Commentary
Oregon Daily Emerald
Thesday, November 2, 2004
NEWS STAFF
(541)346-5511
JEN SUD1CK
EDITOR IN CHIEF
STEVEN R. NEUMAN
MANAGING EDITOR
JARED PABEN
AYISHA YAHYA
NEWS EDITORS
PARKER HOWELL
SENIOR NEWS REPORrER
MORIAH BALINGIT
MF.GHANN CUNIFF
KARA HANSEN
ANTHONY LUCERO
CANE LA WOOD
NEWS REPORTERS
CIAYTON JONES
SPORTS EDITOR
ION ROETMAN
SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER
STEPHEN MILLER
BRIAN SMITH
SPORTS REPORTERS
RYAN NYBURC
PULSE EDITOR
NATASI LA CHIUNGER1AN
SENIOR PULSE REPORTER
DAHVI FISCHER
AMYUCHTY
JvYAN MURPHY
PULSE REPORTERS
DAVID JAGERNAUTH
EDITORIAL EDITOR
JENNIFER MCBRIDE
AILEE SLATER
CHUCK SLOTHOWER
TRAVIS WILI.SE
COLUMNISTS
ASHLEY GRIFFIN
SUPPLEMENT
TREELANCE EDITOR
GABE BRADLEY
NEVIS FREELANCE EDITOR/
DIRECTOR OF RECRUITMENT
DANIELLE HICKEY
PHOTO EDITOR
T AUREN WIMER
SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
STM BOBOSKY
PHOTOGRAPHER
MCOLE BARKER
PAR TME PHOTOGRAPHER
ERIK BISHOFF
PARI ;IMEPHOTOGRAPHER
BR'n FURIWANCLER
GRAPHIC ARTIST
KIRA PARK
DESIGN EDITOR
ELLIOTT ASBURY
. 11ARLIE CALDWELL
DUSTIN REESE
BRIANNESHOLIAN
DESIGNERS
SHAD RA BEES LEY
1EANNIE EVERS
COPY CHIEFS
KIMBERLY BLACKFIELD
PAUL THOMPSON
SPORTS COPY EDITORS
AMANDA EVRARD
AMBER LINDROS
MEWS COPT EDITORS
JANDSAY BURT
PULSE COPY EDITOR
ADRIENNE NELSON
ONLINE EDITOR
S1ADE LEESON
WEBMASTER
BUSINESS
_ (541)346-5511
1UDYR1EDL
GENERAL MANAGER
KATHY CARBONE
BUSINESS MANAGER
REBECCA CRITCHETT
RECEPTIONIST
NATHAN FOSTER
AiBINC CUO
ANDREW LEAHY
JOHN LONG
MALLORY MAHONEY
HOLLY MISTELL
DISTRIBUTION
ADVERTISING
(541)346-3712
MELISSA GUST
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
TYLER MACK
SALES MANAGER
ALEX AMES
MATT BETZ
HERON CAUSCH-DOLEN
MEGAN HAMLIN
KATE HIRONAKA
MAEGAN KASER-LEE
MIA LEIDELMEYER
EMILY PHILBIN
SHANNON ROGERS
SALES REPRESENTATIVES
KELLEF. KAUFTHEIL
AD ASSISTANT
CLASSIFIED
(541)346-4343
TRINA SHANAMAN
CLASSIFIED MANAGER
KATY GAGNON
SABRINA GOWFTTE
LESLIE STRAIGLIT
KERI SPANGLER
KATIE STRINGER
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
ASSOCIATES
PRODUCTION
(541)3464381
MICHELE ROSS
PRODUCTION MANAGER
TARA SLOAN
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
JEN CRAMLET
KRISTEN D1CHARRY
CAMERON GAUT
ANDY HOLLAND
DESIGNERS
The Oregon Daily Emerald is pu6
fished daily Monday through Fri
day during the school year by the
Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing
Co. Inc., at the University of Ore
gon, Eugene, Ore. The Emerald
operates independently of the
University with offices in Suite
300 of the Erb Memorial Union.
The Emerald is private property.
Unlawful removal or use of
papers is prosecutable by law.
■ In my opinion
America sets a bad example
The whole world will watch in
tently tonight as American voters de
cide the fate of the country — and to
some extent the world — for the
next four years. It’s sad that in a
country that claims to be a model for
democracy we can’t conduct our
elections better. Once again, the
presidential campaign has been
guided by misinformation and
dirty tricks.
The entire Swift Boat debacle was
ridiculous. Somehow, conservative
activists funded by rich Texans man
aged to land questions about John
Kerry’s war record on the front page
of just about every major American
newspaper for weeks on end. Even
after military records contradicted
the accounts given by the woefully
misnamed Swift Boat Veterans for
TVuth, the controversy refused to die.
