4A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, February 7, 2005

OPINION



JASON Z. PESICK
Editor in Chief

SUHAEL MOMIN
SAM SINGER
Editorial Page Editors

ALISON Go
Managing Editor

EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890
420 MAYNARD STREET
ANN ARBOR, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com

NOTABLE
QUOTABLE
They will
do it their
way."
- Vice President Dick Cheney, comment-
ing on the democratic prospects of Iraq, as
reported yesterday by The Associated Press.

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On the wrong side of history
DAN SHUSTER TiHEb VASTI RI( M H-ING C NSPwRC

s I drive away
from the city of
Ann Arbor, I
glance up at an overpass
and notice the faded graf-
fiti written upon it. For
almost two years, it served
as a welcome sign to Ann
Arbor: "Attacking Iraq is
Terrorism." Having wit-
nessed this scrawl dozens of times, I repeat-
edly question whether this statement reflects
the core values of the Democratic Party. In
order to answer this question, I contemplate
the "changing" message of the Democrats
over the course of the war. For the past two
years, led by "anti-war hawks" such as Howard
Dean, the Democrats' response has been noth-
ing short of a broken record: "Get the troops
out of Iraq now!" Sure, this war has had its
share of failures, but overall, with the capture
of Saddam Hussein, the liberation of the Iraqis
and the institution of free elections, it has not
only benefited Iraq, but the Middle East and
the entire world as well.
So why has the message of the Democratic
Party become so extreme? In spite of its con-
tinual insistence that its party supports our mili-
tary, President Bush received 73 percent of the
military vote in 2004. Is its extremism a result of
support for the brutal regime of Saddam Husse-
in? Certainly not. Even though the Left is mis-
guided, it could never support the myriad human
rights violations that took place under Saddam's

rule. But for a party that prides itself on the pro-
tection of human rights, it appears to me that the
Democrats are more vociferous in their protesta-
tions regarding the American atrocities at Abu
Ghraib than the mass murders that occurred
during Saddam's reign. The reason for this
hypocrisy is simple: They try so hard to oppose
Bush on every issue that they have drifted too far
left for the mainstream of the American people.
Even with negative campaign slogans like "A
village in Texas has lost its idiot," Bush won the
election decisively. How many people can hon-
estly admit they voted for Democratic challenger
John Kerry instead of against Bush?
Preliminary reports indicate that on Jan. 30,
a staggering 72 percent of the population of Iraq
voted in the first legitimate, free elections in 50
years. Whereas in Saudi Arabia, the last free
election that occurred was to determine who
would be in charge of garbage pickup. We saw
images of inky fingers on Iraqis dancing in the
street. Yet some still hold firm to the belief that
the Iraqis were better off under Saddam. After
the Iraqi election, I can confidently say that lib-
erating Iraq was the right move. We gave Iraqis
the opportunity to embrace democracy, and
they seized it. Now, the people of other Middle
Eastern nations will yearn to seize the same
rights for themselves. This is the Bush vision.
Yet there are some, specifically Kerry, warning
Americans not to "overhype" the elections; Ted
Kennedy, referred to the war as a "catastrophic
failure" just three days before the elections in a
feeble attempt to discredit Bush. Furthermore,

when Kerry was questioned about the postelec-
tion terrorist threat in Iraq, he responded, "No,
it's more. And, in fact, I believe the world is
less safe today than it was two and a half years
ago." Maybe Kerry needs to watch the postelec-
tion video of Iraqi insurgents, who in a last ditch
effort, used a GI Joe action figure as a hostage
in an attempt to fool Americans. Why can't
Democrats relinquish partisan politics just once
and savor the freedom now present in Iraq? The
answer: Democrats must maintain their "anti-
Bush" message at all costs.
Fifty years from now, children in history
classrooms will study this war not as the Viet-
namesge quagmire the Left is trying to portray
it as, but as a success in bringing democracy
to the Middle East. Yes, the price of freedom
is high, but Bush will be viewed as a hero and
a champion against terrorism. Today's oppo-
nents, such as University of Colorado Prof.
Ward Churchill, who called the Sept. 11 vic-
tims "little Eichmanns," referring to the Nazi
war criminal, will be viewed as radicals out
of touch with the threat terrorists pose. If the
Democrats continue to drift further left, as
the probable appointment of Howard Dean
as Democratic National Chairman and their
futile anti-Bush attacks and agendaless mes-
sage would indicate, they will forever remain
too extreme for the American people and will
remain on the wrong side of history.

