4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 13, 2006 4p, OPINION DONN M. FRESARD Editor in Chief EMILY BEAM EMILYBEAM JEFFREY BLOOMER CHRISTOPHER ZBROZEK Editorial Page Editors Managing Editor NOTABLE QUOTABLE By 2016, I'll make you a bet. We'll have (cameras on) almost every block. - Chicago Mayor Richard Daley on his plans to improve security by the time of the 2016 Olympics, which the Chicago hopes to land, as reported yesterday by the Chicago Sun-Times. The sheriff who would be senator THERESA KENNELLY 4 EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 413 E. HURON ST. ANN ARBOR, MI 48104 tothedaily@michigandaily.com Gubernatorial confus10n Campaign must shift focus to salient issues here's less than a month remaining debates fail to offer a favorable environ- before Michigan's gubernatorial ment for constructive dialogue. The strict election - though if you've watched format of the last televised debate affords any TV lately, you already know that. As candidates a brief time slot to respond to media outlets across the state bombard us broad questions on issues like how they with campaign ads for Gov. Jennifer Gra- intend to increase jobs in Michigan and nholm and her Republican opponent Dick their objectives on education funding. The DeVos, it's hard not to bristle at the empty traditional response-and-rebuttal format vitriol with which the campaign has pro- is not conducive to a helpful debate that ceeded. Since the start of the campaign, would enlighten viewers with information the candidates have collectively spent more pertinent to their vote. than $26 million on advertising, a large Michigan would benefit from a freer portion of which has been dedicated to per- debate format that allows each opponent sonal attack ads. ample time to give an opening speech Unfortunately, ours is a political epoch explaining issues and initiatives. This where attack ads and negative campaigns would lead to more productive debates by are fairly routine, but the race between allowing the moderator to press evasive Granholm and DeVos has been especially candidates for meaningful answers. DeVos, bitter. The candidates have- largely based for instance, said during the last debate that their campaigns on harsh criticism and cal- even if Roe v. Wade were overturned, he lous remarks aimed at their rival, leaving thinks Michigan's current laws are ade- little time to discuss their own positions. quate. What he neglected to mention to The inane, frivolous barbs usually reserved voters - and what no one pointed out - is for the dirtiest of campaign ads have now that Michigan retains a pre-Roe abortion become commonplace, most recently find- ban on the books, which would presumably ing their way into the gubernatorial debates. snap back into effect if the U.S. Supreme It ought to bother Michigan voters that Court overturned Roe. DeVos can support cutting the single busi- With polls indicating a tight race, press- ness tax and the personal property tax, not ing issues like Michigan's drowning econ- propose details about how to make up for omy and the need for adequate higher lost revenue or cut spending - and still education funding in the state deserve to be smile and look them in the eye. Unfortu- brought to the forefront. These issues have nately, they don't seem to notice. Gran- been mentioned on the campaign trail - at holm, meanwhile, has had plenty of time the Detroit Economic Club yesterday, for and countless ads to outline her tax plan instance - but candidates tend toward the but has dedicated her ads to attacking trivial in their demagogic appeals to voters, DeVos. As helpful as it is to be able to rattle and that needs to change. (DeVos can start off exactly how much DeVos invested in by never employing a Detroit Tigers anal- China or how many jobs were lost during ogy again.) Michigan voters deserve more Granholm's tenure, the vagaries of each than meaningless 30-second sound bytes. candidate's policies at this late a stage are We're smart enough to know a good policy simply irresponsible. platform when we see one; it's time for the Even worse, the televised gubernatorial candidates to present theirs. DIAG DISPATCH Catch a BAMN Leader Day, anyone? }"When . somebody says, 'How do you feel about illegal immigra- tion?' - well, I'm a 20-year lawman. Anything that starts with 'illegal,' I'm going to be against." - Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, in a campaign ad. The political spotlight in Michi- gan is blinding Gov. Jennifer Granholm and her opponent Dick DeVos, practically leaving Sen. Debbie Stabenow and her Republican opponent, Mike Bouchard, alone in the dark. While the gubernatorial race is a closer and arguably more conse- quential contest, it's important to not lose sight of the war raging between the incumbent senator and the sheriff from Oakland County. The potential for Michigan to turn into a fear-driven, highly politicized state if Bouchard pulls off a victory on Nov.7 should be enough to keep a light shining on the Senate race. Polls this week showed Stabenow with a 48 to 35 percent lead over Bouchard, but many Republican sup- porters and donors aren't quite ready to raise their white flags. Bouchard has many regions under his belt, includ- ing his native Oakland County - the biggest county in the state - and other Republican-leaning areas like Traverse City. The Detroit News even reported earlier this week that Repub- licans still see Michigan's senate race as "one of their few chances to cap- ture a Democratic seat." Despite the support Bouchard has been getting - most recently from Republican superstar Rudy Giuliani - a look at his resume and agenda makes it clear that Bouchard does not possess the mentality needed to represent Michi- gan for the next six years. Bouchard's campaign website lists his key issues: stopping online sexual predators, creating an airline security program called Skycops and increas- ing homeland security. Personal secu- rity, air security and border security: Who would have guessed Bouchard had a background in