4 4A - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 11, 2004 OPINION .u 4140 NMAY\\C) STREET I e ltcbtguu ad1 thedazly@rnichigaridaily . co EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT TlE 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 Michigan Daily. NOTABLE QUOTABLE Need some wood?" - President Bush, responding to an allegation by Democratic candidate John Kerry, made during Friday's debate, that he owns a timber company. Bush does in fact have 9art ownership in a timber company, according tofactcheck.org. SAM BUTLER Random thoughts on Kerry, Edwards and Bush '04 D.C. LEE BL ACK DIAMONDLS ANt ::> A I ust last week my _ Bush-hating room- mate suggested that if I really supported the war in Iraq that I'd go over there and fight myself. But if he really cared about affirmative action, wouldn't he be willing to give up his seat in the Law School in the interest of "diversity?" The Law School, coincidentally, recently sent an e-mail to its students explaining that the only reason military personnel can recruit on campus is because the school would lose federal funding if it didn't. In other words, the Law School would ban the military - specifically, its don't ask, don't tell policy - if it could. And to think, all this time I thought tolerance and acceptance meant tolerance and acceptance of all ideas, not just liberal ideas. And speaking of "diversity," the Center for Individual Rights is seeking fees from the University for successfully challenging the University's undergraduate affirmative action policies. The CIR is seeking approxi- mately two million dollars, which the Uni- versity claims is too much. The University, it should be noted, spent over eight million dol- lars defending its affirmative action policies. In other news, Democrats continue to criticize the Bush administration for fight- ing the wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time. Saddam Hussein, they say, had no weapons of mass destruction and did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. secu- rity. But would anyone disagree that there's an improved chance for peace and stability in Iraq? When an appellate court reviews a trial court's decision, it doesn't reverse the trial court if it reached the right result for the wrong reasons. As an alternative to pre-emptive military action, Kerry has proposed an ambiguous "global test" to determine whether the U.S. should defend its interests. Presumably, the site for this "global test" will be at one of the many "summits" Kerry plans to organize with our allies. But does anyone outside of the U.N. still think group meetings are pro- ductive? Summits, Kerry suggests, are a worldwide panacea. After all, as a popular T-shirt notes, war has not solved anything ... except ending slavery, Nazism and Communism. Talk to a liberal environmentalist and you'll soon learn that global warming, a hot- button issue whose costs may not be experi- enced for generations, is a pressing concern requiring immediate attention. Talk to a liberal foreign policy-maker and you'll soon learn that stability in Iraq, a hot-button issue whose benefits may not be realized for gen- erations, can wait on the back burner while Kerry organizes political summits and sub- jects relief efforts to a global test. Kerry, in a July interview with the Tele- graph Herald (Dubuque, Iowa), said he per- sonally opposes abortion and believes "life begins at conception." Kerry said he will not, however, take his Catholic belief and "legis- late it on a Protestant or a Jew or an atheist." Presumably, Kerry will also not endorse any laws criminalizing murder, domestic abuse or child pornography, as such laws would be the equivalent of legislating his Catholic belief on Protestants, Jews and atheists. Nineteen years ago, John Edwards suc- cessfully sued an obstetrician whose negli- gence in reading a fetal heartbeat monitpr resulted in brain damage to a child. Accord- ing to The New York Times, Edwards stood before a jury and channeled the words 9f an unborn baby girl. "She speaks to you through me," Edwards told the jury. "Anol I have to tell you right now - I didn't plan to talk about this - right now I feel her'. I feel her presence. She's inside me, and she's talking to you." As Douglas Johnson, in an exceptional column for National Reviev'e Online, notes, sometime between 1985 and 2004 Edwards lost the ability to hear the voices of the unborn. "It seems," JohnsbiA explains, "that nowadays there are voices that ring much louder in Senator Edwards' mind than those of unborn victims. After all, unborn children cannot vote, or regisl ter others to vote, or distribute brochures, or make contributions, or do any of the other things that will determine whether John Kerry and John Edwards are elevated to the highest office in the land." Hillary Clinton, in an interview with CNBC after last Friday's presidential debate did some stump-work for John Kerry. Qh, how it must grate the junior senator from New York to stump for Kerry knowing tbat every sound bite hurts her own chancesof running in '08. For once, though, I thinik the Clintons and I can agree on something; Bush '04. Lee can be reached at leedc@umichedW LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Cell phones too often a she fails to understand why, which directly under- opinion article by Sravya Chirumamilla (I don't mines her argument that pointed criticism of Israel stand with Israel and I'm not anti-Semitic, 10/06/04) distraction is not anti-Semitic. was filled with blatantly incorrect statements. Chirumamilla writes, "If Palestinians had Although I was not an integral part of AMPlify, TO THE DAILY: wealthy, large and powerful lobbying groups in I did understand it to be a day to "Amplify Your While walking down East University this Washington, there is little doubt that support for