discrimination - certain people may refuse to provide goods and services to clones because they're clones. Well, to them clones aren't real people anyway, instead they're either things or animals. If you think people won't be able to tell who is a clone and who isn't, there's probably going to be some type of a way. It may not be as initially obvious as examining someone's skin color, but there would probably be a way.
And there is one other thing that may be a problem in how society views clones: expectations. Say we were to clone... ah, he's the topic of the week - Rush Limbaugh. With Rush the Clone, the expectation and the intention for Rush the Clone is to be a nationally syndicated radio talk show host. What if he says "screw that" and decides to take up ballet? Whoops. So much for having Rush Limbaugh become the next Rush Limbaugh - he looks like Rush, sounds like Rush (vocally, not verbally), but he doesn't act like Rush. And you can't force him to go into radio if he doesn't want to. Not the intention the cloners had, especially when cloning celebrities.
And to head on a slight tangent, when you think about those possibilities (Rush the ballerina, Peyton Manning the CBS White House correspondent, Lindsay Lohan the Certified Public Accountant), it really broadens that mental image of someone. You can see that person doing more than just that one thing they're known for. But that's enough for psychological perceptions.
Clones will see clones as people, non-clones will see clones as things. Bland stereotype, but that would be one of the potential problems to arise out of cloning. These things should be addressed first before introducing the first generation of clones into society.
Enough about clones, let's move back to PrezBO. I think this move illustrates his ability to compromise. He understand the benefits promoted by supporters, and the dangers raised by critics. It wasn't perfect by either group's standards, but it was the ideal medium. Under this medium, people can receive the treatments granted by scientific advantages, while restraining the dangerous and immoral practices that it could lead to. And this proves that he can compromise, even on loaded subjects such as stem cell research. Proving the right-wing wrong once again.
While I may not be PrezBO's biggest fan, I do have to give credit where credit is due.