Vice President Dick Cheney visited with a group of people in Des Moines on Tuesday where his main topic of discussion was homeland security and the “flip-flopping” John Kerry. The Iowa State Daily covered this event and provided us with information pertaining to what was talked about.

The Republicans quoted in the article provided their full-fledged support for Cheney. What was lacking in this article was the scare tactics used by the vice president during his address.

Cheney was quoted saying, “It’s absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice — because if we make the wrong choice, then the danger is that we’ll get hit again and we’ll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States.”

Cheney is clearly suggesting that if we elect Kerry we will get attacked again by terrorists. The vice president has gone too far.

I would like to say this to the vice president and his supporters: Maybe it is possible that voters made the wrong choice in 2000 when they elected President Bush. After all, we got attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.

We also have spent nearly $200 billion on a war that has not been justified. Think what we could have done with that $200 billion during the last two years.

We could have created a better education system for our children, invested in clean energy alternatives to help protect our environment and created more jobs in the U.S.

I ask each and every one of you to take all of this into consideration when voting and ask yourself these questions: Do you trust a president who has gone into war alone, without the support of other nations? Do you trust a president who has squandered billions of dollars?

Or do you trust Kerry, who will build relationships with other nations by gaining respect and forging alliances?

Do you trust a candidate who will liberate us from the dependence on foreign oil? And finally, a candidate who will spend responsibly for the benefits of all Americans?

Jennifer Riggs

Senior

Anthropology