4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 6, 2003 OP/ED Ulbe £itck t u tag 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 letters@michigandaily.com EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 LOUIE MEIZLISH Editor in Chief AUBREY HENRETTY ZAC PESKOWITZ Editorial Page Editors Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. NOTABLE a QUOTABLE Its not going to be Bush and his cronies in business suits on the front lines. They're going to take people of color and poor people." - Stanford University sophomore Manon Terrell, who skipped classes yesterday in protest of the possible war with Iraq as part of the nationwide "Books not Bombs "protest, as reported yesterday by The Washington Post. Wait 4 THE f UZrAXI JOEL HOARD & SCOTT SERILLA STcx FIGURES ARE AWESOME TO Smm .4 AKIC &4AW, WRIE GALLD -Mr TH4AT So4NbS (AOL! CANJ s 5 ot'* 7 t T-00 I!r T WH IT AT ItSTKMAMr tb Y 'UL LAY! 6 1'14 A ST~AI4Tr-A uAIhE RAP-koac '5 OVIU.k ito WAY! to YOti TEL-L FIRLV DLARST I DIDN'T HAVE THE H EJkRT. 7 I r/ 1 Apocalypse then, now and tomorrow JOHN HONKALA Too EARLY IN THE SUN he apocalypse dency, the urge to turn the present into our tember: "We owe it to future generations sirens are very own doomsday, but not being of that to deal with (the situation in Iraq)." And s c r e a m i n g pursuasion, I cannot begin to speculate. warned British Prime Minister Tony Blair again. Loudly. And Suffice to say, humans have felt Armaged- in January: "The consequences of our as much as we try to don's presence for centuries. weakness will haunt future generations." scoff or laugh at And so again we have entered such a These are nice things to say, and effective. them, they are diffi- period. In the 18 months since Sept. 11, we Nobody wants to be complicit in the haunt- cult to ignore. Pick Americans have moved beyond FOX 2 ing of their grandchildren. E 3up a newspaper, turn Problem Solvers (Is your mechanic siphon- But we have seen in Panama, El Sal- on the television, talk ing off your gasoline?!) to Fox News' grim vador, Afghanistan, etc., that the United to your neighbor, you will find the world is queries (Does your washing machine sup- States is simply not committed to "nation- ending - war, dirty water, nuclear port terrorism?!). Waiting out the commer- building." History has shown that when we weapons, "The Bachelorette." Any time cial break doesn't just save you money or a fear the worst, we react knee-jerkedly, with now, the seas will boil and retch, or at the few pounds any more, it will save your life. little appreciation for either history or con- very least there will metal detectors at our Sadly, these notions aren't exclusively sequence. Afraid of communism? Send in PTA meetings. found on television news sets. They flutter the military. Think alcohol is poisoning And while all these things are indeed off the tongues of our neighbors, my waiter society? Amend the Constitution to make it troublesome, I must say that I am positive- last week, our classmates. illegal. But for the love of God, whatever ly whelmed. If the world is about to fall I can't help but believe that this inflated you do, be quick about it. apart now, it has been for hundreds of anxiety and the urgency that it instills in us The state of global affairs is indeed years. From the Great Pestilence to the causes us to act rashly. It encourages us to worrisome, frightening even. But there is Nuclear Age, populations have articulated eschew patience and rationality for instant- much to be optimistic about - an increas- their epochs as if they are teetering on the ly gratifying solutions. Nowhere is this ingly politicized populace, an invigorated edge, nearer the end than the beginning. outlook more detrimental than in the cur- anti-war movement. In communities across We snicker now at the self-flagellation-as- rent march toward war in Iraq. the country, organizations dedicated to penance of post-plague Italians or subur- Viewing the present as if we are on the combating poverty and inequality. ban American families with bomb shelters brink often precludes us from taking a long Unfortunately, the culture in which we in the 1950s, but those people represent view of our present problems. While war in live - sensational and urgent to say the very real, if exaggerated, segments of the Iraq may seem the only way to ensure our least - inclines us to believe that going to societies in which they lived. One need security, the reprecussions of a bungled war in Iraq is both necessary and incontro- only to read a'few comic books from the operation would only lead us down roads vertible. But history tells us otherwise. We 1950s to sense that decade's anxiety. that seem even more apocalyptic and anx- will not be swept away by blood and bile if Periods like these have led variously to ious - an increase in the already broad- we do not use military force in Iraq. The unfettered sexual promiscuity, war, dicta- based zealous anti-American sentiment death knell is not tolling. We are further tors, revolution. But whatever they have around the world, more terrorist attacks, a from the brink than many of us believe. wrought, they have reappeared year after more acutely live-wire Middle East. year on every continent. I imagine there Today's warhawks pay endless lip ser- Honkala can be reached at are psychological explanations for this ten- vice to posterity. President Bush in Sep- jhonkala@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR S 9 Nation might need a 'slap in the face', citizens are obligated to stand up and raise voices TO THE DAILY: Robert DeVore's letter to the editor (Stu- dent opposition to US. government 'a slap in the face', 03/05/03) was based upon misguided thinking. DeVore claims that we are not justi- fled in protesting the actions of the govern- ment since it has allowed us so many freedoms. It is wrong to say that citizens must earn their right to speak their mind. The flaw of DeVore's argument is that he assumes that the citizens of a country are oblig- ated to serve their government. This is not the case. The