When Vice President Dick Cheney comes to Penn tomorrow, his speech will be a private one.
Last night, however, the entire Penn community was invited to a forum to hear opinions on the vice president's domestic and foreign policy from several activists.
Although the forum was open to all topics relating to Cheney, speakers mainly criticized and protested the vice president's actions, especially those concerning military spending and the war on Iraq.
Matt Keller of Common Cause, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group promoting honest and accountable government, began the forum. He discussed the Bush-Cheney administration's "veil of secrecy" and argued against Cheney's repeated refusals to release information regarding the drafting of the nation's energy policy and the war on Iraq.
Keller spoke earlier in an event sponsored by the College Democrats.
Concentrating more on Cheney's history in U.S. government, Frida Berrigan of the World Policy Institute discussed his position as former chief executive officer of Halliburton, a corporation that has gained $200 billion in government contracts, since Cheney took office. She calls the company the "quintessential corporate hog" that has "just gotten fatter" with Cheney in office.
Joshua Brown, a College junior then spoke on behalf of Penn's American Civil Liberties Union chapter. He first cautioned, "We don't always know Cheney's influence on administration, but certainly he supports all of the administration's matters." He specifically discussed the U.S.A. Patriot Act, which he claims has allowed the government to invade citizen's privacy including the right to look through students' records without the permission of universities.
The speeches ended with Kitty Bryant, a Penn Law alumnus representing the Campaign to End the Sanctions, who talked about Cheney's active involvement in the Persian Gulf War as Secretary of Defense. She also criticized Cheney's part in expanding U.S. power in the Middle East, including a military operation called Highway of Death where, according to Bryant, millions of Iraqi civilians died under Cheney and other military leaders' command.
The extent of the criticism against Cheney surprised some Penn students. College freshman Joseph Titano, who knew "absolutely nothing" about Cheney before the forum, wanted more information before deciding to join the protest against the vice president on Friday. He said afterwards, "I think I'll go, but I don't think I got a fair representation of Cheney's policy... [the forum] was extremely one-sided."
On the other hand, College senior Ian Kaplan thought, "There were some very different groups represented."
Coming into the forum with an anti-Cheney bias, Kaplan, along with College senior Anna Bracewell, left with the same position.
"I doubt [the panelists] changed our opinions very much," Bracewell said.
The event was held in Houston Hall and sponsored by Penn for Peace.
