In the Feb. 18th "Jack of All Trades" column penned by Stephen Jendraszak, the writer makes several assertions that basically state President Bush is running this country into the ground and that he is a hypocrite. Based on the statements Jendraszak made, a detailed look will clear things up:
First: Jendraszak stated that the President's stance on abortion (pro-life) and capital punishment (for) are hypocrisy based upon the following statement: 'A true pro-life stance is a fundamental belief in the right of every individual to live a full life and achieve his or her potential.' I will agree with that statement -- it lies at the core of the pro-life movement, as I understand it. However, the two positions are not hypocritical -- rather, they are symbiotic.
Pro-life stances and being for capital punishment are linked by a common bond: the desire to see a life lived to it's fullest. Abortion prevents a life from even beginning, thus depriving the "fetus" of the opportunity to experience life, much less to the fullest extent of achievement. Capital is the same: it imposes a set punishment for the most heinous of crimes: the taking of an innocent life, now denied the chance to live out that life. Capital punishment directly provides a protection for the sanctity of life by making the taking of a life punishable. By placing a punishment on murder, the value of life is enhanced and protected.
Abortion and anti-capital punishment stances devalue life. Abortion makes it okay to prevent a life from starting in the world while a lack of capital punishment states that if you kill someone the worst that can happen to you is you get federal housing, three meals a day and cable TV on the taxpayer's dime. I would challenge Jendraszak to explain his statement that capital punishment encourages brutality and devalues life when it expressly is used to punish the taking of a life not valued by another.
I would also point Jendraszak to the reactions when then-Governor Ryan of Illinois commuted all death-row inmates in his state. The outcry from the families who lost loved ones (innocents) to murders was strident, as were the reactions of the prosecutors. The reason: all the work put into ensuring that the crimes were punished was for naught. Ryan's move immediately devalued the lives of those killed by implying the crimes of the murderers were not that severe and rated with rape, bank fraud and car theft.
Second: Jendraszak accuses the President of not building the "culture of life" spoken about. The lynchpin in his case is that "we failed to capture bin Laden, disable al-Qaida, or make the United States safer." Again, a look at the news says this isn't so. During the State of the Union speech, the President laid out the results: over 3,000 Al-Qaida operatives in custody, over one-third of the "top tier" personalities have been killed or captured. That is not simply disabling -- it is dismantling. These statements by the President are easily verified by numerous news sources that have reported these events.
As for Afghanistan, I would remind Jendraszak of the culture of life that existed before we went in. An ultra-orthodox sect of Islam that encouraged the subjugation of women and used oppressive controls on ones life ran the country. Several videos and news reports have shown how women danced and shed their burkas and promptly enrolled in academic classes once we ran the Taliban out of town. Organizations like the United Nation Population Fund (which, while not directly providing abortions, funds them, and is supportive of China's draconian one child policy) can now work in these areas thanks to the United States.
Similarly, the President was accused of not defending America. Really? I guess the War on Terror is not necessary since there are only a handful of kooks out there who would love nothing more to park a truckload of explosives in a major American city in the name of Allah. So few of them, why bother... oh, wait -- it was a handful that brought down the World Trade Center. The message of the War on Terror is clear: we will protect our citizens, whatever the cost, from those who wish to attack our culture or freedom. And this President is showing we are serious about it.
Third: The President is all for destroying the environment. An excellently research article was penned by a journalism professor David Sumner was printed in the Daily News on Dec. 9, 2002, and details the comprehensiveness and the increases for environmental research by this President. I would also challenge Jendraszak's statement that "his energy plan enriches his friends in the oil industry while failing to reduce pollution and save lives." Save lives? Jendraszak is implicitly accusing the President of negligent homicide through his policy -- I'd like to see some facts backing that statement up.
Fourth: The President is accused of making it harder to "maintain a decent quality of life." The prime evidence: job losses on the President's watch. Simply put, economic policy does not affect the market overnight (see the "J-curve" in an economics text). So, the effects being seen today in the market are a result of economic decisions made years ago during the previous administration and the middle-class tax increase of the Clinton years.
I give Jendraszak credit for pointing out a solid truth about the tax cut: the rich do benefit the most from it. Of course, that's because they pay the majority of the taxes! The IRS website has detailed breakdowns: the top fifty-percent of all taxpayers in the U.S. pay over ninety-six percent of the taxes! So, those who pay the most should benefit the most. Of course, we could just take the entire tax bill and divide it equally among the population. Of course, then a sizable percentage of the population would pay out all of the their income in taxes and have no money at all where as everyone now gets to keep the majority of their income so they can afford some quality of life instead of none at all.
I admire the passion Jendraszak brings to his articles, but I find his lack of facts and misguided reasoning deplorable. Jendraszak would be well served to remember the last part of the phrase begun by his column title.
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