Maybe Tom Olson should take his own advice. In his letter he says that his fellow liberal students “act like a herd of sheep.” Wow, people who share basic ideas and beliefs about how our country should be run are a herd of sheep. Perhaps, Mr. Olson, I might say the same thing about people who share the beliefs that you do. However, I don’t like to make blatant generalizations. I don’t consider that “thinking for myself.” Have you ever stopped to think that the liberals on campus are informed? Probably not, because all people that disagree with you must be completely wrong. You see, I consider myself a liberal and yes, I have seen Fahrenheit 9/11, but that doesn’t mean that I agree with all of it. Blindly believing in something isn’t the way to be informed. But you’re safe because believing everything that the government says is much different. I don’t let Michael Moore determine the whole of my beliefs and neither do most liberals. I actually form beliefs by interpreting facts on my own. Shocking, I know.

You also dismiss the liberal belief that this war is about oil, and instead imply that the purpose was to overthrow “the most tyrannical leader of our era.” I agree that Saddam was a tyrannical leader. But what about other tyrannical leaders? In Darfur, the Sudanese government is currently supporting the ethnic cleansing of all non-Arabs living in that part of the country. Since February of 2003, it is estimated that up to 50,000-100,000 people have been killed and 1.2 million have been driven from their homes. Sounds pretty tyrannical to me. Do you see the U.S. charging in to overthrow the leaders of that country? Do you see the U.S. doing anything about that situation? If the U.S. is so interested in overthrowing tyrannical leaders, then why aren’t we doing something there?

I suppose that there are some differences between you and me. If we were to discuss political issues, I would actually listen to you and give serious consideration to what you had to say. Can you say the same? I’d like to believe that you would, but based on your article, I have serious doubts. After all, I’m just another sheep.

Matthew Schmidt

senior in LAS