The Columbus Dispatch's editorial in the August 21st issue stated that the ACLU was addressing a nonexistent problem and an unworthy cause. Perhaps we should reconsider.

Can anyone cite one instance where GW Bush voiced concern about the welfare or liberation of the Iraqi people BEFORE his war, and before he was sworn in as president?  There is no evidence that Bush has demonstrated any concern for any other person except himself through his entire life.  Bush never spoken out for the rights of the common man.  Bush never spoken out against injustice, oppression, or genocide.

Where was Bush when 500,000 Kurds were being killed in Iraq by Saddam when his father, GHW Bush was president?   Where was Bush when 500,000 Iraqi children were dying of hunger due to the allied bombings in Iraq after the Gulf War?  Where was Bush when the massive acts of genocide were occurring in Rwanda? Where is Bush now while a million Sudanese people are being killed? 

Dr. Howard Dean paid a visit to the Vote Mob headquarters on Wednesday, October 20th, where he spoke and answered questions for almost 200 excited but cramped progressive youth who were packed tightly into a small office space on North High Street.

Dean, after dropping out of the Democratic primary race, is focusing on helping the Democratic Party achieve success in the election. He founded the political action committee Democracy for America, which is part of the recent onslaught of groups that is committed to getting progressive voters to the polls. Vote Mob and its parent organization, 21st century Democrats, are allied with Democracy for America under the umbrella organization America Votes, along with thirty or so other groups such as America Coming Together, the League of Conservation Voters, and MoveOn.

The purpose of Dean's visit was to "take an opportunity to thank the volunteers of his partner organization and to stress the importance of the youth vote," according to Rose Steller, a Vote Mob worker.

Vote Mob is dedicated to mobilizing the bloc of voters between the ages of 18 and 30. It is a 527

There has been a lot of verbal sabre rattling from Iran saying they want to preemptively attack Israel because Israel poses a threat to Iran's budding nuclear facilities. And guess what "model" they are citing as an excuse to attack Israel? GW Bush's preemptive strike against Iraq model, that's what.  After all, GW Bush and the GOP have established "preemptive strikes" as a way of dealing with terrorists, even if the country they attack has no terrorists.

Iran has a valid reason, according the Bush Preemptive Strike Doctrine, or "BPSD", for wanting to attack Israel. Israel has stated that they want to attack Iran's atomic capability. Since Iran would consider that to be an act of terrorism by Israel, then Iran has every right to preemptively strike Israel to defend themselves, according to the BPSD. Since Iran would be following in the same insane footsteps of GW Bush, and the GOP, how can republicans denounce Iran? They can't, and continue to justify their preemptive strike against Iraq, a country that posed a zero threat to the United States and a country that had nothing to do with the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks.

Dear America,

“My silences had not protected me. Your silences will not protect you.” –Audre Lorde The Cancer Journals

               I begin my letter with this epigraph because I routinely have been labeled as a member of a silent generation; I am twenty-four years old, a woman, and a college student. Three markers which have led to me and others like me being labeled apathetic when it comes to politics. As the election date nears, I can be silent no longer. America I am here to tell you that our apathy is caused by the feeling that we don’t count. In the year 2000, our government told us our voice doesn’t matter. It is the Supreme Court and the Senate who choose the president, not the American people. Now, I come to you on bended knee to beg that you reignite in me the belief in democracy.