Opinion
Editorial Page Editors Allegra Dimperio & Taylor Nye oped@badgerherald.com
7
The Badger Herald | Opinion | Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Herald Editorial
Re-evaluate ID policy A policy recently adopted by several of Madison’s downtown bars restricts acceptable forms of identification for entry to state issued drivers licenses and passports. Members of the city and campus community have already come out of the woodwork to decry the disparate effects they believe the policy will have on minority groups. At face value, there is nothing illegal about the
policy. Private business owners are allowed to make decisions on how they will run their establishments. However, and this is a big however, there are still concerns about the policy. While no research proves a disparate effect, there is certainly research that suggests it. A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee study from 2005 found that 55 percent of black males in Wisconsin do not
have a drivers license. In contrast, only 17 percent of white men do not have one. While it is easy to see how this could lead to segregation, we must ask a few questions: How have these numbers changed in the last six years? Do the citizens without licenses rely on state IDs to get in to Madison bars? If the policy is proven to cause a disparate effect, then the city must step in.
Until that point, they have no authority to restrict a private business. However, these businesses have a responsibility to the Madison community. Past bar policies, such as recent contested dress codes, have begun a divide that could be widened by this policy. Bar owners should acknowledge the tension they are causing in what is already a fairly segregated city and do what they can to rebuild those
bridges. While this new ID policy may be legal, any issue dealing with race and socioeconomic status must be examined with more than a legal eye. The moral effect this policy is already having on our community is not something we can afford. We urge Madison’s business community to take these moral issues into account and open their doors to everyone.
Alex Brousseau
Signe Brewster
Carolyn Briggs
Editorial Board Chairman
Editor-in-Chief
Managing Editor
Jake Begun
Allegra Dimperio
Taylor Nye
Ryan Rainey
Editor-at-Large
Editorial Page Editor
Editorial Page Content Editor
Editorial Board Member
Weekly non-voting Community Member Nichole Powell | Panhellenic Association Ed i t o r i a l B o a r d o p i n i o n s a r e c ra f t e d i n d e p e n d e n t l y o f n e w s c o v e ra g e .
Romney’s LDS faith inhibitory undermine the campaign of one of the GOP’s leading presidential candidates. It is unclear why Mitt Romney’s religion plays such a central role in his public image — it seems almost impossible to Shawn Rajanayagam conceive of him without Columnist the suffix, “who is a Mormon.” This conception It seems like we’ve of Romney the Mormon is reached that time of not one that is propagated Republican primary season only by religious bigots; where someone brings respectable mainstream up the ‘M word.’ At a news sources are equally In June, Christian conservative culpable. campaign event on Newsweek released an Friday, a Texan pastor, Dr. issue with Romney on the Robert Jeffress, attacked cover, with the headline GOP primary candidate “The Mormon Moment.” Just exactly why Mitt Romney’s religious needs to beliefs, stating that he America viewed Mormonism as experience a “Mormon to accept “a theological cult.” Dr. moment” Jeffress was providing an Romney as a viable is beyond introduction to Romney’s candidate competitor, Rick Perry, imagination. Yet there who took the stage is categorical evidence immediately following Dr. suggesting that this is exactly what America Jeffress’s remarks. This is not to inculcate needs — a Pew Research Perry, however indirectly, poll conducted in June as an accomplice in Dr. found that one in four Jeffress’s bigotry; to his voters said they would credit, Perry has quickly be less likely to vote distanced himself from for a candidate who Jeffress’s inflammatory subscribed to the Mormon remarks and has gone on faith. According to a the record denouncing the study conducted during 2008 presidential assertion that Mormonism the Mormonism is a cult. What this election, statement is reflective of, found itself the target of however, is a deep-seated worse discrimination than prejudice that threatens to black candidates (like
Barack Obama) or female candidates (like Hillary Rodham Clinton). It is unclear exactly where this perverse attitude towards a religious minority comes from. While the Latter Day Saint movement does have a number of peculiar practices, so do many other religions, including the various denominations of Christianity. Those Mormon practices that are often targeted by religious bigots are out-dated, and in many cases, are expressly forbidden by the faith itself. For example, polygamy is no longer practiced by adherents of the Mormon faith, despite popular media portrayals such as HBO’s TV show Big Love. These so-called fundamentalist Mormons have in fact been excommunicated from the LDS Church for over a century. Misconceptions about the LDS movement aside, it seems that middle America still has a long way to go before it can treat a Mormon candidate for the presidency in the exact same way they would treat anyone else. I would much rather say that this was because of Romney’s fairly liberal record on social policy, something that is bound to be a stumbling
block to hard right voters. Yet it seems, sadly, that his faith is the number one issue that could hinder his progress on the campaign trail. Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” speech encapsulated, in many ways, the issue of Obama’s race, and his campaign, in many ways, transcended his (mixed) black heritage. While I don’t completely buy the way some analysts have rendered Obama as a post-racial president, I can certainly see how in many ways, his ethnic ancestry has been surpassed by other distinguishing factors. For Romney, transcending his religion seems unlikely or impossible, perhaps because he lacks the raw charisma of Obama; the ability to electrify an audience from his position at the podium. Romney cuts a much more stately figure, with a more functional approach to oration that lacks Obama’s transfix and exhilarate. For the record, I believe Romney is the strongest candidate in the GOP primary race. Despite his record on social policy and his religious conviction, Romney has a record of strong financial management and a differentiated approach to
Associated Press
Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a moderate conservative, may have his bid undermined by his Mormonism and relative lack of support from the right. political issues. He does not practice the identikit approach to conservatism (small government, antisocial welfare, budget surplus) and he has a record of turning around struggling enterprises from his time in private equity. His approach might be what America needs, if they need a conservativetinged change in the office of the presidency. If Romney loses, it will not be because he supported a health care bill when he was governor of
Massachusetts. It will not be because he increased taxes in order to bring the Massachusetts government back into a balanced fiscal position. It will not be because he was pro-choice for most of his life, until he changed his mind just more than five years ago. It will be because he is a Mormon — and that is a crying shame. Shawn Rajanayagam (rajanayagam@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in political science and American studies.
