Letter to the editor

Dissent is not injuring country

I am writing in response to last week’s “Support Bush for the greater good” column.

First and foremost, it is not weak to show dissent. I would argue that to stand amidst a crowd of dissent and still hold strong to one’s principles is a symbol for strength. To be weak is to support something one does not agree with simply because it is what the majority is doing.

Bush, who is from Connecticut, not Texas, does not look “weak” because he cannot speak proper English, but because he has lied about the reasons for the Iraq war, the NSA spy program and has failed to provide any clear plan for the war other than to “stay the course.” Bush may have once had high approval ratings, but the fact is he doesn’t any longer, yet he continues to pursue policies that the American people, whom he is supposedly representing, disagree with.

The author of the column also wrote, “What’s done is done,” apparently referring to Iraq. This is a gross miscalculation -- October 2006 was the bloodiest month on record since August 2004. Neither Bush nor his cronies have the strength to admit that things are not improving in Iraq. Each day they commit more soldiers to an occupation that claims their lives in the name of oil, capital and imperialism, benefiting a small elite class at the expense of the soldiers.

We are a country built on revolution, dissention toward imperial power and the freedom to eject unjust leadership. Holding true to our foundations, we should unite together against Bush and those who promote similar imperialistic ventures, voicing loud and clear our opposition to such policies, showing our strength and standing tall in the face of injustice.

Alex Halverson, Student