OPINION & EDITORIAL
Conservatives call on seldom heard voices
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Also by Sara Mikolajczak:
- Governor wrongly solicits students (October 11, 2007)
- Conservatives call on seldom heard voices (September 6, 2007)
Related Stories:
- Conservatism growing on college campuses (September 24, 2003)
- Readers drop gloves, bust some skulls (September 7, 2007)
- Conservative voice needs recognition (November 9, 2007)
- Professors not responsible for liberal leanings (February 6, 2002)
- Cieslewicz: keeping Madison progressive (March 3, 2005)
by Sara Mikolajczak
Thursday, September 6, 2007
When you hear the words "University of Wisconsin," a few things come to mind: Bucky Badger, State Street, awesome academics… the progressive liberal movement. That last one, however, does not necessarily have to be true. Yes, the campus is set in the heart of liberal Madison and yes, most universities, including our own, tend to lean left on the political spectrum.
What most people now know, however, is that there is a large conservative movement on campus — and it is growing. More and more students are starting to question the partisan rhetoric force-fed to them in the classroom and engaging in intelligent political discussion. If this sounds like you, do not be afraid that you are "the only one out there." You are not alone. UW is actually home to one of the largest and most recognized College Republican groups in the country. There is more room for involvement this year than ever before, and we have some amazing activities planned to get people interested. There really is something for everyone.
For example, it has come to the attention of the CRs that UW does absolutely nothing to recognize the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11th, except to hire lecturers who preach that 9/11 was an inside job. That is why this year, the CRs are setting up a memorial on Bascom Hill for the 2,977 Americans killed in the tragedy. If you happen to be a morning person, we would love to see you out on Bascom at 6:30 a.m. to help us construct it. The day will end with an invocation and a speech by Lt. Col. John Krenson who was in Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom.
That is only our first meeting; aside from our 9/11 project, we are also planning a day to shoot guns and learn about the joys of the Second Amendment. We want to bring major issues that are important to students onto the campus so they can hear both sides of the story on border control, health care, the Iraq War, business and the economy, and other topics. If something is important to you personally, tell us. We are always open to suggestions. With any luck, we will even end the first semester with a visit from author Michelle Malkin.
Not discounting the values of the Republican Party, we are also planning numerous service and volunteer activities, from Christmas card drives to supporting our veterans. If you want to get involved with one of the campaigns, we can help you with that too. Aside from joining the CR activities, the most important thing to us is educating potential voters, especially with the 2008 elections fast approaching. The insults are flying on both ends of the spectrum, and it is only going to get worse. Having intelligent conversation and learning both sides of any topic is vital to the survival of our current political system and is what we base our very existence on as Americans. Taking into consideration all of the activities and informational sessions that we have planned for first semester alone, there is reason to believe that there is something for anyone who does not hold the "traditional campus values." If this sounds anything like you, check out our website at http://uwcr.rso.wisc.edu./ (please bear with us, as it is currently under construction) or talk to someone who is already involved. Even if you find out that you are a staunch Democrat, you have still educated yourself to the other side of the story, and understanding what you believe is more important than any label.
Sara Mikolajczak (Mikolajczak@wisc.edu) is a junior majoring in political science and legal studies. She is currently serving as Chair of the UW-Madison College Republicans.
Anonymous (September 6, 2007 @ 3:25am):
Oh man, the CR's kickoff is gonna be AWESOME! We're gonna email some teenage pages to try and get blowjobs in public bathrooms, then fellate unwilling, sleeping dudes just like Glenn Murphy Jr., and it's gonna be the BOMB! Wait, did someone just say "bomb"?! BRB, oppressing some dark-skinned folks.
- Germain Q. Stemme
Anonymous (September 6, 2007 @ 9:28am):
9/11 DAY!!! Hooray, it's like Christmas for Republicans
Anonymous (September 6, 2007 @ 10:15am):
"aside from our 9/11 project, we are also planning a day to shoot guns"
What a great transition. Going from how you're going to honor the victims of 9/11 to a day of shooting guns. Looks like you have your priorities straight when it comes to needless violence.
And it's hard to take your Kevin Barrett criticisms seriously when you're trying to get Michelle Malkin, one of the most vitriolic and hateful conservatives around (just behind Ann Coulter), to come speak on campus.
Bravo!
Anonymous (September 6, 2007 @ 10:21am):
3:25 and 9:28, will you sore-loser liberals please hit the exit? You're just mad because Madison liberals pissed away their own popularity years ago. You became arrogant antagonistic assholes, alienated others who might have joined your movement and wound up biting the dust in the end.
Hopefully, conservatives won't make the same dumb mistakes, but we're still reeling from the ill effects of the PC 90's, and we are not going back.