It was a simple and successful mis
information campaign that had a sig
nificant effect on the race.
President Bush also contributed to
misinforming the electorate by will
fully distorting Kerry’s views on use
of force, implying that he’d leave
American security to “old Eu
rope” despite Kerry’s repeat
ed assurances to the contrary.
Bush continued the pattern
of deception by attacking
Kerry’s health care plan as
an intrusive government
monolith, which it isn’t.
To be fair, the misinfor
mation has flown from
both sides. Kerry warned
iuuu mai mtic o
“great potential” of a mili
tary draft if Bush wins reelection,
and Howard Dean voiced the same
concerns during his visit to campus
on Oct. 1. Both sides do what they
feel they need to do to rouse their
base. Republicans, as Dean likes to
say, harp on “guns, God, gays and
abortion” while Democrats attempt
CHUCK SLOTHOWER
TAKING ISSUE
to scare their base with the specter
of a draft. I believe that political re
alities will likely prevent Bush from
instituting a draft and that Democ
rats know this.
While partisan rhetorical
nonsense can be expected, it has
been more depressing to see the ex
tent to which the electorate is mis
or uninformed this year. Polls indi
cate that a majority of Americans be
lieve that Saddam Hussein had
weapons of mass destruction and a
significant relationship with A1
Qaeda despite
Bret Furtwangler | Graphic artist
SUUUg dUU I11UU1
publicized evi
dence to the contrary. If only a few
Americans believed this, one could
attribute it to hard-core Bush sup
porters who couldn’t admit the truth
to themselves. But when half the
country doesn’t know the outcome
of the two strongest rationales for in
vading Iraq, we have a problem.
It would be easy to blame the me
dia for this, but anyone who reads a
daily newspaper would know that
we haven’t found weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq or significant ties
between Hussein and A1 Qaeda .
Perhaps if you got your information
from Fox News, you might be forgiv
en for thinking otherwise (a survey
showed Fox News viewers to be the
most ill-informed American news
consumers).
Also, the Bush administration de
serves some blame for keeping these
myths alive. Dick Cheney has been
particularly mendacious about re
peating discredited charges, and the
entire administration has tried to
conflate the war in Iraq with the war
against Islamic terrorism. However,
the final responsibility to inform
oneself lies with the citizen. Ameri
can democracy demands a lot on the
part of the citizen, and it’s the citi
zen’s duty to fulfill that obligation. I
have little sympathy for those who
whine about how long it takes to in
form oneself about the issues. It’s an
insult to your forefathers who fought
for the right to vote and the literally
billions of humans who still don’t
have the right to vote.
fljBl Speaking of the right to
vote, The Washington Post
reported last week that
yj Republicans in Ohio and
mt Wisconsin have mounted legal
challenges to tens of thou
sands of voter registrations in
those key states. Of course partisans
want their side to win. But at what
point do ethics enter the mix, and at
what point does one consider the
health of the republic?
Just like you, I’ll be glued to the
television tonight with liquor close
at hand. Best of luck to all of us, and
to the health of the republic.
chackslothower@dailyemerald.com
INBOX
Use intellectual diversity
in clash of political ideas
Being new to Eugene and the Uni
versity, this is my first political sea
son here. Having spent 13 of the last
27 years abroad, I have lived on both
coasts of the United States, and in
six countries on three continents
overseas, but I have never lived in a
more culturally and ethnically ho
mogeneous (i.e. white) community
than this one. Nor have I ever lived
in one that talks more often or more
loudly about diversity!
The cultural and ethnic diversity
that so many on this campus claim
to cherish is, conveniently, exactly
the kind of diversity that you will
never actually have to face as long
as you stay in Eugene. Meanwhile,
the diversity that you do have the
opportunity to engage with on a dai
ly basis, intellectual diversity, seems
to terrify you so much that most of
you can find no better response than
to retreat to the knee-jerk reactions
of all bigots (liberal or conservative):
mockery, derision and intimidation.
The next time you meet a person
with a Bush/Cheney button on their
backpack, try something new:
Rather than mocking them, offer to
buy them a cup of coffee and try to
engage in a civil and rational ex
change of ideas — no campaign slo
gans allowed. While it may be that
no one’s vote will be changed, at
least you’ll finally have an opportu
nity to put that highly vaunted ap
preciation for diversity into practice,
and if you do it with honesty
and sincerity, that can only be a
good thing.
Paul T\icker
Eugene
Vote no on 34 and 37
to protect forests
1 agree with your editorial board
that Measure 34 is a terrible idea.
However, it is essential that voters
also know about another serious
threat to our forests and farmland:
Measure 37.
