4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 18, 2004
OPINION 0
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JASON Z. PESICK
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NOTABLE
QUOTABLE
After looking at
it a second time,
there's nothing to
indicate that the seller
isn't willing to give up
this cheese sandwich
to the highest bidder."
- eBay spokesman Hani Durzy, explain-
ing that a cheese sandwich resembling the
Virgin Mary which drew bids up to $22,000,
should not have been taken off the website, as
reported yesterday by the Associated Press.
I
s*
IC.E 5R A 4ER FOR TH4E PEACE T Rk.~
COLIN DALY THl MiHVAN 1AL
A call to surrender
JOEL HOARD OH kEAH
s part of the ultra-
liberal MoveOn.
org mailing list
I unwittingly signed up
£ vfor, last week I received
an e-mail from Executive
Director Eli Pariser that
asked me to sign a petition
demanding that Congress
"investigate the integrity
of the voting process in the 2004 election." It
may claim to be protecting voters' rights, but
given the group's short but telling history, what
it's really doing is looking for another 150,000
votes for John Kerry in Ohio. They're still in
disbelief that President Bush was legitimately
re-elected, and they're not about to give it up.
John Kerry had no problem conceding the
election within 24 hours of the polls closing,
so what's taking you guys so long?
MoveOn's persistence is indicative of a
larger problem with the modern Left: whining.
Incessant, pathetic whining. I know it's a bitter
pill to swallow, and I'm as saddened as the rest
of you that Bush was reelected, but it's time to
move on - not MoveOn, but move on.
The University community is certainly no
exception to this phenomenon. All over cam-
pus, students are, still defiantly wearing their
John Kerry stickers and buttons and displaying
Kerry-Edwards signs in their windows. Take
that, Mr. President. You may have "won" the
election, but we still have our stickers.
There have been numerous conspiracy theo-
ries circulating since election night, and I've
had enough. Diebold rigged electronic voting
machines, Republican challengers disenfran-
chised minorities, precincts in Ohio reported
false results and on and on.
But like it or not, Nov. 2 ushered in an era of
conservatism the likes of which we haven't seen
in years. The president won the election by a
resounding margin, and the GOP substantially
increased its majorities in the U.S. House and
Senate, and it happened because the majority of
American voters wanted it to happen. It's one
thing to protest civil rights violations such as a
ban on gay marriage, but we should be above
complaining about election results.
The saddest part is that the whining isn't
just a result of Bush's reelection - it's also a
cause. In the biggest show of organized whin-
ing in the world's history, liberals spent the
better part of the last four years complaining
about Bush. Big-name lefties like Michael
Moore took complaining to a remarkable level
and made major motion pictures dedicated to
complaining (And rumor has it that he's hard
.at work on a sequel). The way I see it, whining
about Bush was enough to scare swing voters
from voting for Kerry and tip the election the
president's way. After all, who would want to
join a club full of professional complainers?
I'm willing to admit that I was a big part
of it, as I lent this very space to Bush-bashing
on more than one occasion. In effect, I called
the president an unpatriotic, fascistic, mentally
retarded liar. I won't apologize for saying any
of those things because I still think they're true.
But I should have used my time and yours more
constructively. I should have made a better case
for Kerry and the Democratic Party. I was as
foolish as the next liberal. I believed that the "at
least he's not Bush" motto was enough to win
the election. I was wrong, and now I'm paying
for it. But one thing I won't do is complain about
it anymore. I've gotten over myself.
Of course I still think it's our duty to ques-
tion authority and fight for what we think is
right, but complaining shouldn't be a part of it.
It's taken a couple of weeks to get it, but now
I understand that Bush supporters had their
reasons for voting the way they did. While I
may not agree with their reasons, their votes
counted for as much as yours and mine.
And so for the sake of your sanity and mine,
I implore you liberals, spend the next four years*
whine free. I'll understand productive, intelligent
criticism or the occasional good-natured barb at
the president, but the complaining has to stop.
Instead, make something of your life. Maybe
you can start an early campaign for a candidate
you feel passionate about - one you believe can
actually appeal to the masses. Or maybe you can
do what I'm doing and give politics a break. Read
a book, go for a walk in the woods, go to a bar
with your friends, whatever. Take it easy, and
remember that we'll live to fight another day. But
next time, let's try to do things differently.
Hoard can be reached at
j.ho@umich.edu.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
This election's Students
4 Michigan platform will
not help students
TO THE DAILY:
I've seen a lot of student government plat-
forms over the years (and crafted many), but
I can honestly say that this fall's Students 4
Michigan platform is the most offensive I've
ever seen to student interests.
