Democrat Congressman heckled/booed at UW commencement for "self-serving speech" "pompous puffery"

The Seattle Times ^ | 6/14/07

[XR7]

Self-serving speech

I was in attendance last Saturday at the commencement activities at the University of Washington.

I was both embarrassed and angered by the pontification and obvious self-importance of Rep. Dicks.

Never could I have imagined a commencement speaker at a major university being booed and heckled while speaking to the graduates. Then again, I could never have imagined anyone giving such a self-serving, self-glorification speech as he did.

A speaker at such an event is supposed to inspire the graduates who are now going out into the world to seek their own destiny. They did not come to listen to someone expound on their past or name-drop.

— Brian K. Garrett, Marysville

Pompous puffery

Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Bremerton, did more to help the Republican Party at the UW Commencement than the Republican National Committee could have ever hoped for.

Undoubtedly, he assumed that speaking to a crowd at a liberal college campus would be the perfect forum to conduct his own Democratic campaign rally.

I imagine he was surprised to find that the ethnically, socially and politically diverse crowd was not receptive to his pompous, political puff piece and instead opted to jeer, stomp their feet and walk out rather than hear 15 minutes of a nonrelevant, self-centered speech.

The UW prides itself on being a top university and needs to ensure that commencement speakers inspire the graduates, not disillusion them and their families with extreme, one-sided political speeches.

— Diane Bonifaci Shaw, Redmond

[uglybiker]

Run as the candidate who will go to DC and clean out the corrupt, incompetent machine politicians.

Every politician since the founding of this country has run as 'the candidate who will go to DC and clean out the corrupt, incompetent machine politicians'.

[Billthedrill]

Yeah, well, I can understand why kids waiting in the rain for their diplomas might get a little cranky at a stem-winding politician dislocating his shoulder by patting himself and his party on the back. I’da booed the stupid sumbitch too.

[N. Theknow]

Congressman NOrm.

All Dick; no nuts.

[DennisR]

I will be sending a letter to the President of the (”my”) University in the next few days asking that they tell the commencement speakers that they cannot politicize their speech. You would think that the speaker would have to submit a draft of the speech before giving it. I went to the 2004 graduation - August Wilson, a pure leftist, gave the same kind of speech, insinuating that we were having our rights taken away by President Bush and the War on Terror. Almost booed and almost walked out. I will tell the President of UW that if that ever happens again, I will boo, and I will walk out. His contact information:

MARK A. EMMERT; +1 206 543-5010; Box 351230
PRESIDENT, OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
301 GERBERDING HALL
FAX: +1 206 616-1784
emmert@u.washington.edu

[Jabba the Nutt]

Look on the bright side, the grads will always remember their commencement speech. ;^)

[boop]

Sheesh, can’t liberals ever be classy? I remember one of the commencement speakers at my alma mater was Howard Cosell. He was big leftist, but he gave a great inspirational speech. Although he said “John Hopkins” instead of “Johns”.