law enforcement? Bouchard's excessive focus on policing is nothing new. Serving as a state senator throughout the '90s, he authored several security-based ini- tiatives, primarily the Michigan Sex Offenders Registration Act. This act created a searchable database of con- victed offenders and allows people to be notified when former sex offend- ers, who have already paid their debt to society, move into their neighbor- hood. Bouchard has continued to expand the sexual predators program as sheriff. Once elected, he hopes to expand the National Sex Offend- ers Database to provide the Justice Department an expanded database, enabling it to track the IP addresses of sex offenders. While it's fine for a politician to show a passion for specific issues - and clearly Bouchard's are personal and national security - the sheriff has crossed the line from appropriate to unnecessary. He hasn't realized that his job as senator would go beyond ensur- ing safety and security - a responsi- bility he has become too accustomed to while serving as a police officer and sheriff. The issues that really count in Michigan, such as the job market, taxes and energy consumption, have remained under-addressed in Boucha- rd's senate campaign. He not only lacks a convincing plan to help pull Michigan out of the economic cesspool it has been drowning in, but he is also uninformed on many statewide and national issues. In addition to his problematic agen- da, it's unclear if Bouchard, a longtime resident of one of the wealthiest coun- ties in the Michigan, will really be able to represent the entire state. Whether Bouchard realizes it or not, just down the road from Oakland County is a city that is going to need his support and recognition to help revitalize its schools, economy and businesses. Unfortunately for Detroit residents, Bouchard has shown little interest in understanding their city. Early in the campaign season, a coworker and friend of Bouchard, Roger St. Jean, told a Traverse City newspaper, "Physically, he's tough. Mentally, he's tough. He's got that ability to lead." But lead what? Lead a squad of police officers in a hostage situation, or lead a state with the high- est unemployment rate in the country into economic recovery? Being men- tally and physically tough is unrelated to being politically tough - a char- acteristic I strongly doubt Bouchard embodies. While Bouchard's opponent hasnot accomplished much during her six years in office, she has an agenda that covers an array of issues specific to Michigan and knows how to be a politician for her state. Thinking of Michigan in the year 2012 is already dispiriting - but thinking that a county sheriff may still be representing us in Washing- ton then is even more frightening. Bouchard may be a fine sheriff, but his inability to see things from any- thing other than a law-enforcement point of view and deal with issues that don't contain the word "illegal" is troubling. Let's hope he remains a county sheriff come Nov. 7. Kennelly can be reached at thenelly@umich.edu. 0 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Send all letters to the editor to tothedaily@michigandaily.com. BY CHRISTOPHER ZBROZEK Before yesterday's "Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day" I really thought I believed in unfet- tered free speech. Like many on this campus, I found the Young Americans for Freedom-spon- sored event distasteful at best. I believed, however, that the best strategy was to just let them talk - sunlight, the saying goes, is the best disinfectant. But after seeing the mess that occurred on the Diag yesterday, I'm not so sure. After a point, extending free speech to intoler- ant extremists just gives them a license to harass others, while doing nothing to further a mean- ingful discussion. So can someone please censor BAMN? The radical "civil rights" group By Any Means Necessary, in its determination to interfere with the YAF event, single-handedly made YAF's publicity stunt a stunning success for conserva- tives on campus. Allow me to explain. Speaking to the press before- hand, YAF chair Andrew Boyd presented the event as a means to spark dialogue about the problems created by illegal immigration. "It's just a way to educate people about border security" he told the Detroit Free Press last month. But there was an additional motive for the event. In an e-mail message to fellow YAFers on Wednesday, Boyd told his com- rades: "The intent of the game is to create dialogue about the issue" - so far, so good - "and show how inflamed liberals can become over a game they think is politically incorrect" RYAN JABER jt T .MAKS MU i Oh. Sobasically YAFwas hop- ing to incite liberal anger in an effort to portray the campus Left as intolerant and hypocritical. Personally,I think the best strat- egy in such a situation is to refuse to take the bait. I asked several counter-protesters who showed up before YAF appeared if they thought it might be better if no one had showed up to protest "Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day." Doing so, the general consen- sus went, would give tacit approv- al to the event. By holding signs saying things like "Xenophobia is not funny" and "Stop the hatred. Let's have real debate," these pro- testers hoped to counter what they saw as YAF's intolerant message. I understand that, and I can respect that. But others who showed up to protest had a more militant approach. Once YAF arrived, Boyd tried to announce the rules of the "game." He quickly found him- self trying in vain to be heard over repeated chants of "No rac- ist harassment on campus!" A section of the protesters - led by BAMN members - decided Boyd's allegedly racist message simply wasn't fit to be heard. "We want to shut it down;' explained Liana Mulholland, co-chair of the campus BAMN chapter. "They can't have that game here." For the record, BAMN didn't organize the counter-protest - it merely co-opted other activists' efforts for its own ends. Most of the students assembled had as much use for BAMN as they did for YAF. But none of that