Don't Play Politics

To the editors:

Only at Harvard would a mainstream political organization seek to distance itself from those who extol patriotism and a thirst for justice—let alone at a time when those values unite this nation in a way never seen in our lifetime (News, “Students Back Response” and “Student Rally for Patriotism Draws Few,” Sept. 24 and 26).

I’m not entirely sure whom the Harvard College Democrats purport to represent these days, but it’s not Democrats, and most certainly not the nation so many of its members aspire to govern.

On the eve of a very different test of this nation’s willingness to defend its values at any cost, a Democrat by the name of Stephen Douglas approached Republican Abraham Lincoln with the words, “Partisan feeling must yield to patriotism. I’m with you, Mr. President, and God bless you.” The two were hardly friends, and yet there are times when the most bitter of political foes become brothers allied against a common enemy.

Much in the vein of Douglas, the past two weeks have seen Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Joe Lieberman, Tom Daschle, Dick Gephardt, Terry McAuliffe, and countless other national leaders of the Democratic Party align themselves squarely behind the president. Even the Rev. Jesse Jackson has offered effusive praise for the president’s performance under these most extraordinary circumstances.

I was taken aback in reading the president of the College Democrats’ smug characterization of President George W. Bush as “acting like he’s Captain America” in his efforts to rally and unite the nation in recent weeks. When I read the The Crimson’s accounts that the College Democrats declined an offer to co-sponsor the Republican Club’s Rally for Patriotism, my outright anger as a now-former member of the organization became such that I could no longer remain silent.

What we’ve heard in the past week from the College Democrats has done nothing but draw lines of division where none should be. At a time when our nation’s best has come to the fore, perhaps it’s healthy to be reminded of a reason most Americans disdain politics. But it should be exposed for what it is. Petty partisanship trivializes both the gravity of the moment and the very notion of a patriotism that means something more than political posturing and one-upsmanship.

Jason T. Sauer ’02

Sept. 30, 2001