The un-American, traitorous and defamatory comparisons between the Nazi Party and conservatives within America’s Republican Party have no place in this country’s political discourse. From leaders of the Democratic Party such as Al Gore to newspapers’ opinion pages, liberals have disgraced our democratic system by comparing their political opponents to opponents of the human race. Those on the political Right refrain from equivalent comparisons between Democrats and the Communist Party because they know such statements marginalize and disgrace the many millions who have suffered and died under the strong arm of totalitarianism and American soldiers who sacrificed their lives for freedom.

The analogy frequently made between Adolf Hitler and President Bush clearly crosses the line of common decency and neglects the fact that conservatives and liberals alike shed blood to defeat Nazism during World War II. At Georgetown University last June, former Vice President Al Gore referred to the president’s staff as Nazi “brown shirts.” Leading Democratic contributor George Soros has said, “When I hear Bush say, ‘You’re either with us or against us’ it reminds me of the Germans.” Moveon.org, heavily funded by Soros, featured two ads with the president morphing into Hitler. This desperate mode of attack stands antithetical to American values and illustrates a twisted train of thought by the Left’s lunatic fringe so deeply steeped in fantasy that only it can begin to understand or justify its politics of hate.

Al Gore, George Soros and other columnists can be proud to sit in the company of North Korea’s maniacal tyrant, Kim Jong ll. In August, the Communist mass murderer and enemy of freedom said, “Bush is a tyrant that puts Hitler into the shade and his group of such tyrants is a typical gang of political gangsters.” We now have an idea of which foreign leaders John Kerry says want him to be president. In November, voters must decide whether to vote for a party that shamelessly espouses the ludicrous and demented rhetoric of our enemies or a party deeply committed to preserving and promulgating freedom throughout our world.

Pete Trombadore can be contacted at p.trombadore@umiami.edu.

With the second presidential debate over, it’s obvious that President Bush is beginning to feel the heat. The time has come to pay the piper and defend the administration’s record of the past four years, but it’s looking more and more like the Bush campaign will come up short.

What we saw Friday night was a desperate incumbent frantically clinging to the same old attacks that are not only distortions of the truth, but not working with the public. The American people are smarter than that. They know malarkey when they hear it.

In response to one of Bush’s unsubstantiated attacks, Kerry put it best when he said that, “it’s just not that simple.” This could not be truer; the Bush campaign wants you to think that it’s a simple case of voting yes or voting no, but it’s not surprising that it forgets the details of its accusation.

My personal favorite of the pseudo-flip-flops is the Bush campaign’s attempt to skew Kerry’s vote on the $87 billion supplemental funding for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It seemed like Bush kept hanging on to quoting Sen. Kerry when he said, “I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it”; unfortunately for the president, that claim is just not that simple.

What he failed to mention was the portion of that bill that called for a $20 billion blank check to the Bush administration to use however it saw fit, without any Congressional oversight, despite the Constitution’s clear statement that Congress has the power to control the U.S. Treasury. That money could have gone to our brave soldiers, Halliburton’s no-bid contracts, or Timbuktu for all we know. That doesn’t sound like a wise way to spend our hard-earned tax money.

Kerry did come back and admit that he had “made a mistake” in the way he talked about the $87 billion vote, but admitting to a mistake is something Bush could never do, even when he was asked to Friday night.

President Bush has lost his mind; he ignorantly pushes on with the same old rhetoric, coming across as bull-headed. If I had been in the debate hall Friday night, the question I would have asked Bush would have been, “Mr. President, you speak of your steadfast resolve to stay the course. But why would you stay the course if it was headed for a cliff?”

Luke Kosar can be contacted at l.kosar@umiami.edu.

I read a report from the AP last Friday that helped me realize just how brilliant those Democrats on Capitol Hill could be sometimes. When they all put their minds together, they come up with some good ideas to get their candidates elected and scare the heck out of millions of 18 to 26-year-olds. One such brilliant idea was the Universal National Service Act of 2003 sponsored by Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.).

Claiming the current draft system discriminates against low-income adults and using the large number of troops deployed around the world as support, Rangel said that the U.S. needs to raise its troop levels and that a draft is the only way to do so. Democrats in the Senate proposed similar legislation.

