And Then Things Got Silly

There’s nothing better than a large, public snit-fit.

Jean Rohe, a senior chosen to speak at graduation, set her sights on the promised speech of another speaker, Senator John McCain. Naturally, everything went wonderfully.

It’s easy to disagree with what she said, and apparently it’s even easier to just yell at her for saying it (and nice 9/11 ref, WSJ!), but nothing beats just calling her an idiot.

Senator McCain’s Chief Of Staff Mark Salter

Let me tell you a little bit about the Senator, the man you dismiss so derisively. Once upon time, even among the young, the words courage and hero were used more sparingly, more precisely. It took no courage to do what you did, Ms. Rohe. It was an act of vanity and nothing more. And please don’t worry about the Senator’s discomfort with you. He has managed to endure much worse. McCain was once offered release from imprisonment and torture because of his father’s position as a senior military officer. He declined because he would not leave his comrades behind, and thus, willingly, accepted four more years of hardships life will spare almost all of us from. In his political career he has shown the same character he showed as a Navy officer all those years ago. He has, over and over again, risked personal ambitions for what he believes, rightly or wrongly, are in the best interests of the country. What, pray tell, have you risked? The only person you have succeeded in making look like an idiot is yourself.

You took exception to the paragraph in which he lightly deprecated the vanity of youth. Well, Ms. Rohe, and your fellow graduates’s comical self-importance deserves a rebuke far stronger than the gentle suggestions he offered you. So, let me leave you with this. Should you grow up and ever get down to the hard business of making a living and finding a purpose for your lives beyond self-indulgence some of you might then know a happiness far more sublime than the fleeting pleasure of living in an echo chamber. And if you are that fortunate, you might look back on the day of your graduation and your discourtesy to a good and honest man with a little shame and the certain knowledge that it very unlikely any of you will ever posses the one small fraction of the character of John McCain.

Fortunately, this being 2006 with the interwebs and whatnot, Miss Rohe responds:

In addition, you make many assumptions about who I am and what I stand for. You assume that the words shouted from the audience reflected at all times my opinions and values. You assume that I have made myself look like an idiot, which, I can tell you, is just not true. You assume I have taken no risks. I’m curious to see which doors have been permanently closed to me in the future, simply because I’ve spoken up. You assume that I did what I did simply to draw attention to myself for my own personal benefit. I have said in my writing, and I will say it again, I would never have asked for this responsibility in a million years. The entire event was stomach-churning and unpleasant because it was something I didn’t want to do, but knew I had to out of an obligation to my own values. You assume that I have no experience making a living. I have been a full-time college student and have worked a job to pay my own rent and my own expenses for the past two years. You assume that I live in an “echo chamber” of liberal head-patting, when, in fact, I live in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, a neighborhood notorious for its cultural diversity and sometimes, conflict. I live in New York City where every human interaction is a test of our willingness to coexist as citizens. And finally, I think it is unfair to assume that I have not considered the hardships of Senator McCain’s life. Indeed, one of my first feelings upon seeing him in the flesh was compassion for how much he must have endured in his time as a POW. If there’s one thing that I know about myself, it is that I care for people, and in that sense I have a great deal of character. Please don’t try to bully me anymore.

If like, Russ Feingold to Bob Jones University and they booed, hissed, and spat at him, my reaction wouldn’t be “OMG kids have no respect”, I’d instead laugh and be like what’d you expect, you doof? College kids are passionate and idealistic, no matter where their beliefs fall.

Salter’s need to retell McCain’s POW story is silly. Nobody disrespects John McCain’s service to this country, rather, it’s the very foundation of the respect we do have for him, and his character. But that’s not a pass on his current policies and actions, and anyone who disagrees with them and takes advantage of an opportunity to register disagreement is most certainly not bereft of character.

The words of Mark Salter are unbecoming of someone so close John McCain (who cannot be held blameless is this exchange) and are a discredit to the values we thought McCain stood for.