Anthony
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We all contribute to politics’demise
Come Nov. 5th the majority of us
won’t be going to the ballot box to
elect the next president of the United
States. No surprise to most of us,
huh? What’s the reason for this
apathy? Foot fungus? Halitosis?
Nope—but it might as well be.
Rather it’s a culmination of politi
cians, the media and us, the people.
Yes, it’s not just politicians who have
put the proverbial monkey wrench
into the works, but our very own
actions.
Let’s look at some of the reasons
given for running in an election (with
layman’s translations attached):
“Doing good for the country” (i.e.
doing good for me).
“It was my calling” (my degree in
social basket-weaving just isn’t
cutting it).
And most importantly, “I’ve got a
plan for America” (the people around
me are sick and tired of my loud
mouth, half-assed opinions, but
unlike YOU, are rich enough to
ignore me).
Cynical, huh? Well, yeah.
I mean, I’d like to run for political
office one day—oh, 10,15 years
from now. But it’s the attitude of the
media and people, combined with the
current political system which would
make me shy away from just a
position (that and the fact that a
crazy Asian just can’t cut it in today’s
political world).
But here are some reasons why I
wouldn’t want to run for office:
I wouldn’t want 50 percent of the
people to hate me before I even
spoke a word.
I wouldn’t want my immediate
and distant family to be attacked,
especially because one of them owns
a puke green Ford Pinto.
I wouldn’t want my caffeine
addiction to become a “character
issue.”
My friends would get rich selling
stories about my green beer/three
legged dog adventure.
u—--—
I wouldn’t want my
caffeine addiction to
become a ‘character
issue.’”
People would blame me for
“moral corruptness” in America.
People would only remember my
mistakes (like falling off a platform
mid-handshake) and not listen to
what I had to say.
Just look at all of those reasons.
That’s what happens to today’s
politicians if they run for office. If
it’s not the opponent digging up dirt,
it’s the media. Why, just the other
day, a columnist from the Boston
Globe offered 40 reasons why not to
vote for Bill Clinton in November.
Big deal! So I’m not supposed to
vote for him. Are there 40 reasons
why I should vote for Bob Dole or
Ross Perot?
So who does that leave running
for political office? Either a candi?
date who has stroked his or her own
ego to the sizeof Mount Everest, or
an insane, conscienceless person.
And that’s the problem. We never
get any reasons for voting for one
candidate except for the “well my
opponent sucks” argument. Don’t
bowl me over with such a display of
logic.
We’re just as much to blame.
Us? At fault? Gasp! As if! That’s
some attitude you’ve got there! No,
you say, it’s the politicians who make
us angry with their lies and broken
promises and tax hikes, blah, blah,
blah. But in a representative democ
racy, when we don’t go to the ballot
box, we’re saying, hey, I LIKE the
way things are running... not I’m fed
up with the whole spiel. At least
that’s what politicians hear.
We complain that we only want
the issues—that we are sick and
tired of mud-slinging. But when
some big scandal erupts, we glue our
eyes and ears to the TV or newspa
pers. How many of you have read
about some of the issues in this
year’s elections (really read about
them) (Xi the front page of the paper?
Instead, we see headlines about
Clinton’s campaign manager Dick
Morris. We see headlines about
Dole’s lag in the polls. But it’s the
media’s fault, we say. Is it really? Or
are we now part of a cynical genera
tion that drinks from this very
fountain of scandal?
If we want to change anything, we
need to realize in the immortal words
of Marge Simpson to “get off your
keister, mister”—and do something
about it. Don’t write off voting as
choosing the lesser of two evils.
Think of it as trying to make a
difference in a system that continu
ally frustrates us.
So, what do we have planned for
Nov. 5th? Nothing, huh? Well maybe
we should* ‘cause if we don’t, and
the shit hits the fan, then it’s partly
our fault. ____
Nguyen is a senior biochemistry
and philosophy major and a Daily
Nebraskan columnist
Sonia
HOEUMON
Stop ty!
One more bad day, and I go postal
Last week 1 got into a verbal
altercation with a man at the Finan
cial Aid office. It wasn’t even one of
the people who worked there,
although I’ve had it in for them for
about five years. No, it was the guy
standing behind me, who claimed
that the post office moved faster than
Financial Aid. I told him that there
was less chance that you’d get shot at
financial aid. Somehow it deterio
rated into me telling him he was a
geek, and then he said something
about homeless people. So I had to
get ethnic oh him, put my hand in his
face and tell him to shut the heU up.
The people at the back of the line
looked relieved for the entertainment
value this-scenario provided.
Then, the other day I was in my
car and these two kids next to me at
the red light were sticking out their
tongues. Just kids, right? Oh no, ■
these urchins were wearing ugly
rubber Richard Nixon masks. And
their parents were laughing! I really
do not believe in child abuse, but a
warm bottom never hurt anyone. And
I’m talking about their parents.
I saw three white people making
fun of an East Indian family while at
a stop light They were warbling
some attempt at a stereotypical
accent and making references to
Quik Shops.
And to top it all off, the Huskers
took a beat down this weekend. Well,
«v
I realize that we all
have bad days every
now and then, but a
big group of bad
days is biting me in
the behind, aud it’s
really starting to
hurt.”
at least the world is back on its axis.
People are just getting on my
nerves. I know ! always get riled
after watching “The Reid World * but
I’ve missed the last three episodes.
For some reason, I am finding it
more and more difficult to be nice
when I get upset. The high road just
seems to be a bit beyond my reach.
Plus, I don’t work for housing
anymore, so why bother?