Now why would I say that a draft bill is brilliant? Well, the AP report stated that the National Annenberg Election Survey found 51 percent of adults aged 18 to 29 believed Bush wanted to reinstate the draft, while only 8 percent believed Kerry wanted to do the same thing. Keep in mind that Bush, his entire administration, and Republicans in both houses of Congress have said repeatedly not only will there not be a draft, but that they will vote against every measure to do so. In the Senate, Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said he wouldn’t even bring the issue up for debate.

If Republicans are so against the draft and the Democrats are proposing draft bills, why do students then believe that Bush is pro-conscription? You could partially thank the internet for that. An email rumor claiming the upcoming reinstatement of the draft, based on the bills proposed by Congressional Democrats, has instilled fear in many young adults. It’s sad to think that people of draft age could be so easily manipulated by email forwards and not research the facts.

Finally, another important fact should you know about the proposed reinstatement of the draft: It’s not going to happen. The U.S. House voted 402-2 against Rep. Rangel’s (once again, a Democrat) draft bill. Whether or not Americans will be conscripted in future wars waits to be seen, but it won’t be happening anytime soon. So as John Kerry travels America warning college students and young adults that President Bush will reinstate the draft in his second term, don’t fret; its just the Democrats trying to get you scared before Halloween or, more importantly, before Nov. 2.

Pierre Gaunaurd can be contacted at p.gaunaurd@umiami.edu.

RE: Politics of the Environment lecture series

Something exceptional happened at the University of Miami campus Thursday, Oct. 7, and, though the event was open to the public, few people knew about it: Carol Browner, former EPA administrator, spoke about the role of government in protecting the environment – what has been attempted and accomplished and what is critically needed now and in the future. Her command of the facts was impressive, her enthusiasm infectious, her commitment contagious.

Yet, her audience was small. Almost nothing had been done to let the public know about an opportunity that offered little discussed but vital information for voters in the coming election. So – kudos to UM for hosting Ms. Browner as a guest lecturer, but, too, a plea for better promotion of such outstanding events in the future. Had the lecture been effectively promoted, the list of signatures of thanks and congratulations would be long.

Barbara Bell

Graduate alum

Our campus seems to have shut down this past week. After all the positive stress, adrenaline rushes and excitement from debate week, everything else in the University seems boring in comparison – even if it’s not. Regrettably, UM now appears sleepy and empty.

As much as the University has been promoting political involvement on campus, interest in politics appears to have vanished in our post-debate universe. We have forgotten that our debate was the first of three presidential encounters, plus a fourth vice-presidential showdown. We may have eagerly watched these debates, as we mentioned last week, but there was little long-term buzz on campus surrounding them.

The debate we hosted was – or should have been – the beginning of a stimulating last month of campaigning. Instead, it feels like it was the end of it. We’re almost back to our apolitical South Beach-and-football existence.

Granted, we needed time to rest after the debate partying and to catch up on the class work missed while attending debate events, but this is not an excuse for losing the energy on our campus. Where have the College Republicans and Democrats been these past few days? Besides some members handing out a few buttons and bumper stickers, and the Council for Democracy selling “Voters are Sexy” T-shirts, the UC Breezeway was ominously vacant last week. This is uncharacteristic for any moment of the school year, but it’s particularly shocking after the Breezeway had been the main hub of activity during the debate.

Election season is not over yet. The presidential race is tighter than ever, particularly in unpredictable swing states like Florida. Rather than shy away from politics, we should be intently following the news and the campaigns until Nov. 2. Furthermore, we should be getting informed about the important (and often overlooked) races for the Senate and House, as well as the issues that will also be on the ballot on Election Day.

Elections drive a democracy. We are privileged to have a democracy where the system generally works quite smoothly, where we trust our institutions and where we can make informed decisions about whom we elect to office. In other countries, citizens must stand in lines in the sweltering heat for four or eight hours in order to vote, only to find that there was corruption in the election, and often to lose their democracy to a less-than-democratic ruler. Just this Saturday, Afghanistan held its first presidential election amid rumors of fraud when 14 of the 15 opposition candidates withdrew from the ballot in the middle of Election Day.

We take our relatively well-functioning system for granted, and we do a disservice to our democracy by tuning out of politics in these last crucial weeks before the election. We must keep up the momentum we gained by hosting the first presidential debate. What a better way to start than by voting in the Student Government Senate elections this week?