On College Republicans

Does anyone understand this?
What are they trying to say?
Was this supposed to be irony?
Did they not understand?
Is this some tricky setup by some secret underground Anti-Republican Student Association?
What's going on in this picture?



Look, College Republicans have a right to free expression. And goodness knows, I have no problem with them making fools of themselves. But I'm curious. I'm dying of curiosity. What were they thinking?

Let's put this in context. Ten feet to the left, Matt Schwartz and a group with a very long name (see image) are distributing shirts in the school colors that say "gay? fine by me." Other groups are tabling as well. I wish I remembered which. In the midst of it, this table.
This was in mid-April. I didn't have a blog then. What I had was a disposable camera and an impulsive nature. I walked up to the Republican table.
"Hey--can I take a picture of your sign?"
Not "Hey--what are you tabling for?"
Not "Hey--why does your sign say 'Let them eat cake?'"
Not "Hey--what in the name of all irony do you think you are saying?"
Sometimes I can be pretty dumb.

So. "Hey--can I take a picture of your sign?"
The tablers were delighted, and posed with the sign, as pictured above. I snapped the picture, then headed along toward my class. I didn't think of it much until I got my pictures back, and found myself staring in bewilderment all over again.

But here's the thing that really gets me: the College Democrats tabled the next day. And I was no more impressed with them than I was with the GOPjr. The Dems tabled with a nice red-white-and-blue sign that said "College Democrats" and a table full of giveaways. The angriest giveaways I've ever seen (outside Israeli politics).

They had anti-Bush buttons.
They had anti-Bush bumper stickers.
They had anti-Bush posters.
They had anti-Bush pamphlets.
They had signs showing a donkey assaulting an elephant with the slogan, "Do it DONKEY style."
They had everything except --
Except--
The Issues.

Shock. Gasp.

I said it. And I'll say it again:
The Issues.
With a capital I.

Now don't get me wrong; I hate Bush as much as the next college-age feminist liberal lesbian hippie-chick. But I know why. I never forget why. The College Dems have become so wrapped up in their war against Bush that they've lost track of why they're doing it. They've let their anger rule them. They've fallen to the dark side.

This is the problem with politics on campus. No one talks about the Issues.

I don't have a scan of the political cartoon that appeared in the Spectrum (UB's student newspaper) recently, attacking the Justice for Janitors rally staged by UB Students Against Sweatshops. It showed students (not personally resembling any actual student leaders) saying "oh no, we've run out of things to protest!" Then it shows the students protesting (presumably their own) excessive fliering. Not brilliant, but it makes its point. UB SAS is being ridiculed as having nothing left to protest. Apparrently, we live in a perfect world.

I'll admit it, I chose homework over attending the latest rally (against anti-immigrant legislation) on South Campus. Maybe that makes me part of the problem, I don't know. But I'm not forgetting that there is a problem, and I'm not forgetting what the problem is.

It's not Bush. He's just a symptom. Anti-Bush bumper stickers are great, but it's like taking an aspirin for cancer. Get to the cause. Get to the reasons. Get to the Issues.

Get grassroots. We want politics to stay in Washington. Albany is too close. Buffalo is out of the question. The Student Association? Forget it. Me? I'm not an Erie County voter, and I feel guilty about that. But I'm working, bringing the political back into students' lives. A growing number of students are shrugging off the apathy of the endless Buffalo winter, using the optimistic summer months to plan. Harnessing now to give later meaning and direction. Maybe by the time I leave UB, I'll leave behind me an LGBTA I can be proud of. If that's all I accomplish, let me accomplish that.