Credit where credit's due

On May 13, my oldest daughter graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Over her years there, I've referred to the Village of Chapel Hill as the "Socialist Republic of Chapel Hill". I'm not withdrawing this observation here ... when you cross the town line, you can check reality at the entrance gate.

The graduation was presided over by Chancellor Dr. James Moeser. Honorary doctoral degrees were bestowed upon four accomplished individuals, including a nobel laureate; a 5-time Tony Award winner; former South Carolina Governor and Clinton administration Secretary of Education Richard Riley; and last, but not least, legendary UNC basketball head coach Dean Smith. As an aside, you can be a Nobel winner; a Tony winner; or a distinguished politician in the twilight of your career. But, if you want a standing ovation at a UNC graduation, you'd best be a winning basketball coach! Dean Smith got the only standing "O", among the honorees, and it lasted some five-minutes!

As you may or may not be aware, the former chief-of-staff for President Clinton, Erskine Bowles, is President of the State University System for North Carolina. If you're counting, we now have 2 representatives of the Clinton administration at this one event. Well why stop there?!?! The keynote speaker, as introduced by Mr. Bowles, was former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

If you follow the looney-left at all, you know that the tolerance level for speakers from the right-side of the political spectrum is non-existent. One only needs to see the treatment of Condi Rice, Dick Cheney, or Karl Rove at university events over the past six-months to understand this statement. So, while diversity might mean a lot of things to liberals, diversity of thought is not among the accepted definitions. So much for free speech.

I should also inform you that I have, in the past, had the occasion to hear keynote speeches at industry events from former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, and former Vice President Al Gore. At both events, in front of clearly mixed crowds, neither showed themselves capable of non-partisan discourse. In fact, quite the opposite occurred, as each was all too happy to tell of the evils of conservatives and Republicans. Tasteless and tacky on both counts.

As a consequence, I fully expected Secretary Albright to fit the liberal mold. I also was fully prepared to walk out of the speech. Note that I wasn't carrying a sign; I wasn't going to shout her down; I wasn't going to call her names or be otherwise disruptive. Just as surely, I was not going to listen to yet another hack turn a joyous celebration of these graduates' accomplishments turned into a platform for political theater.

I'm glad I stayed, and glad I kept open ears and an open mind. Secretary Albright gave a wonderful speech. She was humorous a times, self-effacing at others. She spoke from experience, and spoke to a higher purpose. She called on the graduates to reach beyond themselves and to strive for greatness. It was inspirational!

So, as I've titled this blog, I'm giving credit where credit is due. This day was for celebration! This day was for the students to remember their time at Chapel Hill, and for them to look to the future. It was for their friends and families to share in their joy, and at times in a bit of melancholy, as they move on from this special place that has been their home for the past 4 years. Thank you Secretary Albright for checking your partisan side at Chapel Hill's town line, and sneaking reality past the border guards!