When life is just a bowl of beans (Booing For NY Times Reporter)

Washington Times ^ | 5/23/03 | Wesley Pruden

[kattracks]

Freedom of speech is like a plate of red beans and rice. Some people prefer ham hocks in the beans, and some people don't.

Chris Hedges, a colossal jerk who is a reporter at the New York Times (naturally), was booed off the stage when he ruined the commencement at Rockford College in Illinois with a rant against his country.

[goldstategop]

The New York Times has All The Slant That's Fit To Print. Booo!

[Free State Four]

but not "inappropriate" to spoil a once-in-a-lifetime occasion?

This is what cheeses me most about this controversy. It's not so much the harangue against the war, but the very, very bad taste to not give the graduates a speech that was about them, their hard work and accomplishment and their futures.That's what a commencment address is about. Go rant about the war on your own time, buddy. Very poor form. Priggish.

[Arkie2]

This is getting tiresome. Conservatives have been booed and harangued and run off stage for years on college campuses. Those incidents passed without notice except for some pious nonsense about students expressing their right to protest. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. I suspect the reason there's so much attention payed to this episode is it's a man bites dog kind of story.

[tictoc]

Mr. Hedges, a graduate of the Harvard Divinity School (which tells an inquiring mind a lot)

LOL

[Miss Marple]

Ha! Not only do I approve of the booing, but I am most pleased to know that they had AIR HORNS, a fine Midwestern tradition ! LOL!

[Carolinamom]

The college president should be proud that the graduates have learned to think for themselves.

[VOA]

...Chris Matthews, a Catholic who advocates a right to abortion (and is mildly famous
for shouting down his "Hardball" guests).

Now, the college/university that invites Darryl Hammonds (sp?), the gifted
comic who does a great Chris Matthews, to give their commencement address...that's the
place I wish I'd gone to school!

[VOA]

The college president should be proud that the graduates have learned to think for themselves.

Just my opinion, but I think the cruelest way to respond to bloviations by guys
like Hedges ix:
1. Obvious appearance of boredom during the speech (enduring the Bravo Sierra
with stony silence...maybe catching a few zzz's, putting on the Walkman headset, etc)

2. And at the end of the drivel, respond with the cruelest form of obvious disapproval
in Western Civilization: tepid, dispirited, polite applause.

In academic circles, nothing else shouts "Get of the stage, you boring irrelevant slob!"
like short, quiet applause.

But I don't blame the Rockford grads. Hedges is just lucky he didn't get
pelted with some over-ripe food products.

[GOPJ]

The school took a political stance when they invited this ultra left nutcase.

College President Pribbenow needs to find work with the New York Times, they're the only ones nutty enough to believe this crap:

President Pribbenow said what you would expect the college president to say, that the school takes no political stance, and the job of the college is to demonstrate its commitment to learning by listening to "other viewpoints."

[libertylover]

Also, bring a newspaper and read it during the speech to show disinterest.

[mewzilla]

They paid Hedges for this?! So much for higher education.

[Claire Voyant]

Who were the two BRAVE BISHOPS that refused to be with Chris Matthews??? BRAVO!!!!!! About damn time we are fighting back!!

[7thson]

This is an excellent response to the commencement speech given by Chris Hedges. There are more than a few individuals in this country who believe that Freedom of Speech means they have the right to be heard, that when they speak, people must pay attention. They are not only wrong in believing this, they are ignorant as well. Like I stated to someone they other day, regardless of who is speaking, if I do not like what that person is saying, there is no right for them that states I am forced to listen. The canard that we have to listen and respect the viewpoints of others is also absurd. Mr. Pruden gives an example of listening to a KKK member and he is right. A college would never invite such a person to speak, and we can dismiss the beliefs of such a person. But just as a college would not invite the leader of the KKK, it would also not invite the local bum – the PC term is “homeless person” – from the street. But according to the idiots that head colleges of this nation, that person’s view is just as valid as the college grad. What absurdity!

[Jimmy Valentine]

I deplore the dearth of well ripened tomatos and other vegetables to supplement the boos

[VOA]

Also, bring a newspaper and read it during the speech to show disinterest.

Good idea...the shield of a newspaper has saved me from quite a few nutty tirades
while riding buses here in Los Angeles.

Believe it or not, some of the tirades were even worse than Hedges!

[Miss Marple]

Oh, well said! How unfortunate that commencements take place in May, rather than August, when there would have been an abundant supply of locally grown produce!

[VOA]

They paid Hedges for this?! So much for higher education.

If I was a parent with a Rockford grad in the audience, I'd be tempted to send a letter
to the committee that selected Hedges, along with copies to local papers and
to the NYTimes and The Washington Times.

The letter would thank the committee for selecting Hedges. And say that $5,000
was a low-ball price for getting such an excellent "Negative Role Model"
to present to the new graduates. Their life-paths have probably been pushed
onto a true heading of a moral compass by this speech.

And also thank them for putting the Rockford graduates through their final exam...
which they passed with flying colors by expressing their obvious rejection of
Hedges B.S., while showing civilized restraint from tarring and feathering the puke.

[No Truce With Kings]

"How unfortunate that commencements take place in May, rather than August, when there would have been an abundant supply of locally grown produce!"

NON-sense! By May, in Illinois, the strawberry season is drawing to a close. Overripe local strawberries should be readily at hand (and can conveniently be hidden in commencement gown pockets).

[70times7]

well ripened tomatos ... to supplement the boos

Isn't that a Bloody Mary?