Disappointingly, Christie turns down 2012 GOP bid Ryan Rainey Editorial Board Member I like Chris Christie. There, I said it. Chris Christie, the overweight, much-maligned and confrontational anti-union governor of New Jersey actually seems to be a good guy committed to the best interests of his state. And even though I’ll almost surely vote for President Barack Obama in 2012, I’m still disappointed Christie isn’t running for president. Christie announced last week that he will not seek the Republican Party’s nomination to challenge Obama next year. His announcement, I believe, will lead to the downfall of
the Republican Party at the polls next November and likely shut Christie out of a bid for president in 2016. Throughout his relatively short tenure as governor, Christie has taken a hard line against public sector unions, just like our own Gov. Scott Walker. But unlike Walker, whose incoherent reasoning and radical hard-line politics led to the mass protests in Madison in February and March, Christie partnered with Democrats and did not completely, permanently abolish collective bargaining rights for public employees. Also in contrast to Walker, who inappropriately has painted his ubiquitous slogan “Wisconsin is open for business” on official state welcome signs and website, Christie has held his position with relative humility. Many new Republican
governors like Walker and Florida’s Rick Scott are also known for their aversion to any media probing or questioning, holding highly restricted events and rarely allowing any sort of public input. But Christie, again bucking the Republican party’s recent trends, regularly holds town hall meetings, which have made him famous across the country for his direct answers to questions from public employees concerned about Christie’s anti-union politics. “I am sorry that I’m the guy who has to be here when the party’s over,” Christie said at a town hall meeting early this year. “I understand why you’re frustrated and I understand why you’re angry about it … but this is the truth and I don’t get anything for telling the truth.” I vehemently oppose both Walker and Christie’s
agendas. But at least Christie seems to have some sympathy for the position in which public employees find themselves. To paint all Republicans as the ideological and political equivalent of Walker would be ignoring the deft rhetorical skills of folks like Christie, who rival Obama in their ability to influence audiences. Republicans politicians are easy for liberals to demonize. Walker has smarmy qualities, leading to a litany of offensive signs at this year’s protests. Mitt Romney appears to be a walking wax figure example of an oligarch, and an image of Rick Perry waywardly shooting a handgun has, for many become the defining stereotype of the conservative Texan. But Christie is a different kind of Republican. He may speak with the same
confrontational tone as Bill O’Reilly, but so do millions of his fellow Northeasterners. And despite his similarities to Walker and this year’s presidential candidates, he possesses a crucial personal quality Walker does not: cold, harsh, brutal honesty. This quality would have been especially beneficial in debates with Obama. Christie would have adequately challenged Obama, creating a mostly civil and constructive national conversation about the role government should play in the economy. He also has consistently decried anti-Muslim and xenophobic rhetoric in his own party, making him one of the only candidates who could diffuse the incessant “Obama is a Marxist Muslim!” claims. Put simply, a Christie candidacy would have
killed the virulent Tea Party movement and pitted a center-right candidate against a centerleft candidate. That’s how American presidential races should work. Maybe Christie just has some sort of personality trait that only makes him appealing to me personally. But in a political era that will undoubtedly become known for unprecedented partisan division, Christie should be proof to liberals that despite their disappointing and divisive policies, most Republicans aren’t evil, power-hungry monsters. In some cases, they’re just like our next door neighbors. Regardless of if he deserves my vote or not, I am disappointed he won’t run for president. Ryan Rainey (rrainey@ badgerherald.com) is a junior majoring in journalism and Latin American studies.
Your Opinion · Send your letters to the editor and guest columns to oped@badgerherald.com. Publication is based on space and takes into account relevance and quality. Letters should be sent exclusively to the Herald. Unsigned letters will not be published. All submissions may be edited by the Herald for length and style. Reader feedback on all articles and columns can be posted at badgerherald.com, where all print content is archived.