Commentary
Oregon Daily Emerald
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
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■ In my opinion
Today marks the one-year anniver
sary of the 2004 presidential election.
Prior to that election, the nation was all
atwitter with everyday conversations
that naturally moved toward gay mar
riage and nuclear proliferation. The
bumper sticker industry was booming,
and one could hardly go anywhere
without seeing Viva Bush or The Real
Deal plastered somewhere in red,
white and blue. Peter Jennings, Tom
Brokaw, and Dan Rather dutifully re
ported one state, two state, red state,
blue state.
Every minute of it was fun. That is
what presidential elections are all
about. You get to go completely nuts
for a little while. Everything your guy
says is audio gold, and everything the
other guy says seems to leave brown
on his teeth. You find out the political
views of people you might never talk to
during non-campaign life. The littlest
news story or gossip suddenly seems
like the biggest, baddest, be-all, end-all
deal-breaker for the whole election.
And sometimes it is.
But this frenzied state of mind is not
meant to be permanent. The election is
over, preferably, by the first Wednesday
morning of November, and things go
back to normal. We go back to having
conversations about regular, everyday
topics and take a break from debating
the morality of stem cell research. The
mud slinging stops, and Washington is
back to business as usual, save a few
new faces.
This year, however, the United States
just hasn’t been able to get out of cam
paign mode. Perhaps the cuts between
Democrats and Republicans ran a little
too deep in ’04. Maybe the activate
the-base over the traditional get-the
swing-votes campaign technique
stirred up some extremely muddy wa
ters that have yet to clear. Whatever it
is, the results are bazaar.
Over the summer, grieving mother
Cindy Sheehan set up camp (4 miles)
outside President Bush’s Crawford,
Texas home. She simply wanted to ask
him “for what noble cause” did her
son Casey die. For whatever reason,
the president refused to meet with her.
The parties disagreed and that sur
prised no one.
The weird part was the anti-Sheehan
ARMY FFTH
RHETORIC CHECK
backlash. They attacked her personal
ly. Ann Coulter said, in reference to
Camp Casey, Democrats need to learn
how to grieve. The mass media made
her into a political figure and asked her
questions about international issues as
though she were some sort of expert.
Someone even ran a truck through the
row of crosses set up as a tribute to
Sheehan’s son and other fallen sol
diers. Now Sheehan is leading a na
tional anti-war campaign. She’s writing
editorials and making speeches. How
did this happen? People feel so strongly
pro- or anti-war that one woman’s
symbolic statement turns into an all
out political battlefield complete with
smearing and violence, and the end re
sult is somebody’s mom on a national
political campaign.
Political ads are also completely out
of control. Not only did non-profit 527s
play a huge role in last year’s election,
they proved to have staying power. The
Tom DeLay trial in Texas has sparked
many an ad from both sides. Liberal in
terest groups are running ads against
DeLay and even his temporary replace
ment Roy Blunt. DeLay’s camp is run
ning ads hoping to target potential ju
rors of the case. He also tries to
personally discredit the prosecutor and
judge every chance he gets, mostly
claiming partisanship. If this absolute
madness does not stop, they won’t be
able to find an impartial jury. Then
Tom DeLay may get his wish, and get
his trial moved out of Austin to a more
conservative place.
The constant campaigning is a real
risk to the effectiveness of our judicial
system. It is one thing to report the
news, it is quite another to turn char
acters in the story into semi-factual re
ality TV figures.
There is another campaign going on
in America today, one that I just heard
about. According to an article in Tues
day's New York Times, Wal-Mart has
employed a highly experienced team of
political operatives. What are they
fighting for? Swing shoppers. Accord
ing to Michael Babaro's article, Wal
Mart has suffered tremendously from
recent poor press and a bad reputation.
Sophisticated groups like Wal-Mart
Watch and Wake Up Wal-Mart have
been increasingly successful in waging
“the public relations equivalent of
guerilla warfare.”
Wal-Mart has hired seasoned politi
cal campaign professionals like
Michael K. Deaver of the Reagan ad
ministration and Leslie Dach, who
helped Clinton control his image
through the impeachment crisis. To
combat Robert Greenwald’s upcoming
film “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low
Price,” team Discount Retail for Ameri
ca has produced its own counter-film.
Currently, they are working on a sec
ond pro-Wal-Mart film. This “cam
paign” to convince undecided shop
pers to be with or against Wal-Mart has
turned into an all-out propaganda war.
The campaigning never seems to
stop. Politicians, the mass media, cor
porate interests, non-profits: They all
play a role in the constant division of
America. Campaigns are intense, and
they usually divide voters into only
two camps. This works in a presiden
tial election because there are only two
candidates, but this format does not
apply to the United States in general.
Whenever there is a controversy or dif
ference of opinion, mud-slinging and
propaganda are not the answers.
