4A -The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 17, 2003
OP/ED
UIj Irdimatd
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EDITED AND MANAGED BY
STUDENTS AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
SINCE 1890
LouIE MEIZLISH
Editor in Chief
AUBREY HENRETTY
ZAC PESKOWITZ
Editorial Page Editors
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NOTABLE
QUOTABLE
The middle-finger
jerk has survived for
over 2,000 years and is
still current in many
parts of the world,
especially in the
United States."
- The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals
in Austin, in a ruling where the
"shooting the bird" hand gesture was
found not to incite an immediate
breach of the peace, as reported by the
Houston Chronicle on Wednesday.
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SAM BUTLER TEi SOAPBOX
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Hillary's fashionfauxpas
SRAVYA CHIRUMAMILLA WrAVING THE HANDBASKET
uning into "The person cares and is making an effort. An a role in political fashions. Shriver's
Daily Show autobiography that claims both a love for clean-cut and bright outfits during the Cal-
with Jon Stew- the Yankees and a life as a feminist leader ifornia elections offered her and her hus-
art" last Wednesday beaten up on by the Republican heavy- band more time in the spotlight. In a
night and "The View" weights in Washington will not suffice to classic Jackie O.-styled outfit at the victo-
this Monday morning, change the minds of the countless millions ry celebration, Shriver brought to Califor-
I was shocked and dis- who opted not to buy the book. nians a hope of a return to Camelot.
appointed to see for- The book was a main focus in both Clinton understands the importance of
mer First Lady Hillary interviews, providing Clinton plenty of her appearance - the hoopla over her hair
Clinton don the same opportunities to diverge from the usual has accustomed her to this scrutiny. Thus, it
outfit and with it, a rhetoric. Unfortunately, she failed miser- is even more disappointing for her to com-
tired message. Sauntering onto the couches ably to capture either audience and even pletely disregard her outfit. What could
of both the Comedy Central and ABC shared the same stories. Both television have been a celebration of her appearance
show, Clinton sported a black pinstripe shows gave Clinton free access to two and somewhat entertaining interview (due
suit with a white shirt and pearls. very different voters: the increasingly more to Stewart's wit than Clinton's pres-
The problem arises not just because Clin- more informed young adult and the soccer cence) last week is now just a reminder of
ton wore the outfit on national television less moms of suburbia. However, by not cater- yet another moment marred by homogeny.
than a week apart but since it was inappropri- ing to either group, she wasted five to 10 Discontent with political leaders,
ate for both situation. While Jon Stewart and minutes of prime television plugs for her (known to the Germans as politikverdrossen-
colleagues wear suits, the show's guests are book, political career and party. heit) has been rising, especially with those
expected to wear an outfit that would endear It might not be fair to judge Clinton's who fail to change with the times or with
them to the young audience. Similarly, "The outfits when male politicians' fashions varying situations. Al Gore was not even
View" is organized around five women dis- (except for her husband's tie collection) able to carry his own state in 2000, because
cussing things ranging from the violence in are not as strictly scrutinized. However, his constituents felt he had spent too much
the weekend's box office hit, "Kill Bill" to years of reading fashion magazines time in Washington, losing touch with them,
the sexiest man in America contest. Their ingrains in my mind the need to analyze and since he was providing the exact same
outfits range just as widely and include print and notice the outfits of our leaders. rhetoric (repeat "lockbox" about 400 times).
dresses, pants-and-sweater combos and For example, Saddam Hussein emerged If the party is not able to spice things up and
Barb's infamous suits. on the scene wearing khaki fashions simi- provide alternatives with fresh voices, 2004
Clinton missed an opportunity to dress lar to those showcased at DKNY and can be written off as yet another lost cause.
for the job she wants and in turn could not Christian Dior, which brought back mili- Maybe if we vote into power a novice with
combat the label of a cold and unimpres- tary garb and tilted berets. Also, his ability few ties to public office, the Democrats will
sive person who rode into office on the to display his opulence in three-piece suits get the message that we're sick of the same
merits of her husband. Dressing well, sent the message to the residents of Iraq of ol' Washington politician.
made simple for men who can throw on a wealth, importance and stability.
tie, even if it is a Calvin and Hobbes- Even trophy wives - as Maria Shriver Chirumamilla can be reached
themed one, is a direct indicator that the has been cornered to represent - still play at schiruma@umich.edu.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Reader would rather be
bigot than sensitive, dead
TO THE DAILY:
Every week I read Ari Paul's opinion
piece, and as time goes by, the content of his
pieces surprises me less and less. This week
was no exception (U.S.A. uber allies,
10/15/03). I knew that time would come when
he would basically equate the Republican
Party with Adolf Hitler. It's almost credible:
Both discriminate, both marginalize, both
manipulate public opinion using generally
accepted ideas. The only difference is that
Hitler was wrong. Before Hitler came to
power, how many Jews ever screamed "death
to Germany?" How many Jews took up arms
against German landmarks? How many Jews
were ever a threat to the German national secu-
rity? The answer to all three is zero. Now, fast
forward to today: To what nationality did the
hijackers of you-know-which day in the calen-
dar belong? To which nationality do the ones
who today shout "Death to America" belong?
