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n Thursday night, President Barack Obama gave a nationally televised speech about his plans to combat ISIS, a radical Islamic group that is conquering and terrorizing large swaths of Iraq and Syria. Many Republicans and neo-conservatives have harshly criticized the president’s foreign policy, none more strongly and angrily than former Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney, who has been an ubiquitous presence on television in recent days and weeks, seems to expect the entire world to forget that he was the architect of the Iraq War, one of the worst foreign policy disasters in American history. He is the last person Americans should be looking to as an authoritative voice on international issues. A throwing-stones-from-glass-houses DART goes to Dick Cheney.
The Westboro Baptist Church has become notorious for its virulent, hateful protests against the LGBT community, Jews, Catholics, celebrities and pretty much everybody else. Organizers of the “God Loves Gay People” website helped take the WBC down a peg by erecting a large, colorful billboard reading “God Loves Gays” 3 miles south of the WBC compound in Topeka, Kansas. The group used some of the proceeds from its online funding campaign to purchase and design the billboard. It has also donated $10,000 to The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention hotline for LGBT youth, and another $10,000 to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. A rainbow-colored LAUREL to the folks at “God Loves Gay People.”
The issues of sexual assault and violence against women have dominated the news lately, both here at UF and across the nation. Unfortunately, not everyone has responded to these recent incidents in the serious and respectful manner that the issue deserves. Brian Kilmeade, co-host of Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” and general airhead, was forced to apologize after he made jokes on-air about the Ray Rice story. Kilmeade came under fire after reacting to the video footage of Rice’s acts of assault by saying, “The message is, take the stairs!” Kilmeade gave a miserably weak apology Tuesday. “Comments that were made during this story made some feel like we are taking the situation too lightly,” he said. “We are not, we were not.” Making tasteless jokes about an extremely sensitive and serious issue is the very definition of “taking the situation too lightly.” A have-you-no-shame? DART to Brian Kilmeade and “Fox and Friends.”
In the wake of the four cases of assault on or near the UF campus, the Gator community has come together to help create a more secure environment for all UF students and to hopefully put an end to these troubling cases of violence. Although some have criticized local law enforcement for allowing these assaults to take place, the actions of University Police following the assaults have gone above and beyond in ensuring the safety of UF for all students. Claims that the UPD is more concerned with jaywalking than these cases of assault are ridiculous, unfounded and completely unhelpful. This week, we’re giving a stronger-together LAUREL to victims of assault and their allies, particularly the UPD.
