Protests, Free Speech, John McCain and Me

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Former Senator Bob Kerry, now President of the New School in Grenwich Village, invited his friend Senator John McCain to speak at commencement last week. This sounds like a lot of fun already, right?

And of course the New School being - well - the New School - there was some pretty spirited heckling going on during the event.

And all this I 'get' because of serious experience as a water- buffalo sandal wearing, bra-burning, war protesting, Philadelphia college student, artist and McGovernite back in the day.

How I got from there to
here is a story in itself.

And although I'd like to think I'd have picketed instead of disrupting, I'm glad I live in a country where those young whipersnappers can be as unpleasant as they wish.

Why am I talking about this? I think we're all students of human nature at some level and thinking about what's interesting in our world makes us better  whatever - mothers, artists, marketers, lawyers, teachers. The whole bit. Besides I like to laugh and McCain can make me do that.

Again, I wasn't disapointed this time, He used humor to handle the _________ <- insert the word that fits, from your red or blue perspective:

a.) justifiable outrage __ or __  b.) outragiously rude treatment

“When I was a young man, I was quite infatuated with self-expression, and rightly so because, if memory conveniently serves, I was so much more eloquent, well-informed and wiser than anyone else I knew,” McCain said.

No - wait a minute - he must have been talking about me.

Hilarious. This is where I really am justified in saying "I resemble that remark."

McCain added that he would have been right at home in the opinionated world of blogs. That's probably true - and when I read that line I moved past laughing out loud to a noise that made two cats jump straight up in the air.

- - - - -

addendum -

I know people are slinging virtual rotten fruit at McCain for this and that, and towards the students for other stuff. But I can see myself  there a certain number  of years ago. I was just coming at the same question from different perspectives after a few decades of observation.

If you're interested in a blow by blow on the event you could do worse thatn the colorful ringside commentary of RighwingSparkle who is almost as entertaining as McCain. You can almost see the smoke shooting out her hears as you read.

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