By Mitch Holt, Special Contributor

Don’t Believe the Hype

Ascending the stairs from the Bean Sprout after bowling class Thursday morning, I climbed the last few steps to the main level of the Campus Center only to find a crowd of people entrancingly viewing the president’s inaugural speech on the overhead televisions. I heard one girl comment about Bush to the girl next to her, “Isn’t he just the cutest thing ever?” Then there was that group of husky 200 plus lbs. fellows I overheard. “Boy, am I glad those liberals didn’t win,” said one of them, as if everyone around him miraculously agreed with his profound statement.

I couldn’t escape the hype, but what did I expect? I’m in Texas. Better yet, I’m in Texas during the inauguration of a Bush.

Although the aforementioned comments that I seem to hear every day are frustrating and narrow-minded, they are not as disheartening as some of the remarks I’ve heard from people on the opposite end of the political spectrum as of late. To say that you believe the country made a huge mistake by re-electing Bush is one thing and undoubtedly debatable, but to wish on him a bad presidency simply to show the conservatives the error of their ways is completely distasteful.

In this time of unrest and transition, shouldn’t we be coming together as a country? You don’t have to agree with our president, but you should wish for him and our country the best. We have too many battles to fight on our own soil to be letting election results, which we no longer have any control over, divide our country even further.

I understand the temptation to be incredibly apathetic about things taking place in our country, especially when the person for whom you voted isn’t in office, and our current president’s wisest, most able cabinet member (Colin Powell) has resigned.

The hardest thing about being in another country during a U.S. presidential election, besides the hassle of getting your ballot to a state in which your vote doesn’t matter, is dealing with the nagging assumptions that ‘dem foreigners (sarcasm) pin on you simply because of the country in which you live. That’s what I dealt with last semester. Many individuals I talked to while I was living overseas see the United States as a powerful yet divided country. I can’t help but agree.

The election is over. Move on, continue to stand up for your beliefs, but don’t forget that unity should be a priority. Unity should be a priority.