[guest post by Dana]

In the midst of college children throwing temper-tantrums this commencement season, William Bowen, commencement speaker at Haverford College and former president of Princeton University, used the opportunity to chastise students for their protest against scheduled speaker, former chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, Robert Birgeneau.

More than 40 students and three professors had protested Birgeneau’s invitation to speak, objecting to his handling of a 2011 incident at Berkeley in which police used force at a student protest during the Occupy movement. The group wanted Birgeneau to apologize, support payments for victims and write a letter to Haverford students explaining his position on the events and “what you learned from them”.

Birgeneau stepped down after refusing to meet those demands. Bowen directly addressed it with students.

“I am disappointed that those who wanted to criticize Birgeneau’s handling of events at Berkeley chose to send him such an intemperate list of ‘demands,”’ Bowen said Sunday. “In my view, they should have encouraged him to come and engage in a genuine discussion, not to come, tail between his legs, to respond to an indictment that a self-chosen jury had reached without hearing counterarguments.”

Bowen also said Birgeneau had “responded intemperately, failing to make proper allowance for the immature, and, yes, arrogant inclinations of some protesters. Aggravated as he had every right to be, I think he should be with us today.”

Bowen stated he believed Birgeneau’s withdrawal was a defeat for the school. The audience, showing their support for Bowen, gave him a standing ovation.

Here’s hoping every other commencement replacement speaker follows Bowen’s lead.

–Dana

When even a lefty hack organization can’t deny the facts, you’re left with, well, the facts:

Johnson said that before the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, “the State Department not only failed to honor repeated requests for additional security, but instead actually reduced security in Libya.”

State Department headquarters in Washington did refuse repeated requests from its ambassador in Libya for more security personnel. And it decided not to accept an offer from the Defense Department to extend the stay of one of its security units in Libya, reducing the level of security that was available.

We rate Johnson’s statement True.

Whatdifferenceatthispointdoesitmake? I’m more worried about Karl Rove talking about brain injuries than I am about this nonsense over a handful of dead Americans.

/lefty shill

THE “N” WORD

Mitt Romney says a police commissioner in a New Hampshire town where he owns a vacation home should resign for calling President Obama the “N-word”:

The former Massachusetts governor joins some political leaders and residents in the predominantly white New Hampshire town of Wolfeboro in calling for the resignation of Robert Copeland.

A resident said she overheard the 82-year-old Copeland use a slur [at] a restaurant in March and wrote to the town manager. Copeland, in an email to her, acknowledged using the slur in referring to the president and said he will not apologize.

“I believe I did use the ‘N’ word in reference to the current occupant of the Whitehouse,” Copeland said in an email to his fellow police commissioners. “For this, I do not apologize — he meets and exceeds my criteria for such