4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 7, 2003 OP/ED Ulb L ktgt &I 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 QUOTABLE (For Syria to call a Security Council meeting is as if Bin Laden had called a Security Council meeting after 9/11." - Dan Gillerman, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, in response to Syria's decision to call for a meeting of the U.N. Security Councilfollowing Israel's air strike on Syria, as reported Sunday by the BBC. COLIN DALY TiH MICHIGAN DALY X CAN'T ° BELIEVEQ - HOW MACH THOSE NEWI 0' H HU MMERS P.. - LLUTE. a .,a q Forget 'awful' Democratic Party: Vote Stewart/Vedder in '04 4 AUBREY HENRETTY NEUROTICA he Democratic Party sucks. I mean it. It's awful. If political par- ties were breakfast cereals, the Democratic party would be the slightly discolored box of Puffed Rice that's been collecting dust behind the Cream of Wheat in your grandmother's cereal cabinet since 1986. I say this because it's campaign time again, and though the mere idea of four more years under the dread President Dubya might be enough to compel even the rainy-day liberal to get Wesley Clark's face tattooed on her ass (wait - her donkey or her buttocks? I'll let you decide), it shouldn't be. There are reasons. Remember the 2000 presidential election? Remember how the Democratic candidate was serving as vice president in an administration under which the U.S. economy had grown faster than a Chia Head on crack? Remember how the Republican candidate was a failed business- man and also the proud governor of a state that had zero moral compunctions about cap- itally punishing retarded people? It should have been very, very easy for Democrats in high places to convince Ameri- can voters to elect Al Gore, but they failed. Spectacularly. When your main opponent is only slightly less articulate than the average brick and yet you repeatedly fail to destroy him in public debates, you don't deserve to be president. And shame on your political affiliates for backing you. Mostly liberal and utterly disgusted, I reg- istered independent and voted Green in that election. As if to prove me right, the party continued to suck long after Bush swaggered into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Sept. 11 hap- pened, and suddenly there was this big, ugly bill before Congress called the USA PATRI- OT Act (abstract: "If we pay any attention whatsoever to the Fourth Amendment, the terrorists have won"). Awful though they had already shown themselves to be, I didn't real- ly want to believe that the Democrats in Con- gress would let the PATRIOT Act through. So they'd handed Bush the White House on a silver platter the previous November - so what? They were still civil-liberty-lovin' lib- erals with spines and scruples, right? Oh, what a foolish young thing I was. No more. I've given up what little hope I once had for the Democratic Party, and seeing its members cropping up now, after three years of nodding politely at Bush's every butchered sentence and waiving their every chance to check his power, irks me to no end. So I say forget them. What the people of this country really need is a pair of stellar surprise candidates to spring up out of the woodwork. We need a presidential candidate who regularly pokes holes in the mainstream media's definitions of "patriot" and "terror- ist," who can take boring old political issues and make them accessible - even side-split- tingly funny - to the yawning masses. We need a vice-presidential candidate who can give voice to the young, the liberal and the angry, whose very presence brings them out in approval-roaring droves. We need Jon Stewart and Eddie Vedder. Yes. The host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" and the lead singer of Pearl Jam, the greatest American rock band of all time - it would be glorious. You think I'm kidding. But come with me on this one. As host of "The Daily Show," Stewart's been cutting Bush down to size on basic cable every Monday through Friday at 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time since day one of the Bush presidency. And unlike the Democ- ratic "leaders" who so raise my ire, Stewart didn't bite his tongue when Bush pre-emp- tively demonized his detractors. He repeated that which needed repeating (Bush saying in complete and total earnest that he was "a fol- lower of American politics" - a clip over- looked by the likes of CNN) and mocked that which needed mocking (terror alerts, mass media spin, etc.). We can trust this guy. And Vedder, well, he's been an outspoken critic of Bush administrations past and present ever since he wore that homemade "NO BUSH '92" shirt on "Saturday Night Live" 11 years ago. He has interviewed Gloria Steinem on pirate radio, spoken at Ralph Nader rallies and played the ukelele. He'd be the perfect charismatic angry-yet-sensitive compliment to Stewart's straightforward savvy. Jon, Eddie (is it okay if I call you Jon and Eddie? Please?), your country is counting on you. Don't let us down. 4 4 Henretty can be reached at ahenrett@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Abortion advocates wrong to suggest that anti-abortion stance is "simple-minded" TO THE DAILY: As an intelligent woman and member of the allegedly intelligent University com- munity, I take offense at Erin Stringfel- low's implication that people who stand against abortion are more simple-minded than abortion advocates, (Abortion foes try to keep issue in spotlight, 10/06/03). Does she think I can't grasp the ramifications of an unwanted pregnancy? I am simply com- mitted to making choices that are in line with my beliefs; namely, aIbelieve that "an unwanted pregnancy" is