OPINION
TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2005
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
www.kansan.com
EDITORIAL
Iraq's success hinges on election's outcome
On Jan. 30 President George W. Bush will watch with eyes fixed on a television screen anxiously awaiting the results of the Iraqi democratic election. What few around him will notice is that hiding behind his confident demeanor will be a desperate and nervous man.
Although re-elected to a second term, the outcome of the Jan. 30 election and the following results will not only set the tone for the rest of Bush's presidency, but it may also be the moment for which he is remembered for in history. The results of the election will be the deciding factor about the success of a questionable and heavily debated war.
The world in which the newly elected leaders will find themselves will be a violent and uncertain will. American soldiers are at work training an Iraqi military, and the shurta (police) are beginning to enforce law, if only in a few areas. But this was unable to stop the killing of Baghdad's governor, Ali al-Haidari, on Jan. 4. It seems Iraq sees bloodshed on a daily basis. United States military personnel are almost helpless to most threats like concealed bombs or remote detonated devices. A lot must be done in the coming months if Iraq is to stage a democratic government.
A struggling security force is not the only problem Iraq faces. The election will be contested amongst more than a dozen political parties, the divisions of which represent many of the religious and ethnic differences found throughout the country. Furthering complication is the forecasted election boycott by Iraq's Sunni population. This will allow an almost certain domination by the Shia majority.
Not to be counted out, however, are the Kurds, a Christian minority, who are predicted to win many votes in the northern provinces. Other groups vying for seats in the new government
include Turkomen, Yazidis and a few others representing Christian minorities. Just as diverse as the candidates are the platforms they represent. Ranging from liberal secularism to communism, the Iraqi population will have a diverse selection to choose from.
But even if the election goes well there is still one glaring factor impeding success. Can a democracy function in an Islamic state? Many Muslims will not be ready for the secularism democracy will bring to the country, which raises fears of a fast disintegration of the newvl formed government.
When one thinks of the problems America has with the separation between church and state, such as creationism as science, prayer in school and the suppression of "foreign" religions, it is hard to even begin to forecast the problems that a state such as Iraq will have. All Washington can hope for is the election of a more secularized ruler who will be able to wrangle the issue of Islam within the state and be sensitive to the other religious minorities within Iraq.
Whatever the outcome, Americans will feel the results of the election quickly. The success of the new government will solidify a presently hazy and undecided exit strategy for U.S. military forces. On the flip side a debacle with the election or the time there after will most certainly spell more time in Iraq for American G.I.s.
It is almost impossible to predict how the election will turn out and even more difficult to forecast how a new Iraq will shape itself. The only thing that is certain is that whatever happens will take time. There will be highs and lows, but through all of it one must be as Bush will be on Jan. 30 — optimistic and hopeful.
Chase Edgerton writing for the editorial board.
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I just called to say I have a really big crush on Stephen Shupe.
Austin Caster's opinion piece on Friday shows the ignorance of the American left.
The liberals need to stop complaining about the election. They lost. Deal with it.
Hey Free For All, can you help me with my computer? I can't even leave a message with ResNat anymore because their voicemail is full. They're so lazy they don't even answer their voicemails anymore. Help me, Free For All, for the love of God!
--map surfaced highlighting the political divide in the nation. The map labeled the blue states and Canada as one nation, called the "United States of Canada." The red states were all labeled "Jesusland." Even though the Democratic Party, at least officially, had nothing to do with the map, it still has potential to pose a problem for the party in the future.
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Democrats need to overhaul image
At the Democratic National Convention, the hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas played a tweaked version of their song, "Let's Get Retarded." Shortly thereafter, the Democrats nominated John Kerry. Six months later, and two and a half months after the Democratic Party cemented its position as a large minority party in American politics, that situation points to just one of the problems the Democrats have faced and will continue to face in their continuing quest for American political dominance. If the Democrats want anything more than pity from swing voters in America, they'll need to make some changes.
COMMENTARY
Shortly after the election, an Internet
The Black Eyed Peas incident was not the only example of the Democrats' mix of music and politics. The marriage between the donkey party and pop culture was obvious during the election. From the Hollywood Bush-bashing parties to Rock for Change concerts to MTV's "non-partisan" Rock the Vote campaign urging young people — reliable liberals but unreliable voters — to "Vote or Die," Democrats put their hopes on P. Diddy, Eminem and the 18-24 voting bloc. The plan back-fired. The "mobilized" young voters didn't swing the election for Kerry, and Bush was able to use the popculture pandering as a campaign tool when he made note that Kerry called a group of Hollywood liberal millionaires "the heart of America." Maybe if the Democrats treated young people as an intelligent and concerned demographic instead of voters in a popularity contest, they'd have a better chance at mobilizing would-be young voters.
