As much as I disagree with the PSLM, I respect their frequent and vocal expression of an opinion that departs from the issues encompassed in the Harvard political litmus test. PSLM has refused to limit its political discussions and protests to the “hot three.”

Yet so often these protesters are met with disdain—just like the Republican Club as they tabled in front of the Science Center. And while PSLM has persisted despite students’ ludicrously narrow political imagination, other groups have remained silent. When was the last time you saw the Harvard Libertarian Society picketing in the Yard about the size of the federal government? Or socialists protesting against the current national tax structure? Even the Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice—who was quite active during the fall in protesting the United States’ ongoing war in Afghanistan—has faded into silence. In obsessing about the “hot three,” to the exclusion of other political concerns, we forgo discussion about very real problems our nation is facing.

The United States government spends only a fraction of its time addressing abortion or gay rights. American troops are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq may be next. President George W. Bush has dramatically altered the tax system and signed into law a bill that calls for a massive overhaul of public education. The FY 2003 budget is already in the red and we still haven’t sorted out how to deal with the national health care fiasco.

The Harvard community, Democrats and Republicans alike, should be brave enough to talk about these political issues and brave enough to publicly disagree about them.

Joyce K. McIntyre ’02 is a history and literature concentrator in Kirkland House. Her column appears on alternate Tuesdays.