a living human being and so I must act accordingly. If anything, that complicates my life more , than having an abortion would, because I have to look out for the interests of two people, not just my own. Whether you agree with my beliefs or not, at least have the decency to respect my ability to make rational decisions? ABIGAIL SHORT LSA senior Butler's cartoon incorrectly depicts Syria as blameless victim of Israeli aggression TO THE DAILY: Sam Butler's cartoon yesterday showed how little understanding he has of Middle Eastern politics and the concept of counter- terrorism. Syria has been on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism since the list's inception in 1979. Bashar al-Assad's regime harbors multiple terrorist groups not only in Damascus, but in Syrian-occupied Lebanon. Literally dozens of groups have had training camps there, primarily in the Bekka Valley, the eastern Lebanese region that borders Syria. The air raid by the Israeli Air Force into Syria was not only justified, but it was long overdue. The terrorist training camp attacked was that of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a group that has conducted repeated suicide terrorism and is responsible for the murder of over 100 Israelis, including 19 from this past weekend in Haifa. Rn,,tler's rcrton sh ora smiling Ari terrorists, the only practical way to remove this threat is to do just that; remove the threat. This involves attacking terrorist lead- ers and training camps, just as we have been doing in Afghanistan since October 2001. This is what Israel did in Syria Sunday; it attacked the training facilities of murderers in training. Yet for some reason, I do not recall any cartoons about President Bush mowing the lawn and knocking down the mailbox of the Taliban after Sept. 11. ELI SEGALL LSA senior To compete with Ivy Leagues, Hors Program should give schodrships to minorities TO THE DAILY: The lack of ethnic variety and blacks specifically, in the University's Honors Pro- gram is not a problem specific to the Uni- versity, but rather an interesting problem that touches honors programs in colleges and universities across the country. The lack of minorities in honors programs is a soci- etal problem that connects to possible inade- quate economic resources for higher education and uneven educational opportu- nities offered in college preparatory schools. It is not a question, let it be known, of the innate intelligence or intellectual acuity of black students. To be sure, as a high school senior I was forced to turn down several schools in order to accept a full-scholarship offer from a school to which honors pro- gram membership was attached. I could have gone here or there, but I hadn't the money to go anywhere. Black students want "full-rides" to college and the ones qualified for admission to the Honors Program are being hotly recruited by the Ivy League - with full financial-aid packages. Princeton University, for example, has completely eliminated student loans. This means that if I am admitted to Princeton and am in need of financial assistance, not only, will I receive all the money I need to make it possible to attend, but it also means that I will be given only grants and work-study to cover my educational expenses - not loans. All these things considered, what will it take to plug more students of color into hon- ors programs? MADISON MOORE LSA junior It is a very well-known and documented fact that she was a universalist; Mother Teresa herself alluded to this in her speech to the United Nations in 1985 and on numerous other occasions. When the neglected residents of Calcutta, India lay dying on the streets, she made certain their last rites were performed in the prescribed manner of their own religion, be it Islam, Hinduism or Christianity. As an Indian and practicing Hindu, I understand the anger felt in developing countries toward for- eign missionaries. Encounters with religious fundamentalists can be humiliating and painful and there are indeed many missionar- ies who shut their doorseto thosewho refuse to convert, but Mother Teresa never envisioned or practiced this sort of bias. I fully support Mother Teresa's canon- ization; her actions are worthy of the highest honors, and yes, even the worship of those who are willing. It is my hope that the next time a critique of arguably one of the world's greatest personages is written, the author will give adequate pause and assess the validity of her claims. DEEPTi REDDY LSA sophomore Chirummilla needs to do more research and get Catholic beliefs correct A To THE DAILY: Sravya Chirumamilla's column, Mother Teresa and the Devils, (10/03/03) reaffirmed the fact that having a degree from a prestigious university isn't a good indicator of wisdom. Chirumamilla clearly dislikes Mother Tere- sa (or at least what she thinks she knows about her). One must wonder how much of her opin- ion of this soon-to-be canonized saint is formed by second- and third-hand gossip versus jour- nalistic investigation or accounts of those who have worked directly with the Missionaries of Charity in their caring for the poor. But for someone who seems to think she knows the inner thoughts of a cardinal some think is papabile, Chirumamilla's column only proved her ignorance of what the Roman Catholic Church teaches. Catholics do not wor- ship saints. Worship is reserved for God. A five- minute perusal of a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church could have corrected that error. I do hope that Chirumamilla does her jour- nalistic duty and checks her facts the next time she writes a column on the Catholic Church or 4 i . ......... . vy, v-*...,.;:, J