With time winding down on his second term, President Bush has become one of the most unpopular presidents in our history. Five years after Sept. 11, 2001, our president has acted responsibly and effectively to put an end to terrorism in the United States, and he is working diligently to end terrorism around the world. It seems that so many citizens are forgetting what happened in New York on a beautiful day in September and how many lives were lost. Terrorist attacks took 2,752 American lives on that morning – mothers, fathers, sons and daughters were ripped away from their families because of terrorism.
I am not intending to be harsh, but college students – you, the next generation of Americans – need to become better educated about world politics and policy, to better understand our government and its members. Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, a member of the Green Party or just a citizen who has not declared a political affiliation, I hope that you will at least take the time and do the homework before you just go along with your college educators and your local news stations.
Not everyone is ever going to approve of the president, or of going to war. The truth is, however, he is our president, and we are at war. I ask that you form your own opinion; do the research yourself. No matter what political affiliation you belong to, you should know the facts without bias before you openly criticize our commander in chief. It is very sad, but entirely true, that too often we believe what we hear from our political science professors, our parents and our friends. It is not often enough that we read and watch the news to better understand what is going on in the world without receiving information passed on through bias.
I took POLS 102 my freshman year. It was sad that our professor, who was teaching a Freshman Year Experience course, was so one-sided. He forced his opinions on us, slurred Republicans and joked about our president. Others in the class and I had strong enough views that we did not let him sway our thinking, but the freshmen and even upperclassmen that have not affiliated themselves with a political party had nothing else to believe.
Everyone should be able to explore all options without the bias or influence of a professor and affiliate themselves with the proper political party based on issues alone.
President Bush said on July 6, 2004, “We’re engaged in a global struggle against the followers of a murderous ideology that despises freedom and crushes all dissent, and has territorial ambitions and pursues totalitarian aims. . And against such an enemy there is only one effective response. We will never back down, we will never give in and we will never accept anything less than complete victory. . We will defeat the terrorists and their hateful ideology by spreading the hope of freedom across the world. . The security of our nation depends on the advance of liberty in other nations.”
Our military was there for the president, it was there for our nation when we needed it to preserve freedom more than ever. Our soldiers answered the call and began to fight back for the loss that we suffered on Sept. 11, and the loss that the nation has been suffering for years. Our president is fighting for the lives lost on that day, and the lives that continue to be lost all across America because of terrorism. All wars suffer great losses, but that is the cost of peace in our country.
Ulysses S. Grant said, “I never advocated war except for means of peace.” That is what this war is for; the United States cannot afford another terror attack. Third world countries cannot afford to be ruled and run by terrorist groups and regimes. You think that you want peace and you want the military men home; imagine what it is like for Iraqi citizens who want more than anything to be able to live a normal life in safety and not be afraid daily and have to worry about their children growing up to become suicide bombers.
The bottom line – give President Bush a little break, he is working every day to make your life and the lives of your future children safer, whether you believe it or not. Please take the initiative to get educated and get involved; join one of the various college organizations. If you get the facts and really try to understand the decisions that are being made in the White House, you might not walk around with such hostility for the president.
Remember always that you have a vote and it counts. If you want to vote Democrat in the next election, that is awesome; just know why you are voting that way, and support your party based on facts and policy. Vote based on issues you feel strongly about, not on what someone else feels strongly about. No matter which party the president of the United States is from, he should have your respect. He is the leader of your country, and regardless of what you hear; he is only looking out for the best interests of our nation.
