4 Monday June 2, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com EJbe MRidiigan Baiyj Edited and managed by students at ; the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@umich.edu EMMARIE HUETTEMAN GARY GRACA KATE TRUESDELL EDITOR IN CHIEF MANAGING EDITOR EDITORIA L PAGE EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the officialpositionof the Daily's editorial board. Allother signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. Save the lakes Feds should help fund cleanup efforts Three environmental dangers are terrorizing the Midwest's beloved Great Lakes. A report released last week by the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, outlined climate change, pollution and invasive species as the most pressing dangers facing the lakes. The report also predicted that if these issues are not addressed, water levels could fall by three feet and biological dead zones, areas devoid of fish and plant life, could increase as well. These consequences have to be avoided. ANINDYA BHADRA Foreign logic In a May 15 speech to Israel's parliament, the Knesset, President George W. Bush likened politi- cians who wish to sit down and talk with "terrorists and radicals" to Nazi appeasers. Though not explicitly mentioned, the target of his comments was clearly Demo- cratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who has support- ed opening communication with both Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the leaders of Hamas. Since when did dialogue with one's political enemies acquire such a negative connotation? Is it not the responsibility of every sensible politician to seek peaceful resolutions to precarious political situations? Republicans will say that such communication is a sign of weak- ness, and a threat to national security. Better to bomb them all and ask questions later to reduce everything to the blissful simplic- ity of "You're either with us or against us." Some Republicans have already tried hard to portray Obama as less American by referencing his middle name, insinuating that he is secretly a Muslim. Calling Obama's stance on national security weak could not be less true; among the three presi- dential contenders, he has offered the most pragmatic approach to foreign policy. He isn't willing to spend 100 years in Iraq or to "nuke" Iran, but he has also never suggested giving in to the ever- present terrorist threat or wanting to persuade Osama bin Laden to become a Gandhian either. What he has done is encour- age communication with leaders who, for better or worse, have a lot of leverage in certain parts of the Muslim world. This is absolutely critical since most of the world sees the United States as an unwelcome invader thanks to the Bush admin- istration. Restoring the country's reputationis crucialsothat, should the need arise, U.S. military force can be seen as reasonable action rather than bullying. It is important to have a dia- logue, even with leaders like Ahmadinejad who have made irre- sponsible and blatantly anti-Semit- ic comments, such as expressing a desire to wipe Israel off the map and calling the Holocaust a myth. The proper way to handle these people is to challenge their com- ments the same way Columbia University President Lee Bollinger challenged Ahmadinejad last year. These challenges expose their stupidity to the rest of the world. Not listening to them or reporting their point of view just produces feelings of undeserved sympathy. Unfortunately, the Demo- crats are too busy fighting among themselves to engage leaders like Ahmadinejad in reasonable debate. Hillary Clinton - who calls for nuking Iran in her quest to appear like a strong leader and claims to be ready to answer the phone at 3 a.m. - is certainly not helping. Hawkish Republicans are getting away with cheap fear- mongering and unjustifiably char- acterizing Obama's inexperience as an insurmountable handicap. In the coming months, Republicans will only step up these attacks. It is the Democrats' misfortune that they are left watching this as they struggle among themselves, possi- bly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Anindya Bhadra is a Rackham student and a member of the Daily's editorial board. 4 4 4 The coalition's report, which represents more than 100 advo- cacy groups, is requesting $20 billion in funding from the fed- eral government to deal with these issues. The funds would go towards preventing pollu- tion, adopting water quality control indicators and updating the Great Lakes' aging sewer treatment technology. The report also calls for toxic areas to be cleaned up by 2015 and for all ocean-going vessels to be banned from the lakes in order to stop invasive species from entering. The U.S. Senate will begin debate next week about global warming legislation, debate that may end up generating funding for efforts to restore the Great Lakes. The federal govern- ment should fund the cleanup efforts immediately. In grant- ing such funding, everyone has something to gain; many states outside the Great Lakes region also benefit from a healthy lakes system. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that the lakes sustain the liveli- hoods of 10 percent of the U.S. population. But it's important to clarify that federal funding shouldn't equate to a federally controlled cleanup effort. The eight states bordering the lakes are the ones that should create solutions and man regional repair efforts, as is being attempted right now with the Great Lakes Compact. Emphasizing regional control prevents cleanup from getting bogged down in federal bureau- cracy. The country cannot allow any of its most appealing natural environments to be destroyed. Federal funding is needed to restore the Great Lakes eco- systems and maintain them for future generations of lake lovers who depend on them. The pos- sibility of losing the Great Lakes should be a haunting projection of the future for the residents of the Midwest - one that must be avoided at all cost. E LISE BAUN nVIEWPOINT Banning the banned 4 The Michigan legislature has moved to pass a bill that would effectively ban partial-birth abor- tion. It has already passed in the state Senate and is moving to the House of Representatives. Of course, there is already a similar ban at the federal level. So I have to wonder: Why are Michigan's politicians working so hard to ban something that is already illegal? The federal ban outlaws par- tial-birth abortion in all cases except when the mother's health is threatened. The Michigan bill, in an effort to be even more restrictive, aims to outlaw all par- tial-birth abortions except in life or death situations. It stipulates that the physician is the one who determines if abortion is permis- sible. At first glance, this discrep- ancy might not seem like much of a problem and could constitute a difference big enough to make a new law worthwhile. But this new provision takes away the woman's righttochoose and leaves the final decision up to the doctor. This fundamentalflaw in Mich- igan's bill is its main problem, and the likely reason Gov. Jennifer Granholm will veto it. Effectively, the state legislature has worked hard to pass a bill that practically mirrors the federal ban already in place, except for the one aspect that will likely kill it. Either way, it's wasting its time. Isn't there something else that my state government should be doing instead of essentially rewriting a bill that already exists? Maybe my representa- tives' time would be better spent creating a bill that isn't destined to fail. Since creating legislation that actually has a chance of passing clearly wasn't a priority in this case, I have to wonder: Are some of Michigan's representatives simply trying to win the vote of the religious right in an election year? With this bill, representa- tives have the advantage of look- ing like they are trying very hard without having to worry about accomplishing much. Simply put, there are more important things to worry about. Perhaps the fact that our state now has the highest unemploy- ment rate in the country has not yet reached the ears of our state senators. And I don't think any of us have forgotten that last year our state almost went bankrupt. Have these monetary issues been worked out already? Doubtful. I'd be far more impressed with my government if it worked on these more pressing concerns rather than redundant and flashy vote-getting legislation that in reality gets us nowhere. Elise Baun is an LSA senior and a member of the Daily's editorial board. 4 4 BLOGS Read more up-to-date opinion at michigandaily.com/thepodium Editorial Board Members: Elise Baun, Anindya Bhadra, Harun Buljina, Robert Soave