At an October campaign stop in Oregon, officials with the Bush campaign removed a group of three grade school teachers who were wearing T-shirts which read “Protect Our Civil Liberties.” The teachers were admitted to the event initially, but then removed without provocation when campaign officials deemed the shirts “offensive.” In the closing days of the presidential campaign there were numerous accounts of people removed or excluded from Bush events because of either proclaimed support for Sen. John Kerry or a refusal to sign “loyalty pledges” reminiscent of the red baiting of Eugene McCarthy. It should come as no surprise that a president who never hears from his detractors has proclaimed his slender margin a “mandate.”

The Bush White House has continued the tradition of invite-only events in the days following the inauguration. A spate of recent “town-hall” meetings to discuss the future of Social Security has featured only members of the public who are firm supporters of the president.

I have frowned upon the petulant among us who declare that Bush is “not my president” with the same disgust as a 4 year old presented brussels sprouts, but I’m beginning to understand their point. If he is indeed the president of the 49 percent who did not vote for him, when will he start behaving as such?

Patrick Hultman

Graduate Student

Political Science