I will never understand why people don’t stand by what they say. I can guarantee you that after Sept. 11, 2001, a majority of the people in the United States said, “Let’s take [the terrorists] out.” Why did they change their minds? Well, the answer is that people think [the war is] taking too long. President Bush said from the start that what we were doing would be a long process. He never said it would be fast and easy. Throughout our lives we have all been told not to succumb to peer pressure. So why is it that Bush comes under fire when he doesn’t give in? If he were a regular person who resisted peer pressure, he would be respected. What’s worse is the fact that he’s coming under fire by people who didn’t even vote. As a U.S. citizen, you are guaranteed the right to vote. And I personally think that anyone who didn’t vote has no right to complain. After all, they had the opportunity to do something about it. They themselves are the dumb ones, not Bush. Contrary to popular belief, President Bush is not a dumb person. The man graduated from Yale and Harvard, and before you start thinking it, shut up-you cannot buy your way into those schools. He has done some great things while in office. He pushed through a $1.3 trillion tax cut program, created the No Child Left Behind Act, lowered unemployment to around 4.6 percent and took out Saddam Hussein. Hussein tested biological weapons in towns of his own country! By eliminating Hussein, Bush has saved Iraqis, not condemned them. It’s not Bush’s fault that we are in a war. If we want to place blame, it should be on former President Clinton. He had an opportunity to capture Osama bin Laden (whom the U.S. had put into power to begin with). Bush is just trying to clean up Clinton’s mess. So next time you’re about to go on a Bush-bashing tirade, remember that just because you have freedom of speech does not mean that everyone wants to listen.
– Richard Lyons, freshman