4 - Tuesday, March 30, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com *I Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor,MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu JACOB SMILOVITZ EDITOR IN CHIEF RACHEL VAN GILDER EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR MATT AARONSON MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. Amending city trust Ann Arbor City Council must be more transparent D emocracy is contingent upon a government's ability to acknowledge its citizens' voices. After controversy this summer about the transparency of the Ann Arbor City Council, the council will consider an amendment next month to ban council members from using private e-mail accounts to exchange information related to city business. The amendment is a condition of the settlement of a lawsuit filed against the city by three Ann Arbor businesses. The ban would help hold council- members more accountable and would promote the transparency that is inherently a part of a democratic government. City Council should approve the amendment in order to restore the trust of Ann Arbor citizens in their government. The percentage of the public that disapproves of the recent- ly passed national health care - According to a poll by CNN/Opinion Research Corporation published on Monday. BELLA SHAH E-MAIL BELLAAT BELLZ@UMICH.EDU Mw ~ 5I~ - e vt - se es - ' waj see.; 01-k, 'tl~ wad B d 5.1050. r m O d sfv-d;-t i L, 1 S &t (sittsA 00 ____ IIIA1 ,, Z 0 6 Michael & Me Last summer, e-mails from a Feb. 17, 2009 city council meeting were released to the public, showing that City Coun- cil members had been privately send- ing e-mails to each other regarding a $50 million proposal to build an underground parking structure on South Fifth Avenue - the very topic being debated at the meeting by the public. A group of businesses near the proposed parking structure filed suit against the city in August, accusing the city of violating the Michigan Open Meet- ings Act, which requires governments to make all records of meetings available to the public. As part of a settlement reached on Mar. 22, City Council must consider a proposed amendment to force members to "use their city e-mail accounts when send- ing e-mail communications about substan- tive city business." The amendment isn't mandatory - councilmembers still have the option to vote it down. But they shouldn't ignore the impor- tance of the amendment. Backroom dis- cussions during open debate reflect poorly not only on the individuals involved, but also on the entire City Council. City Coun- cil decisions affect the daily lives of Ann Arbor residents and University students. Council members are elected to represent and listen to the voices of the people of Ann Arbor, but the controversial e-mails show that certain councilmembers weren't considering their constituencies during important debate. Councilmembers should care about city residents' opinions, but the e-mails make it seem as though some are more concerned with their own agenda. City Council's acceptance of this proposal would show that it is dedicated to being an open governmental body. The technical legality of the e-mails remains in question, but they are symbolic of a culture of exclusiveness in City Coun- cil that is unacceptable in a democratic body. To ensure that councilmembers are being honest with the residents they rep- resent, it's necessary to enact regulations that would require council members to keep all important discussion in the public sphere. And though the wording associat- ed with the proposed amendment is slight- ly ambiguous, it would still be a valuable endeavor to encourage council members to be more open. City Council has a responsibility to be completely upfront with the citizens it serves. The amendment would help guar- antee that the public's views are taken into account and allow residents to hold City Council accountable for its actions. City Council should adopt the amendment to show Ann Arbor residents that it is dedi- cated to an open, transparent democracy. T wo weeks ago, controver- sial documentary filmmaker Michael Moore visited cam- pus to talk with Screen Arts and Cultures stu- dents about the 20th anniversary of his breakout film, "Roger & Me." Since I'm still entertaining my pipe dream of being a Hollywood CHRIS screenwriter, I attended, hop- KOSLOWSKI ing Moore would __ have some special insight into the road from the streets of Flint to the big time. After screen- ing his documentary, which blasts former General Motors CEO Roger Smith for closing assembly plants in Flint, Moore took center stage in Angell Hall Auditorium A for a question-and-answer session. As luck would have it, the microphone was passed to me, and I asked Moore if he had any advice on breaking into the industry. - His answer was simple: make the best damn movie you can make, and if it's good enough, it will get noticed. Then, standing only 20 feet away from me, Michael Moore looked me in the eye and told me to disre- gard critics, costs and the inevitable catastrophes and follow my dream. I have to admit, having one of the most iconic Michigan natives in the film industry wish me success meant a lot. But, one obstacle will prevent my conversation with Moore from being one of those moments I tell my grand- children about. What could that possibly be? The answer is simple. I hate his guts. With his multiple documentaries, books and public appearances, Moore has attacked just about all of my political beliefs - corporate autono- my, gun ownership, privatized health care and even capitalism itself. He's a master of exploitation and deceit. He had no qualms about re-arranging history to better fit his narrative in "Roger & Me," and his interview with famous actor and