Unfortunately,
America Can Rely on its Allies
June 22, 2002
By Amy-Louise Lane
I am disgusted with the way that America's allies are responding
to Bush's arrogant stance towards the "War on Terrorism."
I am a student in Leeds, England and have recently found
it harder and harder to find someone who actually knows Bush's
objectives or even has a coherent arguement as to why we should
be standing by this act of lunacy. Even teachers have been
misinformed or told to simply ignore pupil's comments and
questions.
I myself have been branded a disruptive pupil for questioning
Bush's motives and 'unpatriotic' for believing that we shouldn't
be standing by his acts of brutality. I have been banned from
accessing your website from school and have been threatened
with removal from the school system altogether.
Now whenever anyone tries to access this (or many other Democratic
sites) a warning is displayed. You can, however access any
Republican website that you so choose.
Why? You may well ask. I posed that question to our school's
regulator. I got a detention for "insolence." I'll
assume he just didn't want to answer...
Even our wonderfully unbiased, objective news services no
longer broadcast the full truth about events in America and
the middle-east and I believe that programmes are being aired
with a conservative-slant.
People who oppose Bush are being portrayed by the media as
unpatriotic, marxist thugs who prefer to rely on the welfare
states instead of their own work. I resent this immensely.
All Democrats are being tarred with the same brush and nobody
seems able to speak out against the system. I always thought
that students were the reactionary group, the people who would
defend their rights against political bigotry; but everywhere
I look I see stagnation of the system.
I used to believe that we had freedom of speech and of the
press in our country; but I was obviously wrong. I used to
believe that the education system should be unbiased and should
benefit all pupils, whatever their political persuasion. I
was obviously wrong.
Teachers are openly praising Bush and atrributing all problems
to the Clinton administration. This is what happens in our
schools, this is what I receive every day of my life.
And in the midst of all this, we tell Afghanistan what it
is like to be a democratic nation. Does this not seem a little
ironic?
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