Congress, Politics, Worst President Ever
Both the president and his impeachment insurance — er, I mean, his vice president — will speak to graduating young people this month. Cheney will go to Mormon-run Brigham Young University while the holder of the nation’s highest office will go to…wait for it…a satellite campus of a community college.
President Bush will deliver a rare commencement address at a community college: the Miami Dade College Kendall Campus, on April 28.
The White House said Monday that it’s only the second time in history that a sitting president has spoken at a community college commencement. The first time came last year, when Bush traveled to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College following Hurricane Katrina.
O.K., it’s billed as the country’s largest community college but still. This is just embarrassing. Why MDC?
“Though his popularity is at a historic low, [Bush] remains more popular among Cuban Americans, said Fernand Amandi, executive vice president at public opinion research firm Bendixen and Associates…
”I think the student body at Kendall Campus are an educated body and will understand that he’s the commander-in-chief and will show him the respect he deserves,” [17-year-old Student Government President Christopher] Miles said.
Well, Chris, I are educated enough to know that you’re probably right. There’s no chance Bush would go anyplace that isn’t a slam dunk to love him. And obviously, those places are getting harder and harder to find. No offense.
Cheney, meanwhile, is venturing into hostile waters. I know, he’s supposedly from the West and Mormons are very Republican but BYU students are protesting his visit. A writer for the University of Utah’s independent student paper really let it go, saying Cheney came looking for the work.
BYU has invited the devil to Happy Valley.
OK. That last sentence isn’t entirely true. Vice President Dick Cheney will be giving the commencement address at BYU-and yes, he is the devil. What isn’t true is that BYU sought out his services. It was the Bush administration that laid the groundwork for this controversial decision. It asked politely if BYU leaders could see it in their hearts to listen for an hour or two to the half-smiling codger. It seems Cheney won’t be busy this month giving no-bid contracts to Halliburton, outing CIA agents over a grudge or shooting his friends in the face.
Whew. Want to come to work for Pensito Review when you graduate? The pay’s not so good but…well, anyway.
The first of the actual protests got off to a very Mormonesque start.
The College Democrats passed out fliers listing their grievances with having the VP speak at the ceremony. Among them are complaints that: “Cheney’s controversial actions do not represent a model our students should follow,” various issues with the war in Iraq from, the war being “preemptive” to “misleading use of weak intelligence to elicit fear” to ties with Halliburton…
The protest was a peaceful sit-in style with discussions between students but very little shouting and no chanting.
At the BYU College Republicans’ counterprotest, students handed out blue armbands, circulated a letter thanking Cheney for agreeing to speak and offered cookies, brownies and lemonade.
The speeches are still a couple of weeks away, so maybe the action will pick up. Meanwhile Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will address graduates of Little Tots Preschool in St. Joseph, Missouri.* Rice is said to be preparing for tough questions afterward, like “What’s your favorite color?” and “Can I go pee-pee now?” Oh wait, Bush won’t be there to ask that last question.
* Not.
Topics: Congress, Politics, Worst President Ever
Hmmm. Wonder if Rice-a-Roni will be reading the same book to the little ones that King George was reading to the kids in Florida on 9/11?
I truly hope the hatred doesn’t evaporate once they’re finally out of office. They deserve to be hated for eternity.
May they never sleep.
I have to take umbrage.
Unless I’m reading you wrong, it seems you’re maligning community colleges which, in my opinion, provide a vital service to the community and often educate students better than the “lofty” universities.
And here I thought it would be Mormons — one of my favorite groups to pick on — who would be offended by this post. No, Spiiderweb, I am a proud community college graduate myself, and agree with you wholeheartedly that they are vital institutions. But when I got my A.A. degree from Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, I didn’t expect to have the POTUS there to hand it to me. Since this is only the second time in the history of the country that such a thing has happened (the first being a photo op), it IS a pretty unique situation. BTW, I checked your blog and it’s great.