In an otherwise regrettable article, Jacqueline Cuisinier noted that her conversations with students have convinced her that the ND community largely supports President Bush and will do so in the coming election.
As someone who spent time at ND, this does not surprise me - nor should it; indeed, ND is known as a rather conservative school, mainly because it is Catholic.
Yet this level of support for Bush would be a total surprise to me if all I knew about ND were based on what I read in The Observer. Just look at the recent Viewpoint articles. For every five arguing that Bush is a racist, homophobic, skinhead, Nazi who wants to starve the poor, exterminate the old and eliminate all our freedoms, there are maybe one or two suggesting he might be a somewhat decent human being, whose policies might perhaps be understood in a more favorable light - sort of.
These attack pieces come not only from the regular columnists but from others who submit articles. Nor is the bias limited to the opinion pieces. Consider the article on Jan. 21 about professors responding to the State of the Union. Try to find a positive reaction to the speech in that article. The author suggests "varied opinions," but they are varied only in the way in which they see Bush as evil. One sees Bush as a warmonger; another as a totalitarian; another as a bigot.
What is the cause of this tone? When I was an undergraduate, there was nowhere near this level of ferocity and venom toward President Clinton in campus media - not even close.
Go ahead and look back through old issues, you will see. I recall no opposition to the war in the Balkans, for instance. Nor do I remember much criticism of him for other decisions. Yet if you ask students, I guarantee most will tell you they prefer Bush to Clinton. Why is this not reflected in a paper which represents the ND community?
Joseph MuldoonAlumni '00Jan. 21
