In his Nov. 9 column “The hard work of a Republican volunteer has paid off,” Rhajiv… In his Nov. 9 column “The hard work of a Republican volunteer has paid off,” Rhajiv Ratnatunga mentioned that the Democratic Party needs a “clear and convincing platform” that can be found “only in people like Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.”

Yet in the same article, Ratnatunga makes reference to campaigning for both Arlen Specter and President George W. Bush. Doesn’t Ratnatunga realize that Specter and Bush are polar opposites within his own party? Specter voted against war in Iraq, against the Clinton impeachment, supports legal abortion, and was labeled on the front cover of the ultra-conservative National Review on Sept. 1, 2003, as being “The Worst Republican Senator.”

It’s one thing for a Republican like Ratnatunga to campaign for his party. It is quite another thing to mindlessly slam the Democratic Party while offering half-baked advice that is not rooted in any reality or fact. This is evident when he refers to the Republicans as being “far more representative of minority beliefs than the self-righteous ideologues of the left.”

While there are those of us who still remember former Republican Senate Majority leader Trent Lott’s, R-Miss., pro-segregationist remarks, I guess Ratnatunga must have a case of selective memory when it comes to his own party.

Curt G. Friehs III

Library Sciences

SIS Graduate Student