To the Editor:

We write in response to John Mulligan’s letter “Bush Rally Rude, Crude, Lewd, Unfortunate” in the Feb. 10 issue of The Student. Mulligan’s description of the rally is a gross mischaracterization of the actual course of events. He sensationalizes a couple of isolated jokes and defames our character. However, when Mulligan calls us “stupid,” “a patriarchal gentleman’s club of jingoistic idiots,” and “imbecilic,” we can only assume that it’s hard to believe Mulligan would ever respect our ideas no matter what we did.

The rally received national recognition from the Bush campaign. An accurate portrayal of the rally was also published on the front page of the Maine Standard Times and the Feb. 10 issue of the Student. The news articles depicted our event not as antagonistic or aggressive as Mulligan asserts, but instead as an enthusiastic rally of college students demonstrating support for President Bush. Not surprising, considering that recent studies show that 60-65% of young people supports the President.

In person, however, Mulligan expressed to some of our club members his dismay about an e-mail sent to us by a member of the Bates Media Relations Office calling us a “bunch of thugs.” Mulligan has redeemed some of our respect here. We hope that this recent incident and its consequences will help change the hostile culture and conservatives and Republicans will receive more respect from opposing students.

--The Bates College Republicans



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