There will be those of you who
will chalk this up to PMS. I'll put
you on my list right next to those
jerks in the car making fun of that
family.
I realize that we all have bad days
every now and then, but a big group
of bad days is biting me in the
behind, and it’s really starting to hurt.
Am I whining? You betcha. I’m a
senior and I’m sick of it. I want my
cap, I want my gown and I want to
stop paying for sculptures that I just
don’t understand—even after
reading up.
I dedicate this column to people
everywhere who are just sick of
stupid stuff that happens that you
can’t control. In your cars, apart
ments, dorm rooms—I’m sending
out a call. When somebody does
something stupid, like wearing four
shades of the same color, don’t let
that slide. When you see the less
fortunate getting laughed at, don’t
have u seat, take a stand. There are
many things that we can’t control,
but stupidity is getting way out of
hand these days. Not to mention my
tuition.
Hollimoa is a senior broadcast
ing major and a Daily Nebraskan
columnist.
F
Joshua
GILUN
Acknowledging heritage
point of pride, prejudice
If there is one thing
I’ve learned in my
two-plus decades on
this planet, it’s that
being Jewish is
something you don’t
go to great lengths
to advertise.”
I know what today is. Do you?
Today is Yom Kippur, the Jewish
Day of Atonement. According to
tradition, my people are supposed to
fast today, the 1 Oth day of die High
Holy Days. We are supposed to show
our appreciation for Yhwh, or, as my
Christian friends call Him, God.
Oh, did I mention I am a Jew?
There aren’t many of us here at
this fine institution of higher leam
ing. At least, if there are, we’re not
very vocal. If there is one thing I’ve
noticed in my two-plus decades on
this planet, it’s that being Jewish is
something you don’t go to great
lengths to advertise.
There are several reasons for this
near-shame—none of which I fully
understand. This country, despite its
supposedly upheld doctrine of free
religion, is overwhelmingly Chris
tian, and the society in which I live
has little tolerance for any deviation
from that trend.
There is little wonder as to why
that is, though. Judaism is not taught
in our schools (of course, neither is
any religion, but you didn’t see
public schools getting time off during
these last 10 days, did you?)
My heritage is not openly
accepted in Lincoln. The Daily
Nebraskan, my own place of work,
called Yom Kippur the Day of
Remembrance (a completely
different holiday) and said Jews go tc
church services. That’s like saying
the pilgrims and Indians sat down to
Chritmas dinner in a mosque.
Imagine the letters we would have
received if something like that had
been printed.
But there was only a trickle of
letters, and even one of my superiors
allegedly said he didn’t think it was
that big of a deal. Big surprise.
I shrug it off, though, as I think
most Jews do.
Our God is our God; we must wail
for a leader to come from Him and
lead us to do God’s will. So we wait.
• ' .... ’ • . * V f
And I wait.
To be fair, I don’t practice
Judaism. I eat pork. I’m thinking
about getting a tattoo. Most of my
work around the house gets done cm
Saturday.
But I see being Jewish as a state
of mind. It’s been apart of my
mother’s heritage for generations. I
have relatives wfaodicd m the gas
chambers. I see it as a big part of
who I am. In my eyes, that’s all I
need. I
We don’t need to kowtow to a
man who people say came down
from heaven. All of us are the
children of God. Jesus was a good
man, a good Jew, but the Jews do not
believe he was the leader we are
supposed to wait for.
Must we be sentenced to a
lifetime of ridicule for not accepting
him? Apparently so; so ridiculed that
one man saw fit to try to exterminate
us completely. Luckily, he only got
six million of us.
I don’t hold anything against
Christians — I even tried to be a
Christian once. It just didn’t work for
me.
So the fear and ignorance that
causes prejudice continues in my life.
I suppose there is a great amount of
fear about Jews. Maybe it is the
aloofness with which Jews respond
to prejudice that causes people to do
it—like children who try even
harder to get the attention of adults
who ignore them.
After all, we are the chosen
people; why should a little prejudice
botherus?We’ll end upjusias good,
ifndfbhftertttan Christians, because
Judaism was around hundreds of
years before die Roman Empire
adopted the religion based cn a
Jewish man the Romans killed
hundreds of years earlier.
And if I hear the accusation that
the Jews killed Jesus one more time,
I’ll likely go insane. The Jews were
under Roman rule, practicing Roman
customs (much to their behest) and
crucifixion was a Reman punish
ment.
Jesus was a Jew (all those so
called good Christians who make
ethnic slurs toward Jews should try to
remember that). During the Passover
holiday, a holiday celebrating the
Jewish triumph over their Egyptian
oppressors, Jesus caused quite a stir
by preaching that no one but God
had control over the people. Why
wouldn’t the Romans kill him?
But that is all speculation. I wasn’t
there, so I reserve judgment concern
ing those events. I only wish others
would do the same.
I want the world to understand us,
i and if not understand us, at least
tolerate us without malice. Nobel
Prize winner and Holocaust survivor
Elie Wiesel once told a story
everyone, Jews and Christians alike,
could learn from. I only pray it could
be this simple:
A Jew and a Christian were
discussing religion when the Chris- —
tian asked, “Why don’t you believe
Jesus is your savior?”
“Because,” the Jew said, “we are
taught to believe the messiah has not
come yet.” '
The Christian became agitated at
this answer, so the Jew said, “Listen;
why don’t we wait here together, as
brothers, and when the messiah
comes, we'll ask him, ‘Have you
been here before?’”
Gillin is a junior news-editorial
and English major and the Daily
Nebraskan AP Wire editor.