In his Tuesday column, Nick Arhos claimed the real issues are of the utmost importance for the November presidential election. In his defense for President Bush, Arhos cites facts gathered from a re-elect Bush Web site. How absolutely shocking that this source would supply any visitor with shining examples of Bush’s “exemplary” record while in office! Using “facts” culled from this site, Arhos claims that 1.5 million new jobs were created since August and that the unemployment rate has dropped. What wasn’t acknowledged is that while Bush has been in office, 1.6 million private sector jobs have been lost, nor that under the Bush administration, the average American family has seen its income decrease by more than $1,500. Also omitted is the fact that in 2004, 1.6 million families will declare bankruptcy, with number expected to rise. Perhaps most alarming in our immediate context is the fact that because of the Bush recession, colleges have been forced to raise tuitions and fees in 49 states, seriously endangering college admittance to low-income families.

Yet Bush is lauded as “ … a president for the people.” Sure, if, by “people,” Arhos was referring to “people of money.” Arhos also takes a familiar conservative stance when he attacks the alleged fragility of Kerry’s record on the war in Iraq. In 2002, Kerry urged a “multilateral effect” for Saddam Hussein’s disarmament should diplomatic measures fail, and he has never wavered from his vote authorizing war. Kerry was consistent in voicing that he believed Saddam to be a threat. During the first presidential debate, Kerry made a crucial point when pressed on this issue. He said: “It’s one thing to be certain, but you can be certain and be wrong. It’s another to be … certain about a principle and then learn new facts and take those new facts and put them to use in order to change and get your policy right.” The Republican tendency to lock onto to an issue and refuse to concede to any flexibility is contrary to an ever-changing world with ever-changing situations, and it’s an extremely dangerous stance.

In his column, Arhos also made sure to maintain his own hypocritical position when he claimed not to believe in personal attack against either candidate. Clearly, he believes citing Kerry’s appearance, including the pithy little line that included “substance of Kerry’s past” in the same breath as “Botox and the manicures,” maintains a focused stance on the real issues at hand. I, too, will refrain from making a personal attack when I note how refreshing it is to hear all of this from someone who devoted an entire column to the urgent concern of colon cleansing.

Leah Kind

Graduate student, English