Question
and answer time for the ignorant
I
am sick of people asking certain questions
when it comes to the war in Iraq and other
political issues. A few common questions
include: "If Osama Bin Laden was
behind the Sept. 11 attacks, then why
are we in Iraq?" "Why do we
allow civil liberties to be violated by
the Patriot Act?" and "Why are
we so stupid to have re-elected President
Bush?" If you don't know the answers
to these questions by now, then you are
in luck. My columns are a public service,
and in the interest of the public I will
answer these questions, so sit back and
enjoy.
"If
Osama Bin Laden was behind the Sept. 11
attacks, then why are we in Iraq?"
I hear this question most in the news,
on television and in my fireside chats
with liberals. What is it that people
don't understand about the U.S. attacking
Iraq? Granted, Saddam Hussein did not
have anything to do with the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks, but what is not being said
is that Hussein had been complacent with
and had supported (and funded) terrorism
for years. Furthermore, Hussein and terrorists
of al-Qaeda can agree on one thing: despite
their many differences, they both have
no qualms about killing Americans and
they both would like to see you and me
dead, simply because we are Americans.
Hussein had also attacked Israel in the
past, and because they are our ally,
that attack was a direct slap in the face
to us, and might as well have been an
attack on us.
"Why
do we allow civil liberties to be violated
by the Patriot Act?" People really
need to buck up. An inconvenience at the
airport is not a violation of civil liberties.
The government tapping the phone of a
suspected terrorist is not a violation
of civil liberties. Detaining someone
that the government believes may have
terrorist bedfellows is not a violation
of civil liberties. The truth is that
we need to be more careful about terrorism,
and the Patriot Act allows this. If you
have nothing to hide, then why are you
scared? I hate to say it, but someone
named Cat Stevens probably has less of
a chance of getting questioned at the
airport than Yusuf Islam, and Cat Stevens
demonstrated exactly that point.
Unfortunately,
the Patriot Act probably won't be renewed
when it expires in 2005, but it was nice
while it lasted.
"Why
are we so stupid to have re-elected President
Bush?" This is a question I have
heard asked so many times in the past
month, and I can't believe anyone who
considers himself intelligent would ask
it. What makes you think that because
someone voted for President Bush that
person is stupid? Most people who voted
for John Kerry are, I believe, modest
people who saw the same thing in
Kerry that the Bush supporters saw in
Bush.
What
makes me mad though, are the constant
accusations of lower intelligence and
stupidity of those who voted Republican.
I have also heard people (and friends
of mine) say that California is a smarter
state because it was a blue state. The
funny thing is that most of America is
red, and as soon as you get to Bakersfield
you immediately enter Middle America,
also known as "Bush country."
I agree, there are a lot of stupid people
in America and I don't like the vast majority
of people here, but are they stupid for
voting for President Bush? No. Is a democrat
stupid for voting for Kerry? I think
not.
Hopefully
this has served as a convenient little
guide for people who needed these questions
answered, and hopefully those who already
knew the answers will continue to enlighten
people who ask. Ignorance is no excuse
for anything, and those who ask these
questions at this point in time have proved
a clear ignorance of the facts, but thankfully
that doesn't mean that one is a lost cause.
Then again, as we all know, ignorance
is bliss.
Gerry
Wachovsky is a senior broadcast journalism
major at CSULB and the Diversions editor
of the Online 49er.
