Numerous articles mention that the one key factor that led to Bush’s re-election were the voters who supported him because of his morals. “What morals?” Allow me to highlight a few “morals” to let you decide whether you agree that they should be characteristics of the leader of the most powerful nation in the world:

• Jeopardizing lives. He led the United States into a pre-emptive war resulting in more than 1,000 military dead and more than 8,000 wounded. Troops were sent into battle without adequate body armor.

• Respect. This administration is slowly integrating church and state, contrary to our Constitution. Meanwhile, we trespass on Middle Eastern holy land.

• Driving species into extinction. Bush removed protections for 200 million acres of land. Also, he supported that atrazine need not to be regulated, abandoned the Kyoto Treaty, and is proposing to cut $600 million from the Environmental Protection Agency.

• Holding people accountable for their bad decisions. When government workers provide (major) false information, where is the accountability? No one has been blamed for the “missing” weapons of mass destruction or for leaking real names of CIA agents. Rather, we criticize the whistle-blowers who speak up.

• Priorities. Cheney has major stock in Halliburton and is still paid deferred compensation each year. Coincidentally, the Bush Administration gave Halliburton a multimillion dollar contract for the war. The United States has spent $140 billion on a war of choice. What about money toward funding public education, the arts, environmental concerns, AIDS, hunger and homelessness?

The fact that so many people support this person based on his “morals” truly makes me fear for our future.

Susan Olsen

Graduate Student

Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies