Letter to the editor

Britain, not America, should leave its cave

I am not a fan of opera, art films or “War and
Peace.” Instead, I wallow in the banality of pop music,
“Star Wars” and “Newlyweds.” But I do think
I am intelligent enough to respond to Matthew Kennard’s
column about America (“America must abandon cave of
delusion,” 11/16).

His first argument is that no sane person could ever believe the
“lie” that the Bush administration has succeeded in
protecting American citizens. But in the three years after Sept.
11, the number of terrorist attacks in the United States (zero) is
less than the number of terrorist attacks in Spain, Australia or
Indonesia.

Never mind that under Attorney General John Ashcroft, for all
his bluster, violent crime dropped 27 percent. As for the Patriot
Act, it ranks right up there with Halliburton for conspiracy
theorists, but in practice the act has been much more benign than
most people think.

Kennard then remarks that “back home” in Britain
there seems to be much less illusion about the government’s
malfeasance. The implication is that the only real news is bad
news. Never mind that the mainstream media has a vested interest in
gloomy stories characterized by the slogan, “If it bleeds, it
leads.”

People tend to take the good for granted while overemphasizing
the bad. Would people be interested in a poll stating that 90
percent of Iraqis believe the attacks on police and soldiers come
from terrorists or ignorant Iraqis who have been brainwashed? Most
people would rather read about the marital problems between Nick
and Jessica (I hope they make it.)

Faced with an unsustainable entitlement system, low birthrates,
anemic defense and problems with Muslim integration, it is Europe,
not America, that is living in a cave. Europe hoped Sen. John Kerry
would win and planned accordingly. Now that President Bush is our
next president, our allies across the Atlantic will hopefully leave
their cave and enter reality.

Phillip Lau Graduate student, law