ENDLESS COMMENCEMENT. Here's part of what New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. said in his May 21, 2006 speech to graduating students of SUNY New Paltz:

When I graduated from college in 1974, my fellow students and I had just ended the war in Vietnam and ousted President Nixon. Okay, that's not quite true. Yes, the war did end and yes, Nixon did resign in disgrace but maybe there were larger forces at play.

Either way, we entered the real world committed to making it a better, safer, leaner, more equal place. We were determined not to repeat the mistakes of our predecessors. We had seen the horrors and futility of war and smelled the stench of corruption in government.

Our children, we vowed, would never know that.

So, well, sorry. It wasn't supposed to be this way.

You weren't supposed to be graduating into an America fighting a misbegotten war in a foreign land.

You weren't supposed to be graduating into a world where we are still fighting for fundamental human rights, be it the rights of immigrants to start a new life; the rights of gays to marry; or the rights of women to choose.

You weren't supposed to be graduating into a world where oil still drives policy and environmentalists have to relentlessly fight for every gain.

You weren't. But you are. And for that I'm sorry.

Meanwhile, there's been some fallout from the New School appearances of graduating student Jean Rohe and Senator John McCain.

In McCain's address, which he repeated at more than one ceremony this year, he said a lot about the merits of respectful disagreement in United States society. Samples (with emphasis added):

Americans should argue about this war. It has cost the lives of nearly 2500 of the best of us. It has taken innocent life. It has imposed an enormous financial burden on our economy. At a minimum, it has complicated our ability to respond to other looming threats. Should we lose this war, our defeat will further destabilize an already volatile and dangerous region, strengthen the threat of terrorism, and unleash furies that will assail us for a very long time. I believe the benefits of success will justify the costs and risks we have incurred. But if an American feels the decision was unwise, then they should state their opposition, and argue for another course. It is your right and your obligation. I respect you for it. I would not respect you if you chose to ignore such an important responsibility. But I ask that you consider the possibility that I, too, am trying to meet my responsibilities, to follow my conscience, to do my duty as best as I can, as God has given me light to see that duty.

Americans deserve more than tolerance from one another, we deserve each other’s respect, whether we think each other right or wrong in our views, as long as our character and our sincerity merit respect, and as long as we share, for all our differences, for all the noisy debates that enliven our politics, a mutual devotion to the sublime idea that this nation was conceived in – that freedom is the inalienable right of mankind, and in accord with the laws of nature and nature’s Creator....

Let us argue with each other then. By all means, let us argue. Our differences are not petty, they often involve cherished beliefs, and represent our best judgment about what is right for our country and humanity. Let us defend those beliefs. Let’s do so sincerely and strenuously. It is our right and duty to do so. And let’s not be too dismayed with the tenor and passion of our arguments, even when they wound us. We have fought among ourselves before in our history, over big things and small, with worse vitriol and bitterness than we experience today.

Let us exercise our responsibilities as free people. But let us remember, we are not enemies. We are compatriots defending ourselves from a real enemy. We have nothing to fear from each other. We are arguing over the means to better secure our freedom, promote the general welfare and defend our ideals. It should remain an argument among friends; each of us struggling to hear our conscience, and heed its demands; each of us, despite our differences, united in our great cause, and respectful of the goodness in each other. I have not always heeded this injunction myself, and I regret it very much....

Well, I think I get the message: We're on the same team and we're practically obligated to express our opinions--respectfully.

And here's much of what Jean Rohe said:

Senator Mc Cain will tell us today that dissent and disagreement are our "civic and moral obligation" in times of crisis. I consider this a time of crisis and I feel obligated to speak. Senator Mc Cain will also tell us about his cocky self-assuredness in his youth, which prevented him from hearing the ideas of others. In so doing, he will imply that those of us who are young are too naïve to have valid opinions and open ears. I am young, and although I don't profess to possess the wisdom that time affords us, I do know that preemptive war is dangerous and wrong, that George Bush's agenda in Iraq is not worth the many lives lost. And I know that despite all the havoc that my country has wrought overseas in my name, Osama bin Laden still has not been found, nor have those weapons of mass destruction.

Finally, Senator Mc Cain will tell us that we, those of us who are Americans, "have nothing to fear from each other." I agree strongly with this, but I take it one step further. We have nothing to fear from anyone on this living planet. Fear is the greatest impediment to the achievement of peace. We have nothing to fear from people who are different from us, from people who live in other countries, even from the people who run our government--and this we should have learned from our educations here. We can speak truth to power, we can allow our humanity always to come before our nationality, we can refuse to let fear invade our lives and to goad us on to destroy the lives of others. These words I speak do not reflect the arrogance of a young strong-headed woman, but belong to a line of great progressive thought, a history in which the founders of this institution play an important part.

Okay, I think I get it: Rohe respectfully disagrees with McCain. And that's all right, isn't it?

Apparently not with Mark Salter, McCain's Chief of Staff and longtime writing partner. Even though Salter claims that he helped draft McCain's remarks, he doesn't seem to live by those words. In an attack on Rohe online at the Huffington Post, he said that New School students "could learn a thing or two about tolerance and respect from the students of Liberty University," which happens to be known for its homophobia and intolerance for dancing, dress code violations, association with people consuming alcohol, and an assortment of other behaviors, some very vague. (Even McCain has called Liberty University founder Jerry Falwell an agent of intolerance.) Salter calls Rohe's speech "an act of vanity and nothing more." He says "The only person you have succeeded in making look like an idiot is yourself." And, in his wrap-up, he also expresses the doubt that any of the protesting New School students "will ever posses[sic] the one small fraction of the character of John McCain."

That doesn't strike me as respectful. Hypocritical, yes. But not respectful. In fact, there seems to be considerable flip-flopping (gasp!) over at McCain central. McCain and company once described Falwell (correctly) as an angent of intolerance; now, McCain's close colleague refers to Liberty University as a model of tolerance. One day, McCain and Salter concoct a speech about the virtues of respectful disagreement; within days, Salter verbally attacks a young woman who respectfully disagreed with some aspects of the speech.

After Salter posted his diatribe, Rohe responded with another well-reasoned statement that ends with this polite request: "Please don't try to bully me anymore."

And, after that, New School president Bob Kerrey, a friend of McCain, threw in his own two cents, defending "his" students.

Here's Rohe on Countdown with Keith Olbermann (WMP/QT), courtesy of Crooks and Liars.

Alternately, I think you can get most of that coverage plus coverage of the Boston College commencement protest via the following two clips.



Source: Clip 1




Source: Clip 2

Previous coverage here.