existence of government is based upon the consent of the governed. For this rea- son, it is important to voice your opinions so that the government knows how to best serve its people. If the government is not acting in its own citizens' best interests, it is the responsibili- ty of the people to demand change. Maybe a "slap in the face" is just what our government needs.. ADAM WHITE LSA freshman Citizens don't earn rights, they are born with them TO THE DAILY: As a fellow veteran of this country's armed forces (commissioned December 1996, Army) and an alumnus of this fine University (BSE 96, Aero), I believe I have, in Robert DeVore's terms, "moral justification" in responding to his argument (Student opposition to U.S. govern- ment 'a slap in the face', 03/05/03). DeVore makes it clear his belief that one should have to earn the right, as he did, to speak out against the government and it's actions. To do so without earning that right is a slap in the face to those who have made the ultimate sacri- fice for their country. I have two issues with his position. As far as having to earn your rights, I have to admit, that I side with Thomas Jefferson on this issue. It was Jefferson's belief that we are all born with the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happi- ness. While he was of the mind that one must have to fight for those rights from time to time, he made no such mention of a "litmus test" wherby citizens were granted certain rights only if they met certain criteria. (I know. I know. At the time those rights didn't really apply to non- land-owners. nearo sIves nor women hut that In the current chapter of our nation's history, where we have been told explicitly to "watch what we say, and watch what we do," I tend to admire these protesters. No, nobody is shooting at them and it doesn't look like they are making many sacrifices right now, but a govenment without a "loyal opposition" will slowly but surely descend into tyranny. I know the found- ing fathers felt this way. MARTY MCLAUGHLIN Alumnus Intelligent, two-sided debate needed to educate students on real issues concerning Iraq TO THE DAILY: While I'm glad to see that there seems to be some attempt at education in "Books not Bombs: Nationwide Student Strike Against the War," I have suspicion that the panels and lec- tures are going to be completely one-sided. The possibility of war in Iraq is not a simple matter, despite what many protests have you believe. There are very good arguments against going to war, but there are also very good argu- ments for going to war. From what I have seen, most protests or demonstrations by either side have made no attempt to help people make intelligent decisions about a war with Iraq. In an issue as important and complex as this, unbi- ased education is needed, not partisan rhetoric. Because of this, I do not feel that it is justified to skip classes, which are much better equipped to lead an unbiased debate, than to attend protest that will probably not enlighten me at all. However, if an intelligent two-sided debate were provided, that would be something that would be worth attending for everyone. DANIEL BAXTER LSA senior SAFE guest lecturer is insult to Holocaust remembrances TO THE DAILY: Next week signals the return of Hillel's annual Conference on the Holocaust. With sev- eral events planned around the education and history of the slaughter of millions of Jews, gays, blacks and other minorities, the Students Allied for Freedom and Equality have chosen to tarnish their already stained name by sponsoring a lecture given by Norman Finkelstein during this month. Finkelstein, a Jew born of two Additionally, Finkelstein has on numerous occasion not hesitated to call Elie Wiesel, a prominent professor, author and survivor of the Holocaust, "the head of the Holocaust circus," simply because Wiesel charges a speaker's fee to lecture at other universities. "Wiesel not only gives Jews a bad name, but sheisters as well," Finkelstein said in a lecture given in Toronto. Is teaching the Holocaust now considered a crime? Must we remove it from history text- books, so that it may occur again? I would glad- ly pay any fee to a survivor to relay their experiences of suffering during the Holocaust. I haven't the faintest clue what SAFE intends on accomplishing by bringing in this disrespectful bigot, especially at such an insensitive time. I don't think that anyone will argue that Palestini- ans suffer under their current conditions; there are several explanations and theories as to how to rectify the situation. Blasphemizing the expo- sure, even overexposure of the Holocaust is cer- tainly not one of them. Finkelstein should be lambasted for the same crime he speaks out against: making money on the Holocaust. The shameful timing of this event should not be forgiven. BRAD SUGAR LSA sophomore The letter writer is an MSA representative and Orthodox Minyan co-chair. Despite his faws, Bush is carrying out duties of job weU TO THE DAILY: Every week I read Joseph Litman's articles and can't help but laugh at the conclusions he reaches about our president. It seems to me that Litman cannot argue against George W. Bush's actions, and therefore mocks his char- acter instead, thinking that if there is some- thing wrong with the character, there must be something wrong with the actions. Over the last year and a half, the president has gone to great lengths to do his job well. As commander in chief he has taken extensive measures to protect his people. As chief legis- lator, he had pursued a huge tax cut to boost the economy, as chief executive he has arrest- ed numerous threats to national security and as chief of state and commander in chief he is trying to take whatever measures necessary to make sure terrorist organizations do not get their hands on weapons of mass annihilation. Additionally, as a leader he has surrounded himself with excellent personnel; one of the smartest moves a leader can make. It seems to me that Bush. although not the best oublic THE BOONDOCKS A AARON MC('IRI..!fl)l.-,,R I _ _. I