Eric Prince and David Prentice: The Blackwater/Anti-Stemcell Connection

[laststeamtrain]

Don C. Reed
Posted: February 2, 2010 06:07 PM


Eric Prince and David Prentice: The Blackwater/Anti-Stemcell Connection


What is the connection between Erik Prince, owner of Blackwater/Xe, perhaps the world's largest private army, and David Prentice, Ph.D, widely-known opponent of embryonic stem cell research?

Money.

Prentice is Senior Fellow for Life Sciences on the Family Research Council (FRC), a right-wing religious lobbying group, founded and funded by the family of Erik Prince.

The FRC mission statement reads, in part:

"...the Family Research Council promotes the Judeo-Christian worldview as the basis for a just, free, and stable society."

The FRC "Judeo-Christian worldview" apparently includes opposition to: gay rights, abortion, evolution, environmentalism, public health care, the Department of Education, taxes -- especially taxes -- and embryonic stem cell research.

Erik's father, Edgar Prince, financially began the Family Research Council, including construction of its six-story building in Washington DC. Others led it: evangelist James Dobson of Focus on the Family, and conservative icon Gary Bauer; but Prince donated the money to make it happen. As Bauer said in a eulogy for the elder Prince, "...without Ed and Elsa and their wonderful children, there simply would not be a Family Research Council."

Son Erik used inheritance money ($1.35 billion was realized from the sale of his father's auto parts business) to found Blackwater, recently renamed Xe, currently accused of the unprovoked massacre of Iraqi civilians.

Erik's sister Betsy famously said "...my family is the largest single contributor of soft money to the national Republican party..." Married to Dick DeVos, of the Amway fortune, she is an active funder of conservative causes, including such gifts as, according to Salon:

"Between July 2003 and July 2006, the (Edgar and Elsa Prince) Foundation gave at least $670,000 to the Family Research Council and $531,000 to Focus on the Family."

<more>

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/don-c-reed/eric-prince-and-david-pre_b_446709.html

[Demeter]

1. If You Don't Like Stem Cells, Don't Use Any

and die of curable diseases, suckers!

Leave the rest of us alone.

[Zoeisright]

2. Both of those assholes are a waste of water and oxygen.

Period.

[maddezmom]

3. just read this and was about to post

these people are pure evil.