Americans deserve to be presented
with multiple views and allowed to de
cide their positions on their own. They
should not be presented with two bi
ased opinions from talking heads and
told to make a choice.
The United States is more divided
now than ever. It does not have to be
that way. If the people in charge spent
more time solving problems and less
time trying to persuade everyone that
they are right about everything, we
might just make some progress.
afeth@ dailyemerald, com
■ Guest commentary
Protecting animals is happier
than selfishly wearing them
I was disappointed to read Army
Feth’s fluff piece last week about how
she feels “liberated” to wear her rabbit
coat (“Free to wear fur,” ODE Oct. 26).
It reminded me of Cartman’s “ Whateva!
I’ll do what I want! ” and you never want
your ethics to mimic Cartman’s.
Why should anyone be impressed
that Army is no longer afraid of what
other people think when that means
she takes advantage of others without
thinking about them — namely non
human animals who can’t defend
themselves. We might not need to
care what others think, but we should
care about what we do to others and
what we stand for. And it doesn’t
show much caring to glamorize a
needless fashion product that pro
motes the trapping of rabbits in
leghold clamps or raising them in
cramped cages and then electrocuting
them up their butt or sending them to
a primitive gas chamber.
Although it’s perfectly normal that
this columnist wants to seek happi
ness, it is a mischaracterization of the
Dalai Lama’s peaceful Buddhist prin
ciples to suggest he supports hedo
nism and egocentrism. True happi
ness and enlightenment can’t come at
the expense of others — hence the
Buddha’s support of vegetarianism.
No one’s “freedoms” should come
from stepping on the backs of others.
Think of the conscientious consumers
who boycotted slavery in the 19th
century by refusing to buy cotton
products, similar to how people today
can refuse to buy sweatshop products
or fur and leather.
Animal lovers are compassionate peo
ple and therefore most are not going to
yell or throw anything at anyone in a fur
coat. They are just going to feel sad to
see another person who is contributing
to animal exploitation and doesn’t seem
to care. So if you can’t be without rabbit
fur, how about liberating a bunny from
the local shelter instead of sporting his
remains. The animals need people like
you on their side — protecting their own
right to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness... it can make you happy too.
Carrie Freeman is a doctoral student
in communication and society.
■ Editorial
We must
prepare
Eugene for
earthquake
The city of Eugene and the University are
not adequately prepared for natural disasters
that could potentially strike this region, and
after seeing the devastating effects of the 2004
tsunami and recent hurricanes, we cannot
pretend that a catastrophic event will never
strike this area.
A city study estimated a subduction zone
earthquake off the Oregon coast would cause
$1.6 billion to $1.7 billion in building damages
in Lane County. A daytime earthquake could
injure up to 2,700 people. Using more current
infomiation is estimated to raise damage and
casualty calculations by 14 percent.
A Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake
last struck the Pacific Northwest in 1700,
but geological predictions indicate that
subduction zone earthquakes occur about
every 300 to 500 years. As time passes, it
becomes increasingly likely we will expe
rience a large quake.
A low chance of occurrence is no reason to
delay protecting our community. Although
loss of life in a massive natural disaster may
be inevitable, taking preventative measures
today could protect lives.
We have taken steps toward creating a
emergency response command center for
the city. Yet centralizing commanders in a
single durable shelter would help improve
communication and provide emergency
services in the field with clear, organized
plans. Having civil authorities frequently
drill and test such systems, with the help of
the general public, would help prepare Eu
gene for The Big One.
At the same time, simply preparing to react
to the worst is not enough.
At the University, the structural safety of
several buildings is near dismal. A recent
study by the Oregon Natural Hazards Work
group found several campus buildings will be
damaged by an earthquake. Damage to aging
and vulnerable Straub Hall, which houses the
Department of Public Safety, could hinder
DPS’ response to an emergency.
The University doesn’t realistically have the
funds to upgrade or replace these structures.
But an earthquake during a basketball game
at McArthur Court or during busy office hours
at PLC could be disastrous because many stu
dents aren’t aware of structural hazards or
proper escape routes. Retrofitting buildings
when possible and training students in how
to seek shelter and evacuate buildings is vital.
During an earthquake or other disaster in
Eugene, we need to be prepared to help our
selves. Many bridges and road overpasses
that serve as main arteries of transportation
in and around the city are considered tem
porary, and these roads do not meet strin
gent seismic codes. In the event of an earth
quake, they may not fail, but they might be
inaccessible while officials check their sta
bility. Power, water and phone service may
also be disrupted.
A parallel situation is currently progressing
nationally. Concerned about the threat of an
influenza pandemic, President Bush recently
asked for $7.1 billion to create vaccine. Al
though he didn’t propose a clear way to pay
for his proposal, we should follow his exam
ple and finally prioritize disaster prepared
ness.
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