Posted by
drpete on Monday, May 18, 2009 1:18:35 PM
Everyone with a heartbeat and a couple gray cells in the brain knows that, when a conservative speaks on an American college campus, the reception will be characterized by protest marches, signs with obscenities, booing, shouting, pie throwing, boycotting, and the like from whacko-leftist faculty (I know that was redundant.) and administrators, along with the young minds full of mush, aka students.
A few years ago, my son graduated from Wake Forest University. Great school! But, though many in the student body use critical thinking and, therefore, are conservative, most of the faculty and administrators -- except for those from the fine business schools -- are standard run-of-the-mill-garden-variety leftists. Like almost all campi, the scheduled commencement speaker was a well-known liberal leftist. The choice of liberal speakers 99.5+% of the time by college decision makers is understandable. First, the decision makers are almost-always liberals as well. Second, decision makers don't want to deal with a commencement celebration, notable for its protest marches, signs with obscenities, booing, shouting, pie throwing, boycotting, and the like.
Some of my son's classmates, knowing that I was a conservative (Apparently, it's noticable.) and that the scheduled speaker wasn't, queried me as to whether I planned to attend. And, if so, would I boo and interrupt. I was taken aback. Why would I disrupt my son's commencement. Why would I embarrass him (at least more than I already do just by being his father)? Why would I embarrass myself? I calmly informed them, that I would of course attend, and that I would behave properly. That's what conservatives do. Side note: It was a pretty-good speech and suitable for the occasion.
Yesterday, at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, President Barack Obama faced protests, offensive signs, booing, shouting, and boycotting in the face of a liberal commencement speaker. The university was embarrassed along with much of its faculty and administrators, many of its graduating seniors, many of its alumni. I cannot say that they embarrassed the speaker. Were they conservatives? I know not.
It does, however, occur to me that half of the reasoning or excuse making for 199-ish out of 200 times choosing a liberal commencement speaker versus a conservative is now moot. Rudeness and crassness now go both ways. There's still the pie throwing and obscenities that haven't achieved equal-opportunity status, but we can always hope for change.
I'd rather listen to a commencement speech from Dr. Condoleeza Rice than another from Hillary Clinton, from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas than another from David Souter, from Britt Hume than another from Katie Couric, from Michelle Malkin than another from Arianna Huffington, from Glenn Beck than another from Chris Matthews. Now these conservatives with so much to offer new graduates may have just such an opportunity.
Oh darn, I forgot. These new speaker candidates are gonna all be classified as "domestic terrorism risks".