Anonymous (September 6, 2007 @ 11:01am):
Why is it the responsibility of the University of Wisconsin to have an official recognition of the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks? Are you recognizing the attacks because you genuinely care, or is it because you want to make sure that everyone else sees your public displays of piety?
Once you're done with your day of learning about the joys of the second amendment, will you hold separate days to learn about the joys of the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 14th amendments as well?
Anonymous (September 6, 2007 @ 11:04am):
There's a College Republican group at UW-Madison!?
- Germain E. Stemme
Anonymous (September 6, 2007 @ 11:27am):
Let me guess, besides shooting guns the first meeting is to basically get your story straight. The secoond one will be damage control due to your first meeting. And the third will be the true kick off--the "let's brainstorm to rationalize the last seven years".
Anonymous (September 6, 2007 @ 12:45pm):
9:28 = hopeless idiot
Anonymous (September 6, 2007 @ 12:50pm):
Wow Germain do you actually have a point to all this rambling you're doing?
And 10:15 you lose all credibility when you compare Kevin "the government did it" Barrett to Michelle Malkin. Come up with some evidence to your rash accusations before you spew anymore of that stink. Thanks!
Anonymous (September 6, 2007 @ 12:57pm):
When the hell are they going to plug that hole in lower Manhattan? It sure is nice that we can keep it empty to remind Americans how AWESOME we are at showing resolve. We would never want the "terrorists" to think we would commemorate the day they popped Goliath in the forehead.
I wonder if other countries celebrate their ass-whoopings?
Anonymous (September 6, 2007 @ 8:59pm):
hey assholes, it's not a celebration. it's a memorial. to those who died. you should all be so lucky as to receive the same treatment someday.
Anonymous (September 6, 2007 @ 9:15pm):
Aren't you the same dumb bitch who wrote the article last year about some guy who spit on you? Are the college republicans that pathetic that you're the best thing they can come up with to elect as chairman? Yeah. This will be a great year for you guys! NOT.
Anonymous (September 6, 2007 @ 9:19pm):
i heard they call you frauline. sounds like a plan. if you ever gain any real power i'd hate to see what you do. probably create another 9/11 so you have something to memorialize to make you look good. the sad part is that you're kinda hot.
Anonymous (September 7, 2007 @ 3:01am):
12:50 - Well, considering Malkin wrote a book called "Defense of Internment" that actually defended the ethnicity-based internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, and advocated racial profiling.
Malkin referred to Women for Kerry (a "community" within Senator John Kerry's presidential campaign) as "an embarrassment to a nation at war."
On the June 12, 2006, edition of The O'Reilly Factor, Malkin mocked the suicides of three prisoners at a U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying "the reaction to the suicides should be, 'Boo-freakin-hoo.'"
Enough evidence?
Anonymous (September 7, 2007 @ 8:11am):
"Hooray, it's like Christmas for Republicans"
"Oh man, the CR's kickoff is gonna be AWESOME! We're gonna email some teenage pages to try and get blowjobs in public bathrooms"
"Aren't you the same dumb bitch who wrote the article last year about some guy who spit on you?"
I'm mglad to see that higher education is paying off for some of you, however I can tell from the above three quotes that is not always the case.
Anonymous (September 7, 2007 @ 4:38pm):
I can respect Republicans, I can't respect radical wack jobs. You are the latter. I didn't realize this entire time that my professors were force feeding me partisan liberal rhetoric. Man, I thought I was just learning about English and history and stuff.
The joys of the second amendment? Really? Is that really what's most important to you? Is that what you believe makes this country great? Shooting guns? Honestly, that may be one stupidest things I have ever heard.
You make a complete mockery of well-meaning republicans everywhere. You are a grotesque caricature of the stereotypical right-winger. And, with no due respect, you scare the shit out of me because of what someone like you might do with any sort of authority in this nation.
Anonymous (September 7, 2007 @ 7:04pm):
As someone who doesn't identify as either a democrat or republican, I have to say that I don't understand a lot of these hateful and unintelligent insults that are being thrown around. Despite your own personal beliefs, the fact that you cannot just read the article and accept the fact that she is simply trying to inform everyone about the events that the CR's are hosting this year is kind of ridiculous. If you don't agree with said events, or you think that they have some underlying evil purpose, fine. However, nowhere in Sara's article do I see any petty insults or immature remarks; so, why so many from you? Do you sincerely care about the issues and beliefs that you say you stand for, or are you just participating in this to amuse yourself with the latest "let's bash someone who thinks differently" fad? If it's really the former, please think of something intelligent to say; the intolerant remarks are getting repetitive and old.
Anonymous (September 8, 2007 @ 1:23am):
anyone else think it's ironic that there's an "Obama '08" ad next to this article?
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