<%@ page contentType="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" language="java" import="java.sql.*" errorPage="" %>
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<title>Collegian • Section • Recycling</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<link href="../../../../../stylesheets/collegianstyle.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<link href="../../../../../stylesheets/links.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
</head>
<body>
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="575">
<!-- fwtable fwsrc="thecollegian.png" fwbase="thecollegian.jpg" fwstyle="Dreamweaver" fwdocid = "742308039" fwnested="0" -->
<tr>
<td colspan="3"><a href="../../../../../default.html"><img name="banner_main" src="../../../../../images/banner/banner_main.jpg" width="575" height="58" border="0" alt="The Collegian"></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="10" valign="top"></td>
<td width="343" valign="bottom"><p class="date"><a href="default.html">4/12/04 • Vol.
128, No. 30</a></p></td>
<td width="222" valign="top"><a href="../../../../../default.html"><img name="banner_rtcorner" src="../../../../../images/banner/banner_rtcorner.jpg" width="222" height="17" border="0" alt=""></a></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table width="575" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="topnav">
<tr>
<td id="topnav"><p><a href="../../../../../default.html">Home</a>
<jsp:include page="../../../../nav/opinion.jsp" flush="true" />
<a href="../../../../../gallery">Gallery</a> <a href="../../../../../advertise">Advertise</a> <a href="../../../../../archive">Archive</a> <a href="../../../../../aboutus">About
Us</a></p>
</td></tr>
</table>
<table width="575" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="storyText">
<tr align="left" valign="top">
<td>
<table width="150" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="storiesnav">
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top" id="storiesnav"> <a href="default.jsp">Opinion</a> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top"><p><a href="gaymarriage.jsp">Attacks
on gay marriage flimsy</a></p>
<p><a href="cellphones.jsp">Cell phones cause new set of problems</a></p></td>
</tr>
</table>
<h1><font size="5">Attacks on gay marriage flimsy</font></h1> <p class="byline"> </p>
<p class="byline">By Zev Chafets, KRT Campus</p>
<table width="100" border="0" align="right" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="storyText" id="teasterbox">
<tr>
<td><p><a href="kerry.jpg"><img src="kerry.jpg" alt="" name="Photo" width="263" height="191" border="1" style=""></a></p>
<p align="justify"><strong><em>-Art courtesy of KRT Campus</em></strong></p>
</td>
</tr>
</table> <p class="storyText">Every presidential campaign needs a
theme song. Right now, the supporters of John F. Kerry are singing a
golden oldie: “My
Boyfriend’s Back.”</p>
<p class="storyText"> Addressed, of course, to George W. Bush.</p>
<p class="storyText"> You’re gonna be sorry you were ever born. </p>
<p class="storyText"> Hey la, hey la, my boyfriend’s back.</p>
<p class="storyText"> Cause he’s kinda big and he’s awful strong.</p>
<p class="storyText"> This is a long way from “all you need is love.” But the 1960s
are finally over, and the Dems are ready to rumble. Yo, Dubya! You’re
a big man now but he’ll cut you down to size. Wahoo. Wait and see!</p>
<p class="storyText"> Kerry seems happy with the role of muscleman. Lately,
he hardly utters a sentence without the word “fight” in it. He’s going
to “stand toe to toe” with Bush, and show him what combat
is like “for real.” Look out, Howard Dean. Jump back, Bill
and Hillary. A man’s man is now on the party premises. </p>
<p class="storyText"> Kerry’s pitch has been thrillingly attractive to the kind of Democrats
who hate George W. Bush. </p>
<p class="storyText"> It’s not simply that Kerry was a naval officer. Jimmy Carter, after
all, was an Annapolis graduate who spent more time in uniform than Kerry
did. Nor is it merely service in Vietnam. Al Gore was there, too. It’s
not even Kerry’s Purple Hearts. Wes Clark was also wounded in Vietnam,
and nobody thinks he can cut Bush down to size.</p>
<p class="storyText"> No, Kerry’s special appeal, to put it plainly, is that he is a
killer. Thirty-five years ago, under fire, he turned his boat toward
enemy soldiers, chased them down and shot them dead. Bush, for all his
Texas swagger, can’t match that. Hell, he doesn’t have a
single notch on his belt.</p>
<p class="storyText"> The Killer Qualification is a whole new thing in
modern presidential politics. Kerry’s role model, John Kennedy, won glory for saving
his crew, not sinking the enemy. George H.W. Bush’s most famous
military exploit was bailing out of his plane. Ike commanded a vast army,
but in his long career he never personally fired a shot in anger. Harry
Truman was an artillery officer in World War I, but hardly a hero. You
have to go all the way back to Teddy Roosevelt to find a President celebrated
for personally charging the enemy. </p>
<p class="storyText"> There’s no doubt that Kerry’s military record can be an electoral
plus, especially when it’s stacked up against GWB’s National
Guarding. But many Democrats seem to believe it is more than that. They
imagine that battlefield courage automatically translates into political
backbone. This is an illusion that Kerry’s “I’ve never
run from a fight in my life” rhetoric is calculated to encourage.</p>
<p class="storyText"> He should cut it out. Kerry has had a distinguished
career in public life, including nearly 20 years in the Senate. He is
a thoughtful, intelligent
man and a strong campaigner. There are good reasons to take his candidacy
seriously. Having bagged some Viet Cong is not one of them.</p>
<p class="storyText"> Kerry himself knows this. Like all combat veterans,
he is aware that there is no genuine correlation between youthful military
ferocity and
mature political virtue. The young Winston Churchill was a warrior. So
was the young Idi Amin. Most guys with medals—including the guys
Kerry served with—fall somewhere in between. </p>
<p class="storyText"> It’s easy to understand Kerry’s willingness to play the hombre
card. It has worked on a besotted Democratic base in the primaries. But
it won’t win a general election. Most Americans don’t see
George W. Bush as a bully, and besides, pushing 60, Kerry’s way
too old to run as a teen-ager’s avenging boyfriend. If he wants
to make it to the White House, he’ll need a campaign song—and
a campaign—that allows him to act his age.</p>
<p class="storyText"> —
Zev Chafets is a columnist for the New York Daily News. Comments may
also be sent to collegian@csufresno.edu</p></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table width="575" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="footer">
<tr align="center">
<td colspan="2"> </td>
</tr>
<tr align="center">
<td id="footer" colspan="2"><p><a href="javascript:history.go(-1);">Back</a> <a href="../../../../../aboutus/disclaimer.html"> Disclaimer</a> <a href="../../../../../aboutus/policy.html">Policy</a></p>
</td></tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>