The articles from the Left and from the Right in the Sept. 3 issue of The Amherst Student ("Dems Rely on Partisan Politics" and "Hypocrisy on Display at Republican Convention") are symptomatic of the misguided themes that have run through national politics over the past few months. Ethan Davis, chairman of the Amherst College Republicans, makes two strong statements. First, that Republicans are waging a battle above the political fray by endorsing moral principles and not political policies, and second, that John Kerry is a flip flopper because, for Davis, "no issue is too important to evade the reach of partisan politics." Davis' arguments, of course, do leave the political fray. He argues that Republicans are operating on a higher moral ground, when in fact they are merely preaching a philosophical facade that endangers policy making. Morals are an important fundamental in determining policy, but we can't allow them to get in the way of reality. 

Arguments like Davis' that preach "genuine democracy for the Iraqi people and the transformation of a tumor in the Middle East into a shining beacon of freedom" are nice, but unrealistic. In fact, the Bush administration did little to investigate the chances of creating a vibrant democracy after invading Iraq; rather, they ignored top Department of Defense officials and military experts who informed them otherwise. This is the danger of preaching moral philosophies without checking the facts: we become far too similar to the terrorist groups that the administration has fought so hard to combat. Beautiful phrases and attractive ideologies are only half the battle if they don't apply to the situation.

Davis' second argument, that John Kerry is a flip flopper focused on political gain at any cost, isn't too far from reality. Kerry has certainly drifted on several issues. But at the same time, so have Bush and Cheney. It was Bush who declared that we could not win the war on terrorism, only to qualify his argument several nights later after receiving bad press. Most recently, Dick Cheney played out a similar act, saying that a terrible mistake eight weeks from now (perhaps the election of John Kerry?) would lead to America getting hit by terrorists. After being lambasted by the press, Cheney toned down his line, saying that Kerry wouldn't be as good a leader and wasn't as strong on terrorism. Are these flip flops acceptable? Can we allow our president and vice president to use terror as a political tool? Can we allow "Republicans" like Davis to manipulate the public with these tools?

Why do I put Republicans in quotation marks? Because the founding fathers and those who gave birth to modern conservative ideology would be rolling in their graves if they saw the position that the Amherst College Republicans (and the GOP) have taken. George W. Bush not only bothers liberals, but he is an insult to the roots of conservative ideology. He picks up social issues like abortion and gay marriage for political purposes-gay marriage being another Dick Cheney flip flop-but he is remarkably liberal in his fundamental beliefs of the role of government. Bush believes in big government-in fact, huge government. Bush believes that not only should the government spend recklessly, but it should play an integral role in entering your daily life and deciding your values. Not only is this un-American, but it is an insult to the GOP.

The Democratic side isn't much better. Russell Kornblith argues that Republicans don't have a right to use Sept. 11 as a political issue because New York City is "not a Republican city," but "an American city." The fact is that the use of Sept. 11 for political purposes can't be considered acceptable under any circumstances, or as Kornblith correctly points out, a pertinent topic in this year's campaigning. Democrats have only tried to rebuke Republican plans though, rather than aggressively presenting their own platform, independent of the Republican talking points, and focused on important policy issues like national security, the economy and healthcare. Instead the Democrats have managed to fight water with water, flooding the platform. 

What we must do as a campus, and as a nation, is to do our best to stay out of the fray of partisan politics, and get back in touch with real issues. Morality is important, but we cannot save every beleaguered nation-state around the world. For reasons like that we need to be selective in stopping terrorist regimes like Iran and helping prevent genocide in Sudan. Morality may guide us, but in the end, real issues and real problems must be our concern.