former National Rifle Association President Charlton Heston in "Bowling for Columbine" is a lesson in how to take advantage of someone obviously suffering from early symptoms of Alzheimer's dis- ease. I came into Moore's screening with a genuinely open mind. I knew I was the oddball in an audience of col- lege film students that would eat up everything he said. But I hoped that meeting Moore in person would soft- en my image of him. Surely, his movie persona couldn't be an accurate rep- resentation of the man. I thought I would endure the inevitable bashing of George W. Bush and congressional Republicans and then learn some- thing useful about film. Honestly, Moore did seem like a nicer guy in person than I thought he would be, and I applaud him for tak- ing time to speak to us. Listening to him, I was getting ready to reverse my opinion of him until one com- ment confirmed everything about who I had always assumed him to be. A student asked Moore to talk about what had made him optimistic for the future and if there was any hope of an American turnaround from our con- tinuing economic woes. Moore blunt- ly answered, "No." He explained that he thought nothing could stop Amer- ica's downfall, and that we were all pretty much screwed. I don't care if you're talking about President Barack Obama or Ronald Reagan - the sign of a good Ameri- can leader is unshakable optimism. One of the most basic American val- ues is the belief that no matter how bad things are today, people have the power to make a better tomor- row. Conservatives are tradition- ally labeled as cold, dispassionate and uncaring. Well, I can tell you with tOO-percent certainty that if Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin or Dick Cheney was speaking to a group of college students, none of them would ever say "give up, because we're all screwed," no matter how dire the political climb. In fact; most famous liberals wouldn't either. It's because they are American men and women who understand the infi- nite good this country and its people are capable of doing. Honestly, Ijust hate Michael Moore's guts. Nodding stupidly as Michael Moore told meto work hard and write my way to success, I was struck with an overwhelming feeling of conflict. A man who'd once snuck in to watch movies in the very same Angell Hall auditorium seat I found myself in was telling me that my wildest dreams were possible. Yet, just minutes ear- lier, he'd informed an audience full of young people that America was dying, and that they were powerless to stop it. Considering Moore is just as wealthy and influential as Roger Smith, Charlton Heston and many of the others he's lambasted through the years, his hypocrisy was sadden- ing but not unexpected. Sometimes, I guess, appearances aren't deceiving. - Chris Koslowski can be reached at cskoslow@umich.edu. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Nina Amilineni, Jordan Birnholtz, William Butler, Nicholas Clift, Michelle DeWitt, Brian Flaherty, Jeremy Levy, Erika Mayer, Edward McPhee, Emily Orley, Harsha Panduranga, Alex Schiff, Asa Smith, Brittany Smith, Robert Soave, Radhika Upadhyaya, Laura Veith CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON| I don't live in Smith's America LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be fewer than 300 words and must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. All submissions become property of the Daily. We do not print anonymous letters. Send letters to tothedaily@umich.edu. After reading Brittany Smith's last column, I find it not only shocking, but also quite sad- dening that she is ashamed to be an American (Reforming Patriotism, 03/26/2010). I am also deeply disturbed that Smith defines being American by everything this country has ever supposedly done wrong in the world. To say she has felt ashamed by her fellow Americans' patriotism and that the waving of Old Glory is "too bold a symbol of pride" is appalling. The American flag has been proudly displayed by countless citizens since the Revolutionary War. I display it proudly every day outside my house. I do believe she is correct in saying the flagsig- nifies this country's superiority over the world. But that's because this country is superior to the rest of the world. For example, Smith attends the University of Michigan, one of the top schools in the world, and she writes for The Michigan Daily, a 120-year-old publication. I'm sure she lives comfortably somewhere on or near cam- pus with electricity, heat and hot running water. She can say or write nearly anything without legal consequence and she can worship any god her heart desires. If she lived in one of the third- world countries that we supposedly oppress, these luxuries would be severely limited. If she lived in Iraq or Afghanistan as little as 10 years ago, she wouldn't even be allowed to show her face in public, let alone write a newspaper article - especially one speaking out against national pride. I think most citizens in Iraq and Afghani- stan are thankful for their liberation. Just ask any soldier. I'm not saying the wars in those countries have gone perfectly - but does any war? And I'm not saying everything about America is perfect - that certainly isn't the case. The health care system is flawed, and so are the welfare system, Social Security, the process of naturalization and many other govern- ment programs. Our government's ineptitude was certainly apparent during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina - but that is not what defines an American. As a victim of Hurricane Katrina, I certainly felt like a refugee in the days after the storm. My family and I were homeless, had only three sets of clothes and had no idea where we were going to sleep each night. That cer- tainly