There are two wars going on in America today.

One is the familiar war on terror. The other is an even more familiar war that has been waged for some time now on the political stage - the war between conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats, big lumbering elephants (they aren't even indigenous to this continent) and whiny asses.

Whatever label you want to use, it is clear that for some time now two major forces have been battling for control of America.

Most of the time, this battle stays civil, descending into little more than a shouting match. But sometimes, it gets downright dirty and wrong.

This point really struck home for me last Tuesday.

As I passed by the familiar College Republican's table in the HUB-Robeson Center, I saw a sign that asked "Who would the terrorists vote for?" I stopped in disbelief, and then went on my way.

But I was so upset that I turned around and went back to the table. I complained to the guy at the table about how irresponsible and inappropriate the sign was, and then walked off before he could even respond (I should have let him say his piece, but I got caught up in the moment).

Obviously, the intended answer to the question was presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry. The College Republicans seem to forget that Kerry risked his life for this country in war in Vietnam once, and has pledged to do everything he can to hunt down terrorists if elected president.

But the reason I got so angry had nothing to do with the attack on Kerry himself. I am far from what you would call a big fan of Kerry.

I got so upset for two reasons.

One was that the sign was bogus. Let's be honest, the terrorists would not vote for either Bush or Kerry; both of them have homeland security as top priorities in their respective campaigns.

The other reason I got so upset was because the sign was trying to play with people's fear.

It doesn't matter if it is the Red Scare of the Cold War or the specter of terrorism that we see today. Using fear to try to influence the way people vote is wrong, and it is un-American.

I am using the College Republicans to make my point, but the problem is not limited to Penn State or the Republican Party. Recently, the House defeated a bill that would have brought up the possibility of a draft.

That bill was proposed by a Charles Rangel a Democrat from New York, who incidentally then voted against it.

You can say all you want about how the bill was proposed as a wake-up call for America, or to make military service more equal - I just don't believe it.

The bill was introduced to scare Americans, and specifically our age group, into voting against Bush.

Are these really the types of tactics that you want to see used by our leaders? I mean, is this OK with you? I sure hope not, because we are the future leaders of this country, and it is up to us to fix what is wrong now.

We need to send a clear message to people everywhere that we will not be dominated by fear, and we will not let the political parties play games with our future. Write your senators and representatives to tell them that this is not acceptable.

Or, when you see something like this going on, like I did, stop and speak out against it.

These tactics don't belong in a free democracy. They belong in the dictatorships that regularly use fear as a means of control, and in the terrorist training camps that teach people how to use fear as a weapon.

If we allow the future to be built on fear, then we are creating a country that cannot stand, and will not survive.