mattered much once the droning repetition of "Racial harassment, we say no! YAF bigots have got to go!" drowned out reporters' attempts to speak to Boyd. Once the illegal immigrant had been duly caught, the YAF chair stood on the steps of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library and gave a speech. Looking over the text of his speech afterward, it was a well-constructed talk that might have sparked some actual dialogue about illegal immigration. But even though I was standing about five or six feet from Boyd when he gave his speech, I only caught a few stray phrases. The shouting had started up again, leaving Boyd inaudible - and making our campus look like a politically correct madhouse in front of the TV cameras record- ing the debacle. YAF's last-minute twist - the "illegal immigrant" was none other than a person playing Christopher Columbus, captured by someone dressed as a Native American! - must've looked great on TV. But to conservatives convinced that liberals obsessed with political correctness want to stamp out all dissenting points of view, the footage of Boyd failing to make his speech heard over the intolerance of counter-protest- ers is priceless. YAF pulled off a brilliant success yesterday - but it had an awful lot of help from BAMN organizer Luke Massie and his friends. To extend a degree of fairness to BAMN - something that it rarely gives to those who don't share its narrow, radical ideology - its members weren't the only ones who helped drive home YAF's point about liberal intol- erance. Some counter-protesters unaffiliated with BAMN joined in its cheers. Some of the signs and slogans that non-BAMN pro- testers used smacked of a desire to shut down the YAF event. But without the militant group that thinks it's leading the "new civil rights movement" around to cause chaos, YAF might have had a disaster on its hands: There might have actually been a dia- logue about illegal immigration on the Diag yesterday evening. Zbrozek is a Daily editorial page editor and an LSA senior. He can be reached at zbrozek@michigandaily.com. UnityO8 unrealistic, w undermine its own pre TO THE DAILY: Anyone who is remotely familiar wit system of government and our politicsN "Unity08" (End the power struggle, 10/12 work. The vice president essentially has n he has unofficial power and influence on that the president grants it to him. Why ever agree to be vice president under a The most likely scenario is that the presic - if he were ever elected - would grant t no power since he is of another party. Ui dinary circumstances that the Unity08 tic and the president granted the vice presidei VP would have no credibility with his ow gress because he'd be serving a president( The entire purpose of Unity08 would thus There are plenty of politicians who are in a bipartisan fashion. This happened under the Clinton, Reagan and Nixon That our generation doesn't believe bipar sible is merely a sad commentary on our istration - not a sign that we shoul disagreements over issues. Art can politicize causes, apathy and promote soci TO THE DAILY: While I agree with Andrew Sargus Klei that art is an effective means of politicizing ica - or not, 10/10/2006), I wish to pointc students here who already do just that. The same issue in which Klein's article appeare week's rally at the state capitol on behalf Battered Women's Clemency Project. Pert graphic design and photography all played JOHN OQUIST LlvE sN UR- FRE 'ould mise h the American will realize that /2006) will not o official power; ly to the degree y would anyone Unity08 ticket? dential candidate he vice president nder the extraor- ket were elected promotion of the event as well as the rally itself. As a member of Prof. Carol Jacobsen's class centeringon how art functions as a tool of human rights activists, I have been amazed at my classmates' accomplishments - not only in terms of their creativity, but also in their commit- ment to human rights. Being apathetic makes us enemies of social change; I am proud to say that there are artists here who are anything but. Stephanie Christians LSA senior Cargo's critique reflects jealousy over Tally Hall's allure to women 4 nt any power, the TO THE DAILY: tn party in Con- Lloyd Cargo attacks Tally Hall on a number of unreason- of another party. able points (Immature musicianship, 10/11/2006). It's hard to be undermined. argue with Cargo; he has obviously done extensive research willing to work on the band, including listening to a whole three songs on the quite frequently album and interviewing a 7-year-old girl during his "booth administrations. attendant" internship this summer. But I'll do my best. tisanship is pos- I happened to be at Tally Hall's New York City show fea- r current admin- tured on MTV's "You Hear It First." The first lyrics played d ignore honest during the three-minute segment are the very lyrics Cargo calls racist. Apparently, he was too entrancedby "The O.C." Ben Beckett to notice. What kind of person would be offended by Tally RC sophomore Hall's lyrics? The same person who lists this juvenile line as one of his favorite quotes on the Facebook: "Fine bitches if defeat you listening you heard me I'm strong, If you going through your cycle I ain't with it I'm gone, you must've heard about I1 change them hoes that I beat up in my home, They wasn't telling the truth baby you know they was wrong." Lloyd, next time you see that 7-year old girl, ask her what n's article stating the word hypocrite means. The only reason I can think of causes (Ars polit- that someone would be so bitter about Tally Hall's success is out that there are that women love them.Yes, women are attracted to guys who front page of the make them happy, not guys who complain about girls being d reported on last happy. Word of advice, Lloyd: Crawl back into your hole, and of the Michigan let the talented people of the world make the headlines. formance pieces, Devin Scott vital roles in the Business senior I I It L .. THIS WEATHER IS RIDICULOUS... 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