Bruin Republicans not representative

I was disappointed in the debate held last Thursday night in
Moore 100, particularly by the Bruin Republicans. They provided
weak arguments, and more importantly, their shamelessly right-wing
extremist remarks were met with laughter.

The event made me wonder whether all the conservatives on campus
share the Bruin Republicans’ extremist position. If not, the
spectrum of UCLA conservatives’ opinions was not well
represented at the debates.

I understand why many support President Bush ““ Sen. John
Kerry does have flaws. His strategy for Iraq is not drastically
different than that of Bush. His domestic policies attempt to do
too much and must be scaled back if they are going to be fiscally
successful. And I understand many who support Bush because they
want continuity in this war.

These are not extreme views, but in fact are real concerns many
conservatives hold. But these views were not mentioned during the
debate.

In what can best be described as a two-minute rant, one debater
said, my opponents may oppose war, and I respect that opinion, but
I don’t agree with it. Some may argue that in certain cases
one can support war as a last option, but this concept was not
illustrated in the debate.

In this same opening statement, the desire to invade Iran and
North Korea was also made clear. The idea of diplomacy with Iran or
North Korea was greeted with frustrated sighs and looks of
bewilderment. Even the president himself claims war is a last
resort, especially with respect to North Korea.

Yet an observer could easily walk out of the debate with the
conclusion that conservatives are warmongers.

The extremism did not stop there. The topic of the lapsed
assault rifle ban was also discussed, and the Bruin Republicans
advocated the ban’s expiration.

But the idea of more assault rifles on the street and in our
homes seems counterproductive to the concept of safety. The
solution to crime is not to make weapons more accessible. It would
be better to advocate a crackdown on the black market or even crime
itself.

The Bruin Republicans seem to contradict themselves when they
advocate preventing nuclear proliferation abroad while they support
making dangerous weapons more accessible at home. Even the
president and other important Republican politicians argue that the
assault rifle ban was flawed and a more effective ban must be
created. The Bruin Republicans are even more right-wing than their
own politicians, and these views have the potential to alienate
core Republicans on campus.

I went to the Bruin Republicans’ Web site, hoping to get
an adequate representation of the group and its ideology ““
one that may not have been portrayed in the debate. Yet looking at
the blog section of the site, I found more extremist views.

Enthusiastic supporters of Kerry were labeled as “bigots,
terrorists, communists.” Criticism of Bush’s policy was
seen as not being supportive of the troops.

What’s worse is that one day during Conservative Culture
week was dedicated to supporting our troops. Showing support is a
great cause, but here the concept of supporting them was presented
in a partisan fashion. We are led to believe that supporting
one’s troops is strictly conservative.

I can’t imagine the majority of conservatives on campus
truly believe many of Kerry’s supporters are bigots or
against our troops. The Bruin Republicans’ programs seem more
like an indictment of the “liberal culture” than an
accurate representation of what it means to be conservative.

I ask you now, is this the popular ideology held by most
conservatives on campus? With such broad labels as “Bruin
Republicans” and “Bruin Democrats,” one would
think that they would accurately express the ideas of the people
they claim to represent.

The Bruin Republicans may revert to various forms of extremism
to simply gain attention. They have accomplished that, but have
ruined their reputation in the process. Some liberals jokingly
refer to conservatives as rifle-toting warmongers, but this is far
from the truth. Yet identification with the Bruin Republicans
seemingly justifies this classification. Bush can be applauded for
bringing democracy to Afghanistan and pressuring Libya to hand over
its weapons of mass destruction. And conservatives are right to
argue that we cannot punish the rich with so many taxes.

Yet I did not leave Thursday’s debate believing this. I
honestly believe Republicans are not evil. I just wish the Bruin
Republicans would make it easier for me to do so.

Tsega is a third-year physiological science
student.