What region of the world poses the greatest
threat to national security? I think that all who
are reading this piece get the point.
Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote in a U.S.
Supreme Court opinion: Due to safety issues,
one cannot yell "fire" in a crowded theater.
This decision has greater implications: When
human life and civil liberties conflict with
one another, guess who wins? If there is no
life, what difference does it make whether or
not there is liberty? The Bush administration
has every right to detain those of Middle
Eastern descent to prevent future attacks. Due
process of law may be suspended, discrimina-
tion may be used and freedoms of religion,
speech and press may be suppressed if the
practice of all three runs the risk of putting
human life in jeopardy. Paul may be an
American that cherishes his liberty, but I'd
much rather be a bigot and a tyrant than be
sensitive and dead.
SLAVA GOLDSTEIN
LSA senior
Contrary to Paul's claims,
no association between
Manhattan Institute,
Nazis
TO THE DAILY:
Although Ari Paul's comparisons of
Republicans to Nazis are deeply offensive,
To set the record straight, the Manhattan
Institute was founded in 1978 thanks primari-
ly to Sir Antony Fisher, a British economist
(and mentor to Margaret Thatcher) who
wished to spread free-market ideas in public
policy. (Note that libertarianism is the eco-
nomic polar opposite of National Socialism.)
The institute's first chairman was William
Casey, a lawyer and businessman who would
later - in 1980 - become the director of the
CIA (his prior experience in the intelligence
world was mainly limited to his work for the
OSS, the CIA's predecessor, during World
War II). No doubt Casey's involvement with
the institute is the sole basis for Paul's claim
that it was "CIA-spawned," a claim that is
plausible only if one believes in time travel.
But Paul's predilection for tenuous guilt
by association is also seen in his bizarre claim
that the institute has Nazi or fascist leanings. I
have virtually no idea where he gets this idea
from - surely it's not from reading City
Journal, the institute's well-respected maga-
zine - but my guess is that it also stems
solely from Casey's involvement with the
institute. Although Casey played a central
role in infiltrating agents in Nazi Germany
during the war, he was later accused of being
too friendly with Nazis in the post-war peri-
od, when he was motivated by Cold War
strategizing. Even if this last claim is true, he
was never attracted to Nazism, and indeed
spoke of the horror he personally witnessed at
Dachau. Moreover, Casey's purported unsa-
vory involvement with Nazis implies
absolutely nothing about the ideology of
institute, whose leadership happens to include
numerous Jews.
In sum, Paul's charges about the insti-
tute's Nazi leanings are preposterous, base-
less and irresponsible. Indeed, the real
question is why the Daily allows such poten-
tially libelous claims to be printed at all.
JUSTIN SHUBOW
Rackham
Second-hand smoke outside
will not kill non-smokers;
reader needs a smoke
TO THE DAILY:
Second-hand smoke outside? (Keep your
distance, 10/15/03). You have got to be kid-
ding me. Smokers, one of the only groups it is
politically correct to persecute, have been
banished from all buildings save for select
bars and restaurants. Now people want to take
away the outdoors? Maybe I should just move
to France. Non-smokers, take a deep breath
expressed his anger at Steve Bartman, the
Chicago Cubs fan who arguably caused the
Cubs to lose their playoff game by interfer-
ing with a foul ball when saying "He won't
get a pardon from this governor."
While he probably was not 100-percent
serious, Blagojevich fueled anger towards
Bartman with his statement, forcing Bartman
to live in fear of physical and verbal assault.
As the great leader of Illinois, Blagojevich
owes better to his constituents.
We outside observers are appalled by the
Blagojevich's statement and pity Illinois
citizens. They must be terribly embarrassed
by their governor.
While Blagojevich has shamed Illinois
with his comments, Cubs outfielder Moises
Alou has shown the honor and respect that
we would expect from a governor. Alou,
who would have caught the ball if Bartman
had not interfered, says he feels sorry for
Bartman because every fan would act as
Bartman acted.
Normally we tolerate immaturity from
our athletes but expect our elected officials
to act honorably. The situation has been
reversed here. In the future, I hope Blago-
jevich will show the same decency that
Alou showed us.
SCOTT SCHLIMMER
LSA senior
Definitions of stem cells
must be better explained
TO THE DAILY:
As a graduate student in Biology, I was
disappointed in the article Stem cell research:
Funding to 'U' concerns gov't, student groups
(10/07/03). Scientific terms were used with
inadequate explanation, and it seemed the
author did not have a strong grasp of the con-
cepts involved.
Dictionary.com has four definitions for
"clone" and the first is: "To make multiple
identical copies of (a DNA sequence)." One
of the other three definitions addresses mak-
ing an artificial replication of an existing
animal, like Dolly the sheep. But, for the
average biologist cloning is replicating DNA
or cells with identical DNA. Cloning of the
embryonic stem cells would involve putting
them in a dish to multiply. Bear in njind that
people (and all multi-cellular organisms) are
actually a collection of clones. Each cell has
the same DNA and came from a single cell,
the fertilized egg.
Now, what is a "stem cell?" Biologists
don't actually agree on this definition. The
one I hear most in classes states that a stem
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