Rod Blagojevich sounded more like a king than a governor this week in announcing $10 million in grants for stem-cell research in Illinois.

"I'm not going to wait for a bunch of politicians in Springfield who won't do the right thing to help cure diseases," the governor said without making distinctions between legislative supporters and opponents.

With those words, the state's chief politician doled out the grants to 10 researchers at six hospitals or universities, five in the Chicago area.

The governor's biting words just added salt to the wounds of legislators who claim he slipped the $10 million into this year's budget without explanation. We doubt there is one lawmaker who doesn't want to cure diseases. The issue is how diseases are cured.

The governor treated legislators as though they know nothing about stem-cell research. The governor would probably get majority support in the Legislature if the money was for adult stem-cell research only, but the $10 million will include embryonic stem-cell research opposed by most Republicans and some Democrats. Opponents say the research involves killing embryos, likened to babies.

The governor seems convinced of researchers' claims that embryonic stem cells are better than adult stem cells for experimenting on ways to reverse the progression of, or cure, numerous diseases.

The governor's attitude may hamper his desire to spend about $15 million in fiscal 2007 for similar research grants.

Eventually, the governor wants to spend a total of about $100 million for stem-cell research. But neither the House nor Senate has approved such spending.

The governor may have to follow through on his threat to get research money through executive order because Senate Democrats earlier this month talked about using the research money in the governor's proposed budget for other state programs.

He should take heed of the saying that goes "honey attracts more flies than vinegar" - and it tastes better, too.