4A - TheMichiganDaily-_Monday,September_20,_2004 OPINION 0 I 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 ighta tct gan Dd~d tothedaily@michigandaily.com EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 JORDAN SCHRADER Editor in Chief JASON Z. PESICK Editorial Page Editor Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigfan Daily. NOTABLE QUOTABLE I have always looked forward to fully retiring from all leadership posts." - Jiang Zemin, former Chinese president, resigning as the head of the Chinese military, as reported yesterday by The New York Times. i ' ,, , ' . ,f . - _\ O ' } Z , « 7 '" ..- s' a H;, I'Wo hWal m~..xs OY- oayo "World \Jie.LA we. Oae-Cooi4tA.,\n% ouyr rort- s~p 4ho' rp 1 osCveaec rq SAM BUTLER THE S n. x The ghost of the Gipper DANIEL ADAMS HORSESHOES AND H.AND GRENADES hough perhaps inappropriate, President Ronald Reagan's passing this summer was inevitably political. The Republi- cans milked it for all it was worth. Most Demo- crats tried their best to be respectful. An auda- cious few, like bestsell- ing author Greg Palast, marked his passing with a column entitled, "Killer, Coward, Con-man - Good-riddance, Gipper." Today, with President Bush holding a 10-point lead over John Kerry, I'll bet there are a few more Democrats wishing they had taken a parting shot, because the specter of the late president continues to haunt them today. Though the fuel for Bush's recent surge was a fiery, aggres- sive Republican convention, his armor, his sense of "good" and "evil," his "moral clarity," as its popularly referred to, is pure Reagan. Thirty years after the Truman Doctrine divided the world into "good" and "evil," Reagan re-introduced the terms into the national debate. He would similarly divide the world, his own morality the compass for eight years of foreign policy. Issues which might have brought on the downfall of his administration instead got drowned out by his crusade against evil. In a now-famous 1983 speech, Reagan said, "Let us be aware that while they (totali- tarian regimes) preach the supremacy of the state, declare its omnipotence over individual men and predict its eventual domination of all peoples on the Earth, they are the focus of evil in the modern world." Sound familiar? "We are in a conflict between good and evil, and America will call evil by its name," said President Bush in a 2002 speech. "Moral clarity" is the buzzword, popular- ized in part by William Bennett's book, "Why We Fight; Moral Clarity and the War on Terrorism. Tragically, few have stopped and questioned this proposition - that a man's moral clarity, of which religion is a critical component, can and should have a positive political connotation. Clearly this is problematic, especially so for America's religious minorities, who are acutely aware that their own moral choices often preclude them from election to high office (see Joe Lieberman). These minorities have no choice but to watch Bush's Christian agenda flirt dangerously with the separation of church and state and hijack issues of national importance. Moreover, there is something very unsettling about encouraging the elec- torate to value one man's spirituality over another, as Bush has done unabash- edly during the campaign. I don't think that Kerry has been any less clear, as it were, about his own morality - a prod- uct of devoted, lifelong Catholicism. He just hasn't campaigned on it. Bush, on the other hand, has actively cultivated his image as the morally supreme candidate, often including religious references in stump speeches. It's safe to say that come November, Bush's spirituality might win him the election, while Kerry's, as if inherently less valuable, may only bring him private consolation. The other component of "moral clarity" is a sort of dogged determination - a decisiveness under fire that is undeniably politically powerful in a post-Sept. 11 America. Again, this is an image of Bush that has been successfully sold to Amer- ica by the GOP. In a Gallup survey taken in early September, 60 percent said that "decisive" is a label that applies to Bush, while only 32 percent said it fits Kerry. Decisiveness, however, is only valuable if the decisions made prove correct. But even after two foreign wars, two demol- ished nations and 8,157 casualties, this debate still hasn't happened. More than likely, it won't happen. In the court of public opinion, Bush's status as the mor- ally stronger and more decisive candidate precludes any debate on the issues. Moral clarity is as it was under Reagan - a poor substitute for performance, a miserable excuse for malfunction, but good enough for America. And just as Democrats were unable to pin a rising national debt, a failed drug policy and foreign policy debacles in Lebanon, Iran and Nicaragua on the beloved Gipper, Kerry will also find it difficult to make this campaign about a mediocre first-term president. Though few would characterize our cur- rent strategic position as tenable, many would still characterize Bush's moral clarity as a strategic asset. If we swallow this, a dubious justifi- cation for dogmatic and inflexible lead- ership, don't be surprised if we end up choking on four more years of failure. 