Jones, politicians’ game of imitation absurd

Andrew Jones’ actions last week were an act of respect for
our government.

By registering his group as “Student Empowerment,”
Jones seemed to be treating politics and government with
disrespect. Really though, Jones’ actions were an act of
respect for our government in the form of imitation. When accused
of stealing the Student Empowerment name, Jones justified his
actions by saying, “It’s not stealing when it was
available to register.” Andrew Jones equates having the right
to do something with doing the right thing, but this is not a
theory he came up with on his own.

Charlton Heston, the president of the National Rifle
Association, held a gun rally near Columbine, Colo., and, when
confronted with the insensitive nature of this act, he howled that
it was his “constitutional right” to assemble and to
have guns. Like a good student, Andrew Jones has learned his
lesson and imparted it to some of his Bruin Republican
brethren. 

How can we be expected to understand good taste when a highly
respected leader of a major group does not? Sadly, Mr. Jones
is not alone in his flawless impersonation of Beltway
buffoonery. Our intrepid leader, David Dahle, gave us this
insightful quote when asked about Jones’ actions:
“Students are free to do what they want. It’s a
little misleading, but people will realize the
difference.”Â Dahle was presented with an opportunity to
stand up and have a strong opinion on something that was clearly a
stupid and mean joke. It’s truly sad ““ Dahle sounds
like Bill Clinton, when he said “That depends on what your
definition of “˜is’ is.”Â Would any of us
really be offended if Dahle had said, “You know, it was kind
of a funny joke, but it was also a very irresponsible one and
clearly has no place in the political forum at any level”?
Instead, Dahle employed the meaningless words of a politician in an
effort to draw attention away from the fact that he is scared to
death of having a real opinion. 

I recognize that a politician, by definition, must appeal to all
kinds of people in order to get elected. But there is a
difference in sympathizing with a variety of opinions and affecting
some superhuman, “non-opinion” opinion. Everyone
knows David Dahle is human, so why does he try to make us think he
is some android from a future void of differing ideas? Well,
it’s because Al Gore, George W. Bush, Joe Leiberman, and
Charlton Heston all do it. The UCLA student leadership has
just followed suit. 

However, the majority of the nation does not vote, and the
majority of UCLA students do not vote in our elections. When a
big company has a failing product, doesn’t the board decide
to make fundamental changes to cater to changing public
opinion? Why doesn’t this apply to politics? We all care
about what happens to our country and school, but we don’t
vote because these politicians don’t seem to listen to anyone
but the politicians who came before them. Our generation is
not apathetic, nor have we forgotten the lessons of the
revolutionary ’60s; instead, we are engaging in the most
widespread form of silent protest ever in an effort to make
ourselves heard.

So, to Andrew Jones, David Dahle, and whoever else has political
leanings: whether Democrat, Republican, Students United for Reform
and Equality, or Empowerment!, I know that we are taught to respect
our elders and follow the leads of role models, but the time has
come to stop propagating the mistakes they made and the disrespect
they have for their constituents and their country.