Letters to the Editor 7/3

Liberal Big Brother would be as bad

This is in regards to the column written by Sebastian Meyer Monday, June 30.

Sebastian says Big Brother is watching you. Sebastian says that talk radio with Rush Limbaugh and a few others with their support of President Bush are bringing the American people closer to being brainwashed by the “Ministry of Truth.”

Sebastian says other news agencies are not questioning the real purpose of the war with Iraq. He says our war against terrorism is another way for the government to take away our rights and freedoms. He seems to have a problem with the way the American people have displayed the American flag since 9/11.

Sebastian, I have a few questions for you if I am to understand where you are coming from. Are not most liberals who follow such ways of thinking doing so as blindly as you say conservatives are? Should we, as Americans, not be afraid of the liberal way of thinking and talking? Isn’t that also a form of Big Brother deciding how you will act, think and talk? What is wrong with Americans showing patriotism by displaying the flag? What is wrong with more than 2/3 of the people supporting the President in the war on terrorism and in Iraq?

You call the American government a fascist government and you constantly badmouth and find fault with it. Yet, you support the idea that we shouldn’t be in Iraq. To me, that doesn’t make sense because to say we shouldn’t be there is saying you support Saddam, and by doing so you condemn the Iraqi people to more torture, murder, fear, rape, etc.

Sebastian, I ask you this: What freedoms have been taken away from you? What can’t you do now, that you once could? Don’t tell me you can’t criticize the government because in the two years I have been here at USF, you have constantly done so and continue to do so. As far as radio shows and the likes of Rush, if you don’t like the message, turn it off. This article of yours is just another attempt to complain about this country and enhance your anti-Bush agenda. Talk about the “Ministry of Truth.”

Gary Stanley is a former marine and a senior majoring in secondary education


Orwell Column skewed the truth

Monday, Sebastian Meyer wrote an opinion column that had the truth twisted to such an extreme even George Orwell himself would be impressed.

Every single example Meyer gave was so skewed, I was either laughing or trying to figure out whether his column was a satire.

Sadly, I imagine Meyer is just another upset citizen blaming the government for everything.

I’m sorry, my friend, but Big Brother wasn’t the one forcing Americans to go to Wal-Mart to buy an American flag T-shirt and two more for their car.

People made that choice, to show their support and their pride.

No one was coerced. Meyer also pointed out that FOX News and other media outlets like Rush Limbaugh push “their collective blind support of the Bush administration.”

People also make the choice of what TV or radio station to listen to, though Rush Limbaugh is definitely at the top of the list for “most popular talk show.”

As for his rhetoric, the last two months have focused on how Bush is giving in to the liberal agenda and needs to hold to stronger conservative views. As he put it,”the conservatives are livid.”

Last I checked, FOX News is the only news station that is remotely conservative.

It should be noted that FOX News is also the highest rated — by the people, that is (or maybe just another government scandal?).

Finally, Meyer tried to equate some of Orwell’s infamous nomenclature into our society. The Patriot Act, he states, isn’t “a cause for pride in one’s country.”

I can’t say that I’ve read the entire act, but I know it adds quite a few security measures, everything from banks asking and documenting two forms of ID’s to the increased powers of the national security agents that Meyer listed.

However, he is missing the point of the Act, not surprisingly.

The Patriot Act adds protections that may help secure and protect our citizens. In fact isn’t that what a patriot is? Someone who stands up to protect one’s country?

But what do I know, I’m just stating things like they are — kind of like FOX News referring to their coverage of the war as the actual name of the war. How absurd.

You’re right, Sebastian, they should have made up their own random name that pushes their own agenda, huh? Wait a minute, isn’t that a little more Orwellian?

Jeff Johnson is a senior majoring in interdisciplinary natural sciences-physics