Measure 37 is a misleading and
dangerous measure that would roll
back Oregon’s safeguards that pro
tect forests and farmland from being
converted into stripmalls and
sprawl. That’s why leading environ
mental groups including the Sierra
Club, OSP1RG and the League of
Conservation Voters are against it.
The timber industry has already
spent $750,000 for the Yes on 37
campaign because they know the
law will allow them to do more
clear-cutting, unless taxpayers pay
them hundreds of millions of dollars
not to. That’s not fair.
Measure 37 is also extremely ex
pensive. The State Treasury esti
mates it would cost $344 million just
to process the claims, not to mention
all the money it would take to pay
out the claims. This measure will gut
the already meager state budget,
which will mean cuts to education
and all the other programs we
care about.
To protect our environment and
our state budget, vote no on Mea
sure 37. For information go to
www.NOon37.com or contact the
author at margie_klein@lcv.org or
646-408-6160.
Margie Klein
Project Democracy
League of Conservation
Voters Education Fund
OREGON DAILY EMERALD LETTERS POLICY
Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged, and should be sent to letters@dailyemerald .com or submitted at the Oregon Oaity Emerald office EMU Suite 300 Electronic
submissions are preferred. Letters are limited to 250 words, and guest commentaries to 550 words. Authors are limited to one submission per calendar month Submissions should
include phone number and address for verification. The Emerald reserves the right to edit for space, grammar and style. Guest submissions are published at the discretion of the Emerald
■ Editorial
Post-election
America as
seen through
Emerald eyes
Prediction: Bush wins the election and liberal
idealists who believed their votes could change
the world will instantly grow cynical and bitter.
Sweet apathy will be popular once again. Hun
dreds of students will decide to give up on their
dreams of ethical careers and go into advertising.
Prediction: North Korea’s Kim Jong II will be
the last of the evildoers to endorse a candidate for
president. He will back Ralph Nader, who will
then eagerly ask the dictator for a campaign do
nation.
Prediction: The ASUO will break the law,
again.
Prediction: Kerry will win both the popular and
electoral vote, but, after consulting with A1 Gore,
will concede the election, at which point Howard
Dean’s head will explode. In his concession
speech Kerry will apologize for criticizing the
president and will beg for his forgiveness. In an
act of contrition, Congressional Democrats will
bend over in unison during a joint meeting of the
House and Senate and let the Republican’s “fili
buster” them. Observers will comment that these
Democrats still put up more of a fight than they
did in 2000. Liberals will later blame the defeat
on Ralph Nader.
Prediction: Kerry will receive zero votes in
Ohio. The mainstream media will blame an “acci
dental” malfunction of every electronic voting
machine in the state. By 10 p.m. Republican pun
dits will accuse angry Democrats of being “con
spiracy theorists” and will tell them to “get over
it.” But in a surprising moment of candor,
Diebold Inc. chief executive Walden O'Dell will
admit, “Yeah, we probably could have been more
subtle about that one, but we decided, what the
hell? It’s not like anybody can do anything about
it. ” The Democrats will then bend over.
Prediction: After a massive flood from a unex
pected hurricane wipes out the eastern seaboard
killing Bush and Kerry at their respective polling
stations, Ralph Nader will win the election with
help from late-voting left-coast liberals. The
newspaper headline on the Nov. 3 New York
Times reads: “Pigs fly, hell freezes over.”
Prediction: Kerry wins the election by a high
ly-contested, razor-thin margin, but is inaugurat
ed thanks to a court decision. The nation is split
down the middle. The country is still at war, and
young Americans die faster and faster. Conserva
tive think-tanks claim the economy has officially
jumped the shark and begin ballyhooing the
“Kerry recession.” Television anchors ask, “Does
my hair look alright?” The country enters a sec
ond cold-war-like era, emerges briefly in 40 years,
takes a breath and dives back into war.
Prediction: Bush wins the election by a highly
contested, razor-thin margin, but is inaugurated
thanks to a court decision. The nation is split
down the middle. The country is still at war, and
young Americans die faster and faster. Liberal
think-tanks claim the economy has officially
jumped the shark and continue ballyhooing the
“Bush recession.” Television anchors ask, “Do I
have something in my teeth?” The country enters
a second cold-war-like era, emerges briefly in 40
years, takes a breath and dives back into war.
Prediction: Bush wins the election by a highly
contested, razor-thin margin despite losing the
popular vote, thanks to a Supreme Court deci
sion. The country is highly polarized. After an
uneventful first 100 days under the Bush adminis
tration the country is attacked, giving the presi
dent carte blanche to terrorize his constituents
and fellow citizens with bogeyman depictions of
evil terrorists while he simultaneously drags the
country to war based on slip-shod evidence but
tressed by fundamentalist-like zealotry in neo
conservatism. Uhhh — nevermind.