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Online.Poil ^ ^ ™ GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, July 28, 2004 Online.Poii.ReSllltS 5 Do you agree with Teresa Heinz Kerry’s ~ T" T I ~Y ~JT T"~l )TIVT" fTTl Do you agree with Shaq’s decision to play for remark to a conservative journalist to ^ \] I Jf i \\ 1 f I \ I t^N the Miami Heat? 460/0 Yes 20% No “shove it”? www.dailygamecock.com » J-J—V_y _L.-i- 1 -L K_y 34% He quit his acting career? IN OUR OPINION Dangers justify DNC security Much work has gone into ensuring the safety of Democratic National Convention members at Boston’s Fleet Center. Both the Coast Guard and the Boston Police will be utilized to ensure the security of Boston Harbor. Boston’s main train terminal, the North Station, and a section of the interstate running near the Fleet Center will be shut down. The people of downtown Boston must drop off their mail at post offices outside the convention area. Many conservatives denigrate the Democrats for such extreme measures in security. They disparage the millions spent on the security and deride the party for the inconvenience to Boston’s citizens. What these critics fail to recognize is that the security would be just as tight and costly if it were a Republican event, partially due to the size and geography of Boston. The Democratic National Convention is the first major political party convention since Sept. 11, which means no one — Republicans, Democrats or the Homeland Security secretary — can be certain what’s in store. No measure is too great to keep any political convention secure and its participants safe in their demonstration of democracy. 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Additional copies may be purchased for one dollar each from the Department of Student Media. wjik*ss»* amxmrv i-»* *KMwn^w<*j«!;<p»s CARTOON COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS 'Fahrenheit1 burns with biases ALLYSONBIRD GAMECOCKOPINIONS@GWM.SC.EDU After seeing “Fahrenheit 9-11,” I had planned to write a column about how the audience could respond to this movie in the interactive style of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” in which viewers throw objects and call back to the film’s characters. I planned to start off by draw ing a parallel between the scantily-clad Gothic culture of “Rocky Horror” fans and the left-wing liberal cult following of “Fahrenheit.” I’d advise readers to yell out profane names whenever the film showed Bush — or Moore, depend ing on your affiliation—just like “Rocky Horror” fans do when Janet and Brad come on screen. And that’s why you can’t write about something you haven’t yet seen. As I watched a replay of crowds in New York on Sept. 11 and then gory im ages of Iraqi civilians caught in our war’s wake, I realized that this film was n’t sarcastic and wasn’t joking. It was n’t the obnoxious, far-flung drivel I’d watched in Moore’s 2002 film “Bowling for Columbine.” I had expected to leave the theater angry, but I just left sad. “Fahrenheit 9-11” is not a journalistic documentary. It’s a commentary from a very biased person who uses the oldest trick in the mass media book: powerful images to sway an audience. And it’s somewhat disheartening that viewers think otherwise and might form opin ions without exploring the other side. That the low-income, small-town families are the ones whose children die at war is nothing new. My entire family is from a small, Pennsylvania coal-min ing town. They remember watching the body bags come home from Vietnam, while politicians’ children were living it up in their prime years. 1 left “Fahrenheit 9-11” sad for those families and sad for the soldiers themselves who join the military out of necessity so they can afford college. One of the emotional moments of the movie documents when Bush didn’t stop reading to Florida children after learn ing of the attacks on Sept. 11. Had he re acted impulsively, he would’ve scared a room full of 5-year-olds, with an en tourage of press there to document it. It’s not as if he could’ve just reached his mighty presidential arm into the Twin Towers and extricated the burning planes then rubbed over the gaping wound with a swipe of his healing palm. So he chose to play cool. I left “Fahrenheit 9-11” sad for civil ians who died on Sept. 11 and also sad for those who have died in Iraq. But per haps the saddest part of the story is how we’re all looking over our shoulders, say ing a silent prayer every time we fly and donning a miraculous medal whenever we go to national not spots line New York or D.C. Or that we’ve resorted to finger-pointing. Bush should’ve looked into al-Qaida threats. Clinton should’ve looked into al-Qaida threats. I bet the ter rorists love hearing reports of how we bicker over here. So to anyone who hasn’t yet seen “Fahrenheit 9-11,” I don’t advise yelling during the film or bringing any props, save for maybe a tissue. Bird is a second-year journalism student.