By Abha BhattaraiThe Daily Northwestern

There were a few jokes about women sleeping with their mothers’ boyfriends, but Jerry Springer mostly tackled the Iraq war when he spoke to a group of more than 250 Northwestern Law students Tuesday.

“You can’t win this war because there’s no one to surrender,” Springer said. “You can’t have a war against terrorists because they don’t wear uniforms. Who are they? Who signs the surrender of the terrorists? We’re playing this political game and all these young people are being killed.”

Springer also talked about universal health care, affordable education and free speech as important points of contention.

The speech was sponsored by NU’s chapter of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy as part of its annual ACS Week.

Kris Swigart, the group’s vice president of communications, said the group chose Springer, Law ’68, as the keynote speaker for ACS Week because of his political background.

“He’s a fairly prominent member of the Ohio Democratic Party, so he definitely has a presence in progressive politics,” Swigart said. “Plus, well, he’s Jerry Springer. We figured he could draw in the people.”

Springer spoke about seeing the Statue of Liberty at the end of his five-day voyage when his family emigrated from England to America in 1949. His family, he said, has “been the true American Dream.”

“In one generation, my family went from extermination (in Nazi Germany) to this ridiculously privileged life I live today because of my stupid show,” said Springer, the former Democratic mayor of Cincinnati.

He added that a dwindling middle class and rising college costs make such mobility almost impossible today.

But, he said, universal health care and early education programs for low-income children can help level the playing field.

“The good news is that here in America, the liberals have won,” he said. “All the great social movements in America in the last 50 years have started with the liberals. It’s not a negative term. Be proud of it and fight for it.”

Conservative students in the audience, such as first-year law student Jeff Han, said they found the speech riveting even though they didn’t necessarily agree with Springer’s politics.

“Some parts of it were very political, but he had some central themes that were really broad,” Han said. “His ideas were well thought out and, to a certain extent, he’s right.”

Springer spoke out against the Iraq war, calling it a “stupid decision” that was “always wrong.”

“It was wrong even if the president was telling the truth (about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq),” Springer said. “In fact, it was an even worse decision if he was telling the truth. You don’t bomb a country that has weapons of mass destruction. That’s insane. Thank God the president was wrong.”

Instead of war, Springer said, the government should invest in universal health insurance.

“National defense is healthcare,” he said. “99.9 percent of us will leave this earth because of a disease or an accident, not a terrorist attack. Then why isn’t health care the first part of American defense?”

A lot has changed since he saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time nearly 60 years ago, he said.

“Now, people go by the Statue of Liberty and are worried that she’s armed,” he said.

Springer said he fears that American actions are affecting international perceptions, and urged the audience to stand up for their beliefs.

“We need to let the rest of the world know that we are not George Bush or his compatriots,” he said.

Reach Abha Bhattarai at [email protected].