Shuster can be reached
at dshuster@umich.edu

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

U' and Daily should have
publicized graffiti quickly
TO THE DAILY:
On Saturday, Jan. 29, at 12:33 p.m., a call
was placed to the Department of Public Safe-
ty, with a caller reporting "racist graffiti"
scrawled on a door in Markley Residence Hall.
Days later, we, the executive board of the Hil-
lel Foundation, and our staff, were informed
by word of mouth that swastikas and KKK
symbols had been drawn on every whiteboard
on the first floor of Markley Residence Hall in
Little House. This has been the most recent
incident - and among the most disturbing
- in a recent spate of reports of racist, anti-
Semitic and otherwise hateful scrawlings on
campus this year.
It is an unnerving coincidence that on Jan. 29,
1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor
of Germany, thereby empowering the conduc-
tor behind the murder of six million Jews and
millions of other religious, political, racial and
differently able minorities. It is conceivable that
the artist(s) may have had this in mind when
employing these symbols, which, since their
adoption by Hitler as a unifying emblem of
Nazism in the 20th century, are today still used

by white power groups and other 21st century
incarnations of racist establishments who openly
advocate violence and harassment of gay, black,
Jewish, Arab, Latino, Asian and other American
communities - and/or individuals therein.
Perhaps more disturbing, though, is that the
incident wasn't made known to the public until
your article was published on Thursday (MSA
responds to racist graffiti, 02/03/2005), five days
after the fact.
Thankfully, the Michigan Student Assembly,
in conjunction with a number of its commissions
and MSA-registered groups, acknowledged this
and similar incidents as a hate-driven incident
on Tuesday of last week and voted to support
awareness regarding hate crimes perpetrated on
our campus.
As student leaders of Hillel, we regret that
representatives of the University did not made
this incident known to us sooner, in order that
our staff could offer appropriate counseling
services in a more timely manner for students
whose sense of security may have been compro-
mised by this most recent instance of hate sym-
bols being perpetuated through vandalism of
their private property and places of residence.
We wish to thank MSA and the sponsors of
the resolution passed Tuesday for immediately

recognizing the gravity of this and similar
incidents and for acting quickly to sponsor and
pass initiatives to raise awareness about rac-
ist, anti-Semitic or otherwise hateful acts and
crimes perpetrated on our campus.
We strongly urge the Daily and the Univer-
sity to help maintain more open channels of
communication with respect to developments
in these incidents and strongly beseech anyone
with further information regarding these inci-
dents to notify the proper authorities.
Ultimately, though, our dismay is directed
toward the boldly anonymous vandal(s) who
felt it appropriate to compromise the security
of students at the University through acts of
vandalism, intimidation and hatred.
Monica Woll
Chair, Hillel Governing Board
LSA sophomore
Adam Soclof
Vice chair, Hillel Governing Board
RC sophomore
Dina Pittel
Secretary, Hillel Governing Board
LSA sophomore
Robert Weisenfeld
Treasurer, Hillel Governing Board
LSA freshman

VIEWPOINT
The scream is back

BY JOHN STIGLICH II
After its resounding defeat last November, I
thought that the Democratic Party would surely
learn from its mistakes. I thought the party activ-
ists and elites would abandon their losing game
plan of placing coastal liberals into leadership
positions. I thought the removal of Sen. Tom Das-
chle (D-S.D.) would spark a coup within the Dem-
ocratic Party through which the centrists would
overthrow liberals such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-
Calif.), Democratic National Committee Chair-
man Terry McAuliffe and the continually failing
establishment. Apparently, like my selection of the
Indianapolis Colts over the New England Patriots,
I am wrong again.
McAuliffe's removal as chairman of the DNC
provided the Democratic Party with an opportu-
nity to start anew. The senatorial map for 2006
is very favorable to the Democratic Party, with
numerous Republican senators in "blue" states
up for re-election. Provided the Democratic Party
selects centrist leadership. it can protect its seats

hat into the ring, but after viewing the results from
the state chairmen's vote, he removed his name
from consideration. Call the emergency room, Dr.
Dean's going to put the party in cardiac arrest!
To his credit, Dean has organizational quali-
ties that would make him an effective chairman.
As chairman of the DNC, Dean would bridge
the gap between Republican and Democratic
fundraising levels. During his failed presiden-
tial run, Dean nourished a previously untapped
money source - the Internet. It is reasonable to
conclude that Dean would pump a ton of money
from the Internet into DNC coffers, but by and
large, fundraising was not the reason for Bush's
victory and fundraising will not make up for
Dean's flaws.
Make no mistake about it, Dean will use any
success the Democrats have in 2006 to spring-
board himself to the party's 2008 presidential
nomination. Is it wise to elect a leader who is
self-serving and anything but a team player? I
do not think so.
The Democratic Party must follow the Clin-

victors. Both ascended to the White House from
southern governors' mansions, both overtly touted
their Christian faith and both possessed a suave
personality. Dean and the current liberal establish-
ment do not exhibit these qualities.
There are three things certain in this world:
death, taxes and that Howard Dean will say some-
thing outrageous. Remember Democrats, this is
the man who broke out the "I Have a Scream"
speech shortly after his poor performance in the
Iowa caucuses. To a lot of Democrats and Ameri-
cans in general, he came off as a crazy nut job, and
his already unstable campaign imploded shortly
afterward. This is the man who described heart-
land Americans - a demographic Democrats
must improve with - as driving pickup trucks
with Confederate flags. This is the man who said,
"If Bill Clinton could be the first black president,
I can be the first gay president," while attending a
pro-gay fundraiser in New York.
Dean possesses valuable skills but has a
knack for saying the wrong thing at the wrong
time. Keep this in mind, Democrats - as chair-

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