sounds like a refugee to me - perhaps not to the extent that we hear about in Africa or the Middle East, but a refugee nonetheless. Does that mean the government treated us as unequal? I don't think so. No one had ever had to deal with something like that before, so no one knew how to handle it. Could the govern- ment have handled it better? Certainly, but they didn't purposefully treat us as unequal. My home was submerged in a mixture of swamp water, oil and sewage for three weeks, and when we returned to rebuild, we received no aid. Did we ask for it? Of course. Did we complain and whine when we didn't get it? Maybe a little, but we moved on and did it our- selves with only the help and support of lov- ing family members in other states. After 16 long months of hard work and determination, my family moved back into our home. I believe that's what defines Americans: working hard to achieve your goals and not giving up dur- ing the lowest of the lows; and working hard to better your country, yourself and those around you. For that, I5am damn proud to be an Ameri- can, and Smith should be too. Christopher Johnson is an Engineering junior. WILL BUTLER I There will be blood 0 The minute the vote count hit 216 in the U.S. House of Representatives in favor of the health care reform bill on Mar. 21, Facebook statuses exploded across the nation. While some applauded the historic moment and celebrat- ed the passage of the biggest social legislation in decades, it was much more amusingto read the ignorant lamenting of those who believed we had entered an era of "socialist America." As I scanned through dozens of posts, I found many vowing voter revenge and metaphorical electoral blood in November. This isn't just limited to the crazies in the Tea Party or the uninformed on Facebook. Elected GOP officials have promised to campaign this fall on repealing the health care reform bill. But not only will this promise prove to be electorally and procedurally impossible, this cam- paign strategy will also be costly. By campaigning on the platform of repeal, Republicans will narrow themselves even more toward their base and the fringe right, pushing away moderates and independents. There is no argument that the Republicans and other right-wing groups won the battle of framing the bill and thus it's perception by the public. It was completely on Republicans' terms that this bill was presented to the public. This manifested itself in the despicable actions of Tea Partiers as they shouted racial slurs at African-Amer- ican Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), called openly gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) a "faggot" and posted Rep. Tom Perriello's (D-Va.) brother's home address on a blog and told other Tea Partiers to "stop by." These antics didn't cease once inside the House of Representatives either, as Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) was called a "baby killer" by Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) - taking a page right out of Rep. Joe "You lie!" Wilson's playbook. Republicans have perpetuated misinformation and an atmosphere of mass hysterical Armageddon. This has led to a lack of knowledge about the bill among the public. Despite the fact that there isn't a public option, many believe they are now under a single-payer system or a government takeover of health care. Despite the fact that there are no "death panels," many still believe they exist. Despite the fact that the non-partisan Congressional Bud- get Office estimates that the bill will reduce the deficit by $143 billion during the first 10 years and then $1.2 trillion during the second decade, many are still unconvinced by these numbers. However, now that the bill has passed and portions will begin to be implemented, this is no longer a battle of framing or perception but a battle of actual mate- rial benefits - benefits people don't want taken away. Though public support for the health care bill as a whole is divided, polls describing the individual provi- sions of the bill show high public approval. According to a CNN poll conducted in mid-February, 72 percent of Americans agree with employer mandates for mid-sized and large businesses, 62 percent approve of making it ille- gal to drop insurance for those who are seriously ill and 58 percent agree with preventing insurance companies from denying aid to those with pre-existing conditions. This shows that though Americans have been duped by the right-wing spin machine, they are largely in favor of the bill's reforms. It will be incredibly difficult for Repub- licans to campaign in the fall by telling young adults that they will take away their ability to stay on their parents' health insurance policies or by suggesting that those with pre-existing conditions deserve to be denied coverage. Once voters enjoy the benefits of the bill, they certainly won't vote for them to be taken away. There certainly will be blood in November, but it might just be the Republicans' own. Of course, while midterm elections are always more difficult for the president's party, Republicans might want to reconsider their cam- paign strategy. It is a bad political message to run on repealing what's already done, with no declaration of what your party plans to accomplish. And while everyone enjoys watching the desperate acts of a party in a train wreck, I'm not too sure that many people will enjoy vot- ing for it. Will Butler is an LSA freshman. The Daily is looking for diverse, passionate, strong student writers to join the Editorial Board. Editorial Board members are responsible for discussing and writing the editorials that appear on the left side of the opinion page. E-MAIL RACHEL VAN GILDER AT RACHELVG@UMICH.EDU FOR MORE INFORMATION.