He stood up in front of a graduating class at New England College and advised it, not to go out and carpe diem or contribute to society by getting good and gainfully employed in our booming economy, but to pretty much do what it’s been doing for four years during college.
“It is time for you— all of you — to take responsibility for your country, for your government, for your community,” Democratic presidential contender John Edwards said. “This is not about waiting for leaders or someone else to solve these problems for you. It will never happen. You have to take responsibility.”
“Help our nation break its silence, speak out,” the former NorthCarolina senator added, calling on the graduates to work to end the war.
Uh huh. You’ve just spent four years being indoctrinated, drinking, picketing, sitting in, protesting all the academically approved leftist causes and occasionally studying. Now, take those degrees you worked so hard for, go forth and sit around some more — with signs!
Sure, your degree wasn’t in Subversive, Profane Protest Art with Sharpies, but who actually gets a job in their field, anyway, right? Seventh-year seniors everywhere dubbed it the best speech ever.
Does anyone honestly believe that any one of these students who is anti-war has not already spent a great deal of time “speaking out”? Expressing oneself is practically a major at most liberal arts schools these days.
Even if you’re not taking women’s studies or indulging in Understanding Oppression electives, pretty much any class outside of the business school can devolve into an anti-Bush gab session or the hectoring of the hegemony.
So, Edwards took this important opportunity to send young people off into the world, to define the beginning of their “real lives,” with advice that was neither useful nor necessary. Why? Because the speech wasn’t for them, silly. It was for Edwards.
I have a theory that the fewer headlines a commencement address gets, the more likely it was actually written for its ostensible audience — the students. Edwards’ speech got a lot of ink this week, as did his new Web site, which encourages those same 20-somethings to “speak out” at all of the nation’s Memorial Day parades. You know, for those who have the time and inclination to disgrace their forebears before getting jobs.
Hillary Clinton got less attention, but still a goodly amount, for her speech to Claflin University in South Carolina. In it, she outlined her plan to make college cheaper, using government funds of course, for all the students graduatingafter the ones sitting in front of her. Had I been her speechwriter, I think I would have added that the student center was gonna finally get that Chick-fil-a they’d always wanted, too. Sorry, Class of 2007!
Well, some say, Edwards and Clinton are political figures. Their speeches must necessarily be flagrantly political. Not necessarily.
Gen. John Abizaid, former commander of the United States Central Command, managed to serve the students of Virginia Tech with his speech rather than spouting his own views on the state of the war:
“While we are saddened by the loss of those who cannot be here today, I believe that they would want this ceremony to commemorate both the tragedy of yesterday and the promise of tomorrow,” he said. “I believe that they look down on this gathering with dignified pride.”
Elizabeth Edwards was indeed her husband’s better half in telling students in Raleigh, N.C., to “live deliberately,” and make a difference because they never know when they might have to face their own mortality. She threw in an obligatory lefty-fluff reference to global warming, but the speech was largely meant to encourage students, not lecture them.
Tony Snow, addressing Catholic University students, told them to “live boldly. Live a full life,” and offered them tips for doing it, which included some faith, some family, some risk-taking and avoiding the type of cynicism that likely leads commencement speakers to turn their podiums into campaign stumps.
Giving a commencement address is not an easy charge, but between boredom and blatant politics, there is a balance. Between self-serving tripe and the stale and trite, there is room for inspiration, entertainment and consideration.
For four years of work, college students deserve speakers who are willing to find that balance. For John Edwards, however, it’s the four years in the White House that is much more important.
Mary Katharine Ham is a member of The Examiner’s Blog Board of Contributors and blogs at townhall.com. Her critically acclaimed “Ham Nation” video blog is also on townhall.com.
