OPINION
5B
FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2008
COMMENTARY
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Weak link in Obama's armor
I've got a suggestion for a new and improved definition of the word "irony": the fact that we now have an African-American candidate for the presidency who supports an Apartheid state.
While watching Barack Obama's speech last month, I was struck by a statement nestled neatly within what I thought was a speech on race. He pointed out that the problems in the Middle East were not because of the actions of "stalwart allies like Israel", but "the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam." I have come to expect such simplistic formulations of the Israel/ Palestine conflict from the current administration, but hearing these words from the mouth of Obama particularly saddened me. What it amounted to was his surrender to our traditional policy of unconditional support for Israeli Apartheid, in an obvious effort to satisfy the powerful Israel Lobby. The sad truth that he reaffirms is that the occupation that is occurring under our noses and with our money will continue, even when the most liberal of us take the helm.
In Palestine reservations and Bantustans still exists: the West Bank is chopped up into smaller and smaller zones by a sprawling network of settlements and military bases, connected by an infrastructure of roads for the exclusive use of Israelis and checkpoints that restrict Palestinian movement within their own country. There is the separation wall, which continues to snake through Palestine, cutting off families from their land and each other, daily annexing more Palestinian land and resources.
Israel is an Apartheid state because Palestinians are denied their human rights precisely because they are Palestinians. The whole of the population of Palestine is placed in the category of terrorist in an effort to justify the Apartheid program, as is made evident by the recurring collective punishment by
the Israeli Defense Forces.
But what Obama and his predecessors fail to understand is that the people of Palestine are not terrorists. There are people who use violent means to resist the occupiers, but beyond the question of what we would do if we found ourselves in a similar situation, let's not forget that while in Iraq a war is waged in the name of America, it would be ridiculous to assume that every American supports such violence. In fact the very people who advocate for the victims of the Iraq war are the ones lining up to vote for the fellow who doesn't seem care about the victims in Palestine.
For Obama, capitulation to the status quo is as much an issue of politics and power as it is one of simple fear for the rest of us. The biggest device used against critics of the occupation of Palestine is the equating of an anti-Zionist stance with anti-Semitism. It is a blatant and horrible abuse of logic and history to assert such a thing. This is roughly the equivalent of saying that anyone criticising any aspect of American foreign policy is anti-American and ultimately amounts to a negation of the idea of democracy, which has as its cornerstone the necessity of differing viewpoints. It smacks of a new McCarthyism.
One thing must be made clear: resistance to the occupation of Palestine is absolutely not anti-Semitism, and shame on those who would say so.
The soundest reason to stand up for the victims in Palestine as well as Israel spring from a deep-seated belief that the people of Israel and the people of Palestine are absolutely capable of living side-by-side in peace and prosperity. The myth that this is impossible is only the propaganda of the occupier who would have you believe it in order justify the further extermination and/or expulsion of the Palestinian people.
Anderson is a Perry senior in creative writing.
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Championship Kansans attracting bids on eBay
Apparently we do good enough work here at the Kansan, since several people want to pay $25 for a copy on eBay.
DIGITAL GLORY
I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that, though the Kansas may be worth every penny of that $25, we are selling copies for 25 cents. Come in and get one. The
Chris Hickerson
first one is free with a KUID so bring it along, unless you are Mario Chalmers.
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COMMENTARY
America tops list of most incarcerated
According to figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, this population has increased an average of 3.5 percent a year since 1995. Using Census figures, this is more than three times the annual population growth rate.
Just because America is a better place to live than places like Saudi Arabia, Sudan or Indonesia, does not by default make it No.1. In fact, America isn't No.1 in environment, education, life satisfaction or savings rate. However, we are number one in people incarcerated and the cost of health care.
The only good thing about a high inmate population is that it keeps unemployment low. At 5 percent we have a lower rate than most countries in Western Europe. For example, a country like France has
In 2006, the bipartisan Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons reported "67 percent of former prisoners are rearrested and 52 percent are reincarcerated, a recidivism rate that calls into question the effectiveness of America's corrections system, which costs taxpayers $60 billion a year."
For some odd reason, the "freest country" in the world has the greatest number of people in jail or prison. In February, The New York Times reported that America reached 2.3 million people behind bars. This is the first time more than 1 in 100 American adults were behind bars, though we continue to lead the world in people incarcerated.