VINCE MYERS
opinion@kansan.com
Since the map surfaced, many liberals have mocked the red states with the term "jesusland." I suppose it's easier to lose an election if you can mock the victors afterwards as blindly faithful zealots. Though many faithful Christians within the red states are probably not terribly insulted by the name, they do understand that it isn't meant as a compliment.
Democrats must realize they can't win a presidential election, nor can they win control of Congress, without winning support from some of those red states. If you need people to support you, mocking them is not the best idea. Not that I mind — so long as Democrats alienate Jesusland, this will be a Republican nation. For their own sake, though, Democrats might try understanding religion instead of mocking it.
During the election season, the
Democrats promoted themselves as the anti-Bush option. Now that the election is over, the Democrats ought to be preparing a platform for the 2006 and 2008 elections. Instead, they seem to be relying on the same "Anything But Bush" dogma that got them into this mess in the first place.
That problem is well-illustrated by the recent debates over new chairman of the Democratic National Committee. When former Indiana congressman Tim Roemer announced his candidacy for the chairmanship, the Democratic pro-choice union went up-in-arms over Roemer's pro-life stance.
The Democrats are unwilling to embrace a chairman who agrees with Bush. As Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman Phil Johnston said in a written statement, "It would be extremely foolish if the DNC were lead by a chair who agrees with the Bush administration's position on abortion."
Foolish? It's foolish that Democrats are content with a party vision built only on opposing Bush — the same vision that cost them in 2004. Apparently, dissent is disallowed in Democratic circles.
The Democrats need a public relations makeover. The party has defendable positions that even we feeble Jesuslandians could understand if presented in the right light. Democrats will see progress when they find a way to connect with the religious and create a platform for making the country better. It will also help if they abstain from getting retarded.
Vince Myers is a Olathe freshman in political science.
Cosmetic surgery careening to trend
A few weeks ago during an everyday chat with some girlfriends, I discovered something shocking. Plastic surgery is now normal. Not only is it normal, my friends seemed to consider it a simple solution to the problems of aging on the female body.
COMMENTARY
As I listened to my friends discuss eye lifts, boob jobs, botox and liposuction, the words seemed to run together in my head.
I was surprised that my friends, who seemed so self-confident, so comfortable with who they are, were instead comfortable with turning into plastic, Barbie-like figurines. How could the same girls who made fun of the airbrushed models in the Victoria's Secret catalog completely change their opinions when it was their own bodies?
GABRIELLA SOUZA opinion@kansan.com
I decided to research the issue of plastic surgery with an open mind, thinking, even if it was not for me, maybe there were a few justified reason s for this seemingly unnecessary evil. I asked one of my friends for her reason behind plastic surgery.
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At first she was hesitant, but after a little probing, she admitted to wanting to "better her physical appearance," and that this was a "less drastic change than liposuction or butt implants."
I took an online quiz, which asked,
"Should You Get Plastic Surgery?"
When I got my results back, I was an "ideal candidate" for a little nip and tuck.
"The ideal candidate is one who really likes who she is and the way she looks, with the exception of one feature that she wants to change," said Z. Paul Lorenc, M.D., in his book, A Little Work: Behind the Doors of a Park Avenue Plastic Surgeon.
This seemed unrealistic. Apparently, the perfect candidate for plastic surgery is someone with one flaw that she hates about herself and spends time obsessing about a bumpy nose, a slightly smaller upper lip or a tubby tummy. Instead of loving all of herself and understanding that her so-called flaw is part of who she is, she sees it as the one imperfection that ruins her beauty.
Statistics published by the American Institute of Plastic Surgery report that 45 percent of plastic surgery patients were repeat patients in 2003, a number that increases every year. This means that in
numerous cases, women who have one surgery suddenly find another body part they hate and decide to change it.
This frame of mind leads to surgeries stemming from a body dismorphic disorder, which occurs when someone has unrealistic expectations for what she believes she should look like, said board certified psychiatrist Renee Kohanski in an article published by the Northeastern University School of Journalism.
Kohanski said that with this disorder, women will never be satisfied no matter how much work they have done.
I did not see how someone with a body dismorphic disorder could possibly be self-confident in the beginning. This was all the evidence I needed to prove that this potential fix for an annoying body will not fix anything.
I ended my research wondering if plastic surgery would become an accepted part of life. I wondered if trips to the plastic surgeon were a fix to whatever ails. I hoped our culture would never stoop to such materialism.
But I realized that the only control I had over this was to live my life the way I wanted. It is up to everyone else to decide what to do with theirs.
Gabriella Souza is a St. Louis, Mo. sophomore in journalism.
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