On Oct. 14, I read the most beautiful sentence in Doug Zabrowski's Viewpoint "Vote for Bush called 'right decision.'" Really, it was a clause within a sentence, but all the makings of a good sentence were there. I could hear the glorious hymn "America the Beautiful" ringing in my ears, and I pictured the beaming pride of our forefathers as them nodded in agreement with this glorious statement of freedom and justice. The phrase: "healthcare is a privilege, not a right." Oh sweet music.

Of course, this phrase can't be taken out of context. I recommend you read the entire Viewpoint, as well as many other Viewpoints from the true guardians of freedom and justice. There, you will find the glory that is America. I — like you — once believed that equality was a right, not a privilege. I believed the United States was a part of a larger world. I even believed we went to war with Iraq because President Bush said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and knew where they were. But 9/11 changed all that. Yes, America became a different place. Now what once were basic human rights have become privileges. The right to a good education, the right to information and even the right to privacy are now — I'm sorry to say — something you should be grateful for even being allowed to have. The forefathers were smart, but they did not know about 9/11.

They didn't realize the lofty goals written in their pleasant but uninformed Constitution only work on certain people — mainly people with enough money to live comfortably. With all this talk of the poor, the homeless, (insert your favorite liberal buzzword), we so often forget there are people in America who have plenty of money to live a normal, comfortable, well-fed life who at the same time still suffer. These people are taxed.

Taxed! Should we contribute to the welfare of those less fortunate? I say we have our own problems. As an example, I had to be born into a family that could provide me with healthcare and money for a good school, but now I have to spend all this extra time writing a Viewpoint. People without homes? Without healthcare? Why don't you have them try writing a Viewpoint from a heated residence? And you know what, my stomach isn't growling! You call that justice?

Unfortunately for "the left," the claim that politicians like Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) supported Bush because everyone in America was rallying around him and it was political suicide not to support him at that time is completely untrue. So is the claim that the White House used 9/11 for political gain by wrapping everything they did in the American flag.

I, like you, want a president who will not subject me to the horror of being forced to marry gay people. I want a president who will think of America's safety first, even if pushing away the rest of the world can give more justification to hate Americans and attack them. We've got our country, our coasts. We don't need the rest of the world. That's why God gave us manifest destiny in the first place.

I want a president who has the strength to never admit huge mistakes he's made. I want a president who doesn't subject me to "information" and "accessibility." Most importantly, I want a president who recognizes the privileges that should be afforded to the white middle class and the rich.

There are many Republicans who have strong beliefs and make informed decisions about their political choices. They base the choice on their worldview (oops, did I use a Kerry word?) that is intelligent and informed. But my kind knows nothing of that. I don't have time to look at issues that don't affect me personally, like homelessness, joblessness, poverty and health care. My parents took care of it, and it's my privilege.

I would look very hard into where you want this country to go before the Nov. 2 election. And listen for the poetry that can sing itself from an opinion page. "Healthcare is a privilege, not a right."

Shaw is a senior environmental engineering major.

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