Arrogance leads to stagnation. That stagnation leads us to fall behind in the world. Uncle Sam is shouting from a dark corner with a plastic fifth of Vodka in hand, "I don't have a drinking problem. You don't know me. America is the best country in the world!" Yes, you're right Sam, just not in the way you see it through your hazy eyes and in your dizzy head.
a 3 percent higher unemployment rate than America, but the incarceration rate is about one-eighth of what it is the U.S. According to the BBC, England leads Western Europe in inmates. Though even there, the unemployment rate is about one-fifth of what it is in America. Luckily, you can't technically be unemployed when it's impossible for you to have a job.
No country in the world pays more for health care than the United States. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in 2004 the U.S. spent 15 percent of GDP on health care. In February, MSNBC reported that total health care costs will top $4 trillion by 2017 at the current 6.7 percent a year average annual increase. Yet, despite this runaway spending, 40 million Americans still have no health insurance. There's nothing like the freedom to have a catastrophic illness destroy your life.
As for our health care system, we can sit here all day and talk about how great it is or how terrible it is. Let's look at the facts.
As for quality of care, The World Health Organization ranks the United States as 37th best in the world. We are two spots above Cuba
and two below Dominica. This is a fair ranking when you break down the health care system.
Mangiaracina is a Lenexa senior in journalism.
The life expectancy of an American is 78 years, which puts us at 26th in the world.
As for infant mortality, America is second-worst in the industrialized world. CNN reported in 2006 that "American babies are three times more likely to die in their first month as children born in Japan, and newborn mortality is 2.5 times higher in the United States than in Finland, Iceland or Norway."
Health care will only become more important as baby boomers retire. In 2003 the Center for Disease Control said, "The rapid growth in the number of older persons, coupled with continued advances in medical technology, is expected to create upward pressure on health- and long-term-care spending. In 1997, the United States had the highest health-care spending per person more than 65 years (512,100)."
editorials around the world
This week, representatives from more than 160 countries are meeting in Bangkok to discuss an international climate treaty to replace the decade-old Kyoto Protocol. Again, the United States is shying away from a leadership role.
Which makes us wonder:
If an asteroid was hurtling toward Earth would the Bush administration likewise sit on its hands?
Shying away from environmental duty
Last month a hunk of ice the size of Chicago broke off its Antarctic shelf. Another block as large as Connecticut is said to be "hanging by a thread." Canada and Russia are fighting over who rightfully owns buried natural resources that are becoming accessible for the
Of course not.
first time thanks to retreating sea ice.
Regardless of whether this change is manmade or 100 percent naturalw, there's no excuse for doing nothing. World leaders, especially those in the United States, need at the very least to plan for the increased
droughts, altered planting seasons, coastal flooding and stronger storm systems that experts are forecasting.
And if we cut air pollution and save energy while we're at it, is that such an awful thing? Arrived furious. Hell
Journal Star, Peoria, Ill.
April 3
To contribute to Free For All, visit Kansan.com or call 785-864-0500. Free For All callers have 20 seconds to talk about anything they choose.
Here's a fun game: Try walking from Wescoe Beach to Murphy without getting hounded by people wanting you to vote for them. It's tough but doable.
--ing a bag full of scum.
Does it make me a bad person when I watch cop/criminal investigation shows and hope deep down they get away with the crime?
To the girl in my math class with a "mantourage", we all think you're stuck up.
--ing a bag full of scum.
If anyone found the bent flash drive in Watson it has my senior thesis material on it. Please return to Watson front
--ing a bag full of scum.
I love penguins and YOU free for all.
To the girl in my math class who talks about her ex-boy friends all the time, guess what, I don't care.
--ing a bag full of scum.
--ing a bag full of scum.
Just make sure you vote on the issues, and not just who you're friends with.
Dear wannabe senators: If you try to talk to me today, I will tell you that I voted. It's a lie, and I'm sorry.
I'm a Goddamn American, and most Americans don't vote, Goddamn it. It's the American way!
I'm not voting because I think you are all fucking annoying.
I only vote for President, sorry student elections.
I like how every pro-Students of Liberty comment is followed by someone insulting United Students. Could it be the same person?
--ing a bag full of scum.
Don't vote for United Students. They are lying scum
--ing a bag full of scum.
What is a lying scumbag?
What is a scumbag? How can you describe someone as behind a bag full of scum?
I'm voting for Students of Liberty because they didn't swarm campus with pushy people with stupid shirts!
I will be as glad as anyone when this all is over - but really, people, if you haven't already, vote. http://www.unitedstudents08.com
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