You were ill-served by yesterday's commencement speech. Of course everyone in the Bayside Expo Center yesterday wants you to go out and change the world. Please work hard to make it a better, more just place. Most of you will do that in small ways and large.
But your country is not slipping into the hard, cold society filled with injustice and secret courts and nefarious doings that Bianca Jagger described to you just 24 short hours ago.
Ms. Jagger spoke of the suspension of habaes corpus. Are you keeping up enough with current events to know that none of your fellow countrymen are suffering under the oppression of marshal law?
Are you studying enough history to know she is twisting it? Do you realize that when she quotes from the Declaration of Independence......We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
....and uses it as some sort of indictment against President Bush, she is spinning it? Of course the founders said it. Of course there are men and women who would fight and die to preserve it. Of course President Bush has sworn to uphold it. But all of us (President Bush, the members of our military and our veterans and many more than I can name here) know that the Founding Fathers didn't think they actually had to add something that should have been readily apparent....
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Unless you kill US citizens, unless you attempt to kill our military abroad, unless you work tirelessly to wreak havoc on American, unless you conspire to commit genocide in Israel, unless you kill and maim whole swathes of people to advance your corrupt view of Islam.
You see, Jefferson and Adams, Franklin and Lee, Hopkins and Rutledge..........they didn't think they had to spoon feed it to the world. They thought you would use critical thinking and GET IT.
Bianca Jagger painted America as a sad and dark place. It isn't. I promise you it isn't. I am not telling you it is perfect. I am not telling you that it can't be improved. Every American should have that desire in their heart - to make the world a better place. But wanting to improve something doesn't mean that it's rotted and decayed.........it just means you want more. You should want to improve your country out of a LOVE for your country, not out of disdain and contempt.
The American Ideal is a beautiful thing. This Great Experiment has lasted over 200 years because Americans never stop trying. Look around you. There are people every day working toward a better country out of love of their country.
Do not let some dilettante who wants to rewrite her legacy after finding all she was famous for was sleeping with an ugly rock star and having one of his spawn, come into your country and talk smack about it and your fellow citizens.
As a Simmons graduate who partook in Saturday's ceremony, I do not feel as if I were ill-served by Bianca Jagger's speech. I was ill-served by the extremely immature guests in the audience (all of whom came to see their daughters, sisters, friends graduate) who started booing Jagger when she said things they disagreed with.
ReplyDeleteAs a recent graduate of this fine institution, I agree with all of Jagger's points, who by the way, was right when saying this country is an absolute wreck.
..Maybe the Simmons grads will be able to fix this country.
The booing was very mild and in no way interfered with Ms. Jagger's drivel. It's called freedom of speech. You know, my dear, it's a two way street.
ReplyDeleteI strenuously disagree with most all of them. However, I have found that most recent college grads tend to be liberal and rigid in their liberalism. I think you'll moderate your views in time.
I don't know where you live, but my country is no where near a wreck. You are a shining example of that very fact. Although I'm sure you don't see the irony of your earnestness here, please know that I am smiling.
I'm sure many Simmons graduates will do great things. I said so in the post. I'm thrilled you wish to put your shoulder to the wheel.