4A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 18, 2004 OPINION 0 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 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 Michigan Daily. 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 I LETTERS POLICY The Michigan Daily welcomes letters from all of its readers. Letters from University students, faculty, staff and administrators will be given priority over others. Letters should include the writer's name, college and school year or other University affiliation. The Daily will not print any letter containing statements that cannot be verified. Letters should be kept to approxi- mately 300 words. The Michigan Daily reserves the right to edit for length, clar- j2 F