Culture," not just Middle Eastern ones. I am part Saturday, I saw a young mother with two little Israel would diminish. The ADL and similar pro- of the Persian Students Association, so I did help girls exiting a ballet studio. The mother was Israel groups have the lobbying funds to sway our out by serving food and explaining to other stu- chatting away on her cell phone, oblivious to leaders and the prerogative to call all opposition dents my culture and my history. Mortar Board her excited little children. anti-Semitic." This is a false understanding of why and the Persian Students Association along with As the children danced circles around their the United States supports Israel. other groups spearheaded the creation of AMPli- mother, one slipped and fell on the sidewalk. She Washington maintains its policies on Israel fy, and whoever wrote the campus notes clearly scraped her knee badly and began crying. The regardless of lobbyists, especially because many did not do any research about what is going on. little toy horse she had been prancing around with of these groups differ on the policy on a Palestin- The Lebanese Students Association did not host skittered across the sidewalk to my feet. ian state. Some are more to the right and some are the event, nor did the Jordanian or Arab Student As I and the other passers-by gathered more to the left, while the United States keeps a Associations sponsor it. They were there as part around the crying child, and her sister brushed consistent stance. of the day to "amplify" their culture. You need to off her knee, what did the mother do? She kept This stance is taken for reasons of its neoconser- give credit where it is due. Many students worked on chatting. Even as I reached the corner of vative post-colonialist policies that dictate that the night and day to bring this wonderful event to us, South University Avenue, she was still talking United States needs a strong foothold in a region it and not only was the headline wrong, but the mis- and ignoring the crying little girl at her feet. seeks to control. The United States controls Israel information is very upsetting. This disgusts me. Cell phones are a ubiqui- policy for its own purposes in the Middle East, not Furthermore, Chirumamilla's article titled, "I tous part of our society today, and it would be the other way around, as Chirumamilla falsely don't stand with Israel, and I'm not anti-Semitic," foolish of me to suggest that they just disappear. asserts. It is one thing to be wrong, but wrongly was injustice to the Daily and its 'excellence' in Knowing that, I have a simple message to all the accusing Washington of being played by the pup- journalism. First, I could not find any article from cell-phone chatters on and around campus: Pay pet masters of the Zionist lobby is, sadly, an anti- a dependable news source supporting this voting attention to what is around you! Don't let your Semitic myth. issue. I would like to see where this was based cell phone become your little security blanket from. Right now, the Palestinians are fighting against the real world! Let's all try not to let cell Ari Paul amongst themselves, and I see that as the major phones control our lives to the point where we Alum problem. The Palestinians need to get their act can't comfort a crying child. The letter writer is a former Daily columnist. together before we can criticize Israel. By the Dan Bertoni way Sravya, you might want to check out a map, LSA sophomore Dail lumnist fLl of maybe even a course on the Middle East, because a y, Ciguess what - Jerusalem is in Israel. That isn't a factual errors mistaken premise, just your lack of journalism. U. S. support of Israel not I don't necessarily agree with all of the actions due to lobbyists TO THE DAILY: Israel has taken, but you should look at the people Today was the first day in three years that I felt living in Israel - they are very torn themselves. TO THE DAILY: much contempt for the lack of journalism and Please report factually and accurately. As mis- While Sravya Chirumamilla has rightfully news reporting by this established paper. guided as student population is, we do not need observed that the United States maintains a one- First, on reporting on campus events, you had incorrect facts reported to us on top of it all. sided policy on the Middle East conflict (I don't four mistakes regarding AMPlify (Middle Eastern David Golbahar stand with Israel and I'm not anti-Semitic, 10/06/04), cultures to be AMPlified on Diag, 10/06/04), and the LSA Junior VIEWPOINT On National Coming Out Day 4 BY WAYNE TING Today is National Coming Out Day. Granted, it may not be New Year's Eve, St. Patrick's Day or even Homecoming, but for many of your peers, it's much more impor- tant. Beyond the public expression of sexual orientation, National Coming Out Day is also a time for all gay, lesbian, bisexual lesbian (though you may not know it). And for these people, coming out of the closet remains a long, difficult and emotional process; I speak from experience. We face fear, discrimina- tion, harassment, rejection and even violence by revealing our sexual orientation. And this is why we need your support. The easiest way you can support your gay and lesbian friends is by creating an accept- ing environment, not just on your campus, of Marriage Act in 1996. And he passion- ately opposed the discriminating "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Additionally, John Kerry supports the passage of comprehensive hate- crimes legislation and the Employment Non- Discrimination Act, so GLBT people can work in environments free of discrimination. Kerry has a long record of supporting gays and les- bians, and he understands that the real threats to America are not the expressions of sexual nnuers Ken. ~n ar1es an eP u roun or rax cums. ° i I , i