4 f1 Adams can be reached at dnadams@umich.edu LETTERS TO THE EDITOR I Spectators misbehaving? A fan's guide to proper Big House etiquette To THE DAILY: Michigan has thousands of truly great fans who do an excellent job of cheering on the Victors at every home game. How- ever, I was disappointed in the actions of some fans at this Saturday's game against San Diego State, and it has inspired me to write this letter to inform people of what constitutes proper "football etiquette": 1. You don't argue politics with your fellow fans at the game. I watched a father make a complete fool of himself, in front of his own son no less, by launching an unprovoked assault on my friend and me about President Bush's poor leadership. Yo Dad, it's a football game, okay? Stick to the football. 2. You don't start the wave when the game is still close. I was appalled to see the fans in section 29 start the wave with Michigan up 24-21. The game was still very much in the balance at the time, and the team needed the fans to be cheering very loudly and paying attention to the game, not doing the wave. The wave is only to be started when Michigan is lead- ing by multiple touchdowns. 3. Get off your cell phone during the game! It's sad when there's a game going on and you have people on their phones more concerned with talking to friends and finding out where the party is going to be that night than cheering on our defense to a third down stop. Come on, what's really more important than the football game when you're at the stadium? Either get off your phone, or go home. 4. Make some noise! It's amazing how Michigan always has the biggest crowd watching a football game in America for every home game, yet it isn't even close to being one of the loudest stadiums in the country. Teams love it when the crowd gets really loud; they really feed off it and it also makes it difficult for the opposing team. If fans follow this advice, the Big House will be a better place. BRENDON WEBB Engineering senior LETTERS POLICY The Michigan Daily welcomes letters from all of its readers. Letters from University stu- dents, faculty, staff and administrators will be given priority over others. Letters should include the writer's name, college and school year or other Uni- versity affiliation. The Daily will not print any letter containing statements that cannot be verified. Letters should be kept to approximately 300 words. The Michigan Daily reserves the right to edit for length, clarity and accuracy. Longer "viewpoints" may be arranged with an editor. Let- ters will be run according to order received and the amount of space available. Letters should be sent over e-mail to totwedaily@michigandaiiy.com or mailed to the Daily at 420 Maynard St. Editors can be reached via e- mail ateditpage.editors@umich.edu. Letters e-mailed to the Dailywillbe given priority over those dropped off in person or sent via the U.S. Postal Service. 1 <~ / 1 /I>1 *1.<~~<, 1 111 //.1 / , 1 ....''... , K~ 1 1~ <'~ '14 1 A Q~ < 1~~~ ~WI~i / 4 . /1 ~ ~111 ~EFA~T UY~T MU~U ' /11>7,1 1,4< 1,1 N 1 , '~ ~ 1 /1 1' .~.*.>* . v~ 11 ' 11 N C~oot ~ //X / N 1 2 '~'1N 11 111 1 £~MA1 : i~m.EI~uAfIc7M#Lt / 1 / // VIEWPOINT There is 'Moore' to talk about at MSA BY JASON MIRONOV The University, as a microcosm of the real world, has a series of consistencies that run parallel to post-collegiate life. For example, you know that football Saturdays result in a camaraderie between tens of thousands of Michigan fans. You know not to step on the "M" until your first blue book, and I'm confi- dent you know of the harmonica guy outside of the UGLI. However, sometimes, it takes a controversial decision to remind you of an institution that has defended students' rights and ceries since hfore wp ewre horn. tion. MSA is a political organization. MSA creates and maintains a list of long- term, sustainable projects. In the '60s, the MSA crafted what was to become Student Legal Services. MSA helped develop the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center. MSA fought for a fall break and has recently convinced administrators to expand Entree Plus in the Big House, Yost Ice Arena and Crisler Arena. An online book exchange named "DogEars" was contracted, and you can soon rate your landlord online. MSA's airRus nrnvidescheatn transnnrtation to the unique accounts surrounding the solemn day and offered reflection and introspection to stu- dent participants. Bringing a political speaker Ato campus encourages students to think, be it Michael Moore or Bill O'Reilly. With the upcoming presidential election, our generation needs to define itself not as a lazy, instant-mes- senger driven community, but as a generation of informed and motivated citizens. I challenge you to make your voice heard. Tuesday is MSA's open house at 6:30 p.m. on the third floor of the Michigan Union. Meet vour rens. and sneak your mind to a