Rutgers Wrong on Rice

Once again Rutgers University  has diminished itself  and shown it doesn’t belong in the upper echelon of second tier universities. And I’m not talking only about their lackluster football and basketball programs. I’m talking about the  controversy regarding Condoleezza Rice as the university’s choice to be this year’s commencement speaker.

The opposition’s major problem with Condoleezza Rice was her involvement in the Iraqi War and the use of water boarding by the Bush administration. While most of the Democrats did indeed object to water boarding , they did vote strongly in support of the Iraqi War. Mind you not on principle but because the overwhelming majority of Americans were behind President Bush’s military operation. In addition, intelligent sources both domestic and foreign claimed the Iraqi regime had weapons of mass destruction. In fact, they had already used them on the Iranians and Kurds.

We know how that story ended. But to place blame on Secretary Rice would be like blaming Secretary Clinton for the failure of the Arab spring.

An accomplished, multi-talented woman, Secretary Rice deserved better. But the voice of the minority (reportedly about 300 students out of 10,000)has once again scored an unlikely  victory. How many times will the feeble-minded, 97-lb. weakling  score victory after victory over a more accomplished  adversary.

Egging on the dissident students were  a few non-descript academicians who could not even entertain the possibility of teaching in a prestigious university like Stanford where Rice teaches and has served as provost.

Preening around these days  as a card-carrying member of the intelligentsia seems pretty simple. All you have to do is take the ultra-liberal contrarian view on common sense issues. It might even land you a spot on the Al Sharpton Show. Some of the Rev. Sharpton’s best friends are African-American but I doubt Secretary Rice would be in that number. Any accomplished, free thinkers in the African-American community seem anathema to Sharpton  and his associates.

Rice took the high road. An elevation the undistinguished, faculty members who  condemned her appearance will never reach. But what perturbs me is why take the high road? Why be at the mercy of the minority. Why always acquiesce? Why compromise? Why give the opponents of free speech and  the open exchange of ideas  even the slimmest of victories? If we don’t stand up for our beliefs as free Americans that right may be taken from us.

So now  former NJ Gov. Kean will be the commencement speaker. It should be a safe choice. Perhaps the president of the Left-Handed Plumbers Union had prior commitments.