Holly Donovan wrote an interesting op-ed (“Listening to voices of dissent” Sept. 3)ÿon her views regarding the U.S. political system.ÿIn the 2000 presidential election, she did (or didn’t-I couldn’t follow the flow) vote for a third-party candidate, and does (or doesn’t) feel somewhatÿresponsible for Dubya assuming office. I also learned that she hates Clear Channel, which is most definitely a shame. I love Z107.7, and am myself aÿZ-VIP.
Unfortunately, I have no idea what she’s talking about for the rest of her column. Not only has time for bereavement over Bush being elected, despite not having received the popular vote (we use the electoral college to elect presidents; accept it, move on), long since passed, she fabricates interesting-albeit fraudulent-facts to fuel her and possibly others’ hatred of Bushie.
She begins by saying that she and “most of the rest of the country” had never heard what experts in foreign policy had to say.ÿLast time I checked, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, etc, had plenty of experts (regardless of bias) that talked about international affairs. Or perhaps sheÿwas not accustomed to hearing about terrorism. That’s even more confusing, as the United States has beenÿa fairly popular target for terrorists for nearlyÿhalf a century, starting with the Iran hostage crisis in 1979. If that’sÿtoo long ago, what about the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993? Still tooÿfar back? Well, in 1998 two U.S. embassies in Africa were bombed. Even more recently, in 2000 the U.S.S. Coleÿalmost sunk off the coast of Yemen when a bomb-laden raft detonated alongside the cruiser. All of these attacks wereÿorchestrated by Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network.ÿ
I am not trying to discount the horrendous tragedy of the September 11th terrorist attacks. I am trying to establish that there was a prior context for all of these “never-before-heard” forums.
According to Donovan, Dick Cheney apparently has the power to “blacklist” academics from speaking out if their views conflict with those of the administration. A great hero of mine, Thomas Friedman of The New York Times, will be speaking at the University very soon. I suggest that Donovan look into some of his past columns, along with another amazing journalist from the same paper, Maureen Dowd.ÿBoth-especially Dowd-have been very critical of the administration, yet never did I see a blacked-out article on The New York Times Web site (oh, you can also pick up a hard copy at some dining halls, just not Small Group-apparently upperclassmen don’t read).
The U.S. Patriot Act also does nothing to suppress academics. I worked at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights this summer and spent considerable time researching the U.S. Patriot Act. The only thing that comes close to that claim is that some international students were denied visas to study in the United States. That reason had nothing to do with blocking a forum that would clash with Bush’s administration and everything to do with stopping people from entering our nation under false pretenses. A frighteningly high percentage of those “international students” never attended class. More stayed in the U.S. far past their visa’s expiration date. If you have a problem with this country’s immigration laws, don’t blame Bush; they’ve been around for decades.
Donovan is also victim to the same vision deficiency that most zealots suffer from: if all of her like-minded friends feel one way, everyone must feel that way. She claims that “we begged our elected officials not to attack Iraq.” While there definitely was, and still is, dissent to the war on Iraq, the majority of Americans were in favor of the war. Some false information seems to have been provided by Iraqi informants. Other contentious issues, such as the fabled weapons of mass destruction, may have been shuttled out ofÿIraq while the U.S. was tied up trying to secure approval from the United Nations. Also, as provenÿby our inability to findÿbinÿLaden or Saddam Hussein, it is not always so easyÿfor the U.S. to find things that don’t want to be found.
Last,ÿwhile it may not be immediately obvious from my article, I am aÿDemocrat. As a Democrat, I am greatly frustrated by Donovan’sÿdescription of the 2004ÿpresidential election as one between “two extremes.” Iÿassume she is speaking of Bush asÿthe evil, warmongering tyrant, and of Representative Dennis Kucinich’sÿdesire to establish a “Department of Peace.” There are many other Democratic candidates available (I’m a Howard Dean fan), as well as third party candidates.
Whether you want the “Axis of Evil out of the White House,” or just want to finish out the remaining trinity in Iran and North Korea, cast yourÿvote for someone who you believe in. Read the facts and don’t let yourself get enveloped in the liberal or conservative rhetoric.