Chief’s statement angers viewer
I am totally disgusted with the comments made by the Baton Rouge Chief of Police last night. At the Wednesday night town hall meeting, he said the reason he is not bringing in outside experts to help with the serial killer case is that he doesn’t want them writing books and signing movie deals after the case is over.
First of all, if an outside expert can solve this case and catch the killer, I say by all means write a book, make a movie, etc.; you’ve earned it. Secondly, I think the real reason he doesn’t want outsiders in the investigation is that he is worried that they will uncover the gross incompetence of the Baton Rouge police force. So far they have not compiled one shred of evidence pointing to the identity of the killer, and they don’t have any leads.
The Chief of Police seems to be more concerned with his image than catching this brutal murderer. I ask Governor Foster to remove this case from the police’s hands and give it to the FBI. It’s only a matter of time before another beautiful, young girl is slaughtered by this monster.
Also LSU should have uniformed security personnel placed in all the main buildings of campus, especially the Life Sciences building.
David Harlan
New Orleans, LA
The French are not our enemies
When will people get it through their heads that the French are not our enemy, that just because we aided them in two world wars that they must agree to everything the U.S. government says? Also, it appears that although neither the Americans nor the French have forgotten WWI and WWII, Americans have clearly forgotten the role the French played in the American Revolution.
Every time I read or hear about the renaming of things that have the word “French” in them, it disgusts me. Today, when I read the article about individuals wishing to rename the French Quarter to Freedom Quarter, it provoked a genuine queasiness in my stomach. Perhaps instead of renaming our historic square, people should use the name Vieux Carre. But then again, that is in the French tongue and would be most disagreeable.
I am also disgusted, if not down-right embarrassed, of Rep. Crowe’s proposal to revoke the invitation of French President Chirac to Louisiana Purchase celebrations — disgusted at the sheer disrespect paid to a foreign president, embarrassed because Rep. Crowe is from my hometown of Slidell. It would be quite different if the guest were a dictator such as Saddam Hussein.
All these measures to eliminate our oldest ally from our country seems rather childish. The Bush Administration, Republican leaders, and others are acting like spoiled brats when they do not get everything they want. I am beginning to think as well that the above groups know no other word than “Freedom.” Operation Enduring Freedom, Freedom Fries, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Freedom Quarter.
One last note. Although I did not support the promptness of the war, I support our troops 100 percent. And please remember that a true friend supports you when you are right and lets you know when you are wrong.
Andrew Knock
Senior — Geography
France is not a world super power
There seems to be some debate about whether or not renaming things with the word French in them is nationalism or silliness. I do not think renaming stuff is a way to support the war effort or anything like, but something I do not think enough emphasis has been put on is the fact that none of the things being renamed are really French. French fries are Belgian, the French Quarter is Spanish, and even the Louisiana “Napoleonic Code” is really Roman.
Now France wants to somehow claim to be a super power, which I think everyone, whether they are in support or opposition of the war, will accept as merely another French myth. While “Freedom Fries” might be a bit ridiculous, perhaps the more generic term “fries” does enough to make a symbolic statement that the United States will no longer accept being French as an excuse for how France interacts with us and the rest of the world.
Maybe the motivation behind this is not so grand, but I am not sure there is anything wrong with just not liking the French either. Maybe the French are just that aggravating student in the world’s classroom that will not shut up so we can get out of class early.
Frank Di Vittorio
Senior — General Business
Attack arguments, not people
I met an interesting person in front of the Union on Thursday: a self-proclaimed historian who was also psychic. I heard him say the usual “Your people are ruining the economy” and “The war is totally over oil,” so I decided to listen in. He was swearing at his opponents and spewing racial insults and religious misconceptions for the first few minutes before I decided to give my view.
He didn’t back anything up, but made references to book titles and magazine articles. He claimed he hadn’t any time to explain what was therein, but he apparently had time to spend in front of the Union hurling insults and calling people evil because they are Christians. After claiming human life is precious, he said, “We should kill Bush to save innocent lives” — but doing the same with Hussein was “immoral.”
Why do I say he’s psychic? Well, he claimed to know that I was a “lying plantation Negro” who was “full of s–t” and “brainwashed,” and “kisses white ass.” All this because I argued that he should attack an argument, not the arguer. He told me to “f–k off” when I told him I was a Hispanic Republican rather than the “white fascist” he said I was. Then he spelled out conspiracy theories involving his “type” of people being enslaved to fund gated communities for rich white people and the United States having directly enthroned Hussein into power. Then he accused me of living in a gated community, although my family of five makes less than $22,000 per year.
I was not interested in arguing pro-war. My problem is that such pseudo-intellectuals think they can scream, “Iraq is no threat to us,” when the problem is that Hussein is a threat — period. These “protesters” simply promote isolationism by labeling it “peace” and give real peace promoters a bad name. Truly there’s an ignorance problem concerning the war in Iraq. Unfortunately more people will remain ignorant through blind assertions like his. The war may not be an ideal solution, but his methods of claiming “the war is evil” are intellectually dishonest and misleading.
Omar Zapata
Freshman — Biological Sciences