President’s actions toward drilling suspect

I firmly believe, without a doubt, that some of the actions taken by President George W. Bush in the last year have been both questionable and nonsensical. Furthermore, I believe that this latest incident takes the cake. Why on earth would he discourage the drilling of oil in the Everglades? Does he honestly care about the environment like he claims to? Answer: I highly doubt that.

The accusation that he is trying to secure votes in Florida is most likely true. Honestly, since Bush has been in office, I have not even come across one reason why he should be re-elected. For instance, where’s the Taliban he claimed he was going to apprehend? On top of that, I remember reading an article concerning a bill he passed that drug offenders would lose their privileges for scholarships, whereas, offenders of more serious crimes would not. This sounds bizarre.

Right now, owning an eight-cylinder car, I know that gas prices are ridiculous. Less than a year ago, I remember pulling into Tampa from Gainesville and seeing gas prices at 99 cents. I was astonished because in Gainesville they were around $1.24, mainly because college towns usually have high costs of living. At that time, I was thinking to give George W. Bush a second chance because I was impressed at what I saw. However, not too long in the future, I began to see prices back around $1.34. It was then that I retook my position on him not being a good president.

Bush is from Texas, a major player in the oil industry. With his connections, it is more than likely that he acquires some form of profit from that oil industry. Gas prices going down would in no way help him and his entourage increase profit. Therefore, it is questionable as to whether he is keeping the gas prices up for an ulterior motive.

However, in the final analysis, I do not think that Bush is a good president and should be re-elected. I think he only gained the position due to his father’s former position. Even though he carries himself with a “supposed” demeanor of integrity, I can see right through him.

He’s scandalous like most other politicians in his level of hierarchy. Although I do not hold any grudge against George W. Bush, I do however feel that someone else would be better in his position.

Osei Boakye is a junior majoring in accounting.

Protesters have the right

In Wednesday’s Letters to the Editor, Gary Stanley made the arrogant declaration that those who protest America’s “war on terrorism” are “not very educated in the real world.”

Stanley would benefit from an awareness of the political climate outside the United States. In our country, where people are constantly told that to second-guess President George W. Bush is to disrespect the victims of Sept. 11, war protesters seem to be, unfortunately, a minority. But that’s not the case in the rest of the world.

A Gallup International poll (http://www.gallupinternational.com/terrorismpoll_figures.htm)shows that individuals in 35 major countries oppose American military retaliation by better than 3 to 1. I guess the few foreigners who do support our war must be the educated ones.

Bush has recently visited several western European nations for a NATO summit. In Berlin, he was greeted by 20,000 demonstrators and the largest police operation there since WWII. Some protesters carried signs that read “Axis of Evil runs through the Pentagon.” In Paris, over 4,000 protested as he met with French President Jacques Chirac. Yet more people who need to be educated.

There will always be crazed terrorists whose only goal in life is to murder innocent people. The truth is, they rarely can cause any real trouble outside their own countries. The few exceptions, like Osama bin Laden, succeed only because they can get the financing, contacts and other resources necessary to spread trouble. And they can get that support only if large numbers of people have been mistreated.

Hundreds of millions of people around the globe harbor deep resentment for America and with good cause. We have troops stationed in countless foreign countries, a blockade against Iraq that starves its citizens and a history of presidents bent on imposing their personal will on the world. It is our foreign policy that allows a handful of terrorists to gain the support of sane, peaceful people who have been pushed to their limits.

It’s obvious that we’ve played right into the terrorists’ hands. Each new phase of our hopeless war turns a new group of people against America. The terrorists are stronger than ever.

So my thanks go out to all those with the courage and drive to protest the war. Each and every one of them does more for the cause of peace than all the bombs we could ever drop.

Ryan Conley is a senior majoring in English.