Citing its website, there are 11 points to its
Michigan Student Assembly platform. Student
lobbyist in Lansing, representation on the Ann
Arbor City Council and student on the Univer-
sity Board of Regents are all calls for involve-
ment in other organizations. So your goal is to
convince them to give you representation to
push ... what?
Broadcasting student group announcements
on TV, student group outreach and providing
environments to foster dialogue between stu-
dents are all basically calls for increased com-
munication. Communicating ... what? Doing
what for student groups? Fostering what dia-
logues?
Accountability for MSA representatives and
meeting transparency are extremely amor-
phous (as if the above ideas aren't) and could
mean anything from required handouts in
every dorm room on campus to requiring rep-
resentatives to wipe three times.
This leaves three actual items on the plat-
form: "(B)ringing big name performers to
campus" is the biggest sham platform idea I've
seen, and it's been on every platform for the
last two years for every party. It's not MSA's
role, even if it were, this kind of broad prom-
ise is nothing more than pandering. Student
housing rights and education - what does that
mean? You're going to change Ann Arbor city
law and Michigan contract law to affect the
leases of tenants? How? Give me something
specific you're going to do, an idea, not just the
listing of something you wish were vaguely
"better" without some idea of how to do so.
And encouraging the University to increase
students of color admissions is again some-
thing MSA really doesn't affect.
Where's the Fall Break (2000/2001 plat-
form idea, 2001 accomplishment of MSA)?
Where's the extended Central Campus Recre-
ation Building hours (2001 platform idea, 2002
accomplishment)? Where's Entree Plus expan-
sion to the Big House? (2001/02 platform idea,
2002 accomplishment). Blue signs with maps
and schedules in the bus stops (2001 promise,
pare for these tests during the semester (as it'd
be counted in curriculum), and it would mean
students who can't afford the $1,000 or what-
ever those things cost these days to be able to
prepare the same as those who can, increasing
the overall number of University students who
do well and go on to good graduate schools.
Where are the innovative, provocative and
life-changing ideas for campus now?
We should expect much more from student
government. Were I still an undergraduate I'd
be voting for independents this time because
the Students 4 Michigan, while I'm sure their
intentions are perfectly noble, have promised
to do nothing to better campus for the students
of the University.
Matt Nolan
Law School
The letter writer was the president of the
Michigan Student Assembly from 2001-02.
Democratic Party is the
moral party in America
TO THE DAILY:
In An open letter to moral detractors
(11/15/2004), D.C. Lee claims that liberals can't
admit to morality's role in government. He
argues that his morality, that of the Republican
Party, aligns with the nation and "the church"
(he doesn't define what church, though he does
mention Judeo-Christian charity). What moral-
ity, I ask? Opposition to gay rights and the right
to choose an abortion. Hmm ... both their
"moral" issues define a negative agenda, an
agenda based on opposing human rights. What
positive morality do they have? Support mar-
riage? Great, I do too - for everyone. Support
life? Great, I do too - the lives of poor mothers
with unwanted pregnancies, the lives of gays,
the lives of 1,000-plus Americans who should
not have died with flimsy justifications.
Although I don't believe religion should dic-
tate government, I agree that morals shape my
beliefs, which happen to coincide with some
Christian values. Jesus gave free health care to
the poor (albeit through miracles), he believed in
forgiveness and compassion, and he asked peo-
ple to give their money to the poor. Sounds like
a Democrat to me, which is why I can't accept
Christian conservatives' claim to morality. Uni-
versal health care is a moral issue. Well-funded
public education is a moral issue. What gets me
the most is the Republican fixation on keeping
their money. They earned it so they should keep
it, right? In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus says, "Go
issues. Lee says the problem is "the detractors'
unwillingness to believe that what gets bandied
about in New York and Hollywood doesn't pass
for moral values in fly-over America ... " Guess
what, I'm from fly-over America - Kansas, the
geographic heartland of America, and you don't
speak for my values at all. Democrats have a
moral agenda, and its time for red-staters like
you to start realizing that.
Jeff Cravens
LSA junior
Both sides must take
blame for violence in the
Middle East
TO THE DAILY:
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Answering this dichotomy parallels trying to
find the aggressor in the Israeli-Palestinian
debate. Recent letters to the Daily display the
knowledge of history each side prefers. How-
ever, this blatant display of confirmation bias
does not serve to improve any hope for the
people of the Middle East.
Each side has valuable information but
chooses to ignore their own errors. Until joint
fault is assumed, the debate will keep going
in circles, and no valuable discussion can
arise. While it may seem difficult and con-
trary to popular belief, this is one instance in
which history must be ignored so it will not
be repeated. The violence has gone on for too
long, and I know that a majority of the civilians
in the Middle East are committed to achieving
peace. Hopefully the leaders can learn to think
the same way.
Jeffrey Isaacson
LSA sophomore
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LETTERS POLICY
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