Your Pre-election Reality Check
On the eve of Election Day, it is time for a fair and balanced
reality check.
Saddam Hussein is a bad man. He gassed his own people. It is
good he is no longer in power.
But the full cost of our involvement in Iraq has yet to be
seen.
More than 100,000 civilians have died in Iraq since the United
States invaded in 2003, according to a report released by the
Lancet Medical Journal Friday. These deaths were mainly attributed
to bombings by coalition forces.
A great amount of our ammunition is tipped with depleted
uranium, a radioactive material that is twice as hard as lead and
capable of piercing armor. When this ammunition explodes, the
depleted uranium becomes a fine powder, easily inhaled or dissolved
into water.
The World Health Organization states that “inhaled uranium
particles, tend to be retained in the lung and may lead to
irradiation damage of the lung and even lung cancer if a high
enough radiation dose results over a prolonged period” in the
report “Depleted uranium: sources, exposure and health
effects.”
Iraqi officials claim that the use of these same weapons during
the Gulf War in 1991 has caused an epidemic of cancer and birth
defects.
At home, 42 million people have no health insurance.
The national debt is more than $7 zillion.
As a nation we use 2.5 million barrels of oil each day.
Eventually this resource will run dry, if the threat of global
warning (which every other nation in the world has accepted as
fact) doesn’t destroy us first. Our guzzling sport utility vehicles
pump harmful pollutants into the air and still we have failed to
join the rest of the free world in supporting the Kyoto Protocol.
While nations such as Japan produce the most fuel-efficient cars in
the world, the current government is focusing on hydrogen fuel
cells, a technology that won’t be environmentally or
technologically feasible for another 15 years.
Nationwide, the price of college has increased 35 percent in the
last three years, and I know I’m feeling it. No Child Left Behind
has some good ideas, but it has no funding, forcing schools to
implement programs they can’t fund. Schools are funded partially by
property taxes, making suburban schools more well funded and urban
schools less so.
Abstinence-only education is the only federally funded sex
education program. According to www.plannedparenthood.org, “when
(students) do become sexually active, they often fail to use
condoms or other contraceptives. Meanwhile, students in
comprehensive sexuality education classes do not engage in sexual
activity more often or earlier, but they do use contraception and
practice safer sex more consistently when they become sexually
active.” Currently, 35 percent of school districts require that
abstinence is taught as the only sexual option for unmarried
couples.
Lawmakers are attempting to divide our nation and restrict the
rights of at least 10 percent of our citizens by passing a Federal
Marriage Amendment. They seem to be concerned with preserving the
values of the American family. I, for one, am not concerned about
being lured away by a male from my fianc�e’s side. Maybe
others feel differently.
While I’m sure his heart President Bush’s heart is in the right
place, his policies are not. While Sen. John Kerry would not be my
first choice for president, he has the best chance of replacing our
president. To preserve our nation and move us forward to tomorrow,
vote for John Kerry this Tuesday.
Ben Bleckley is a junior English major. His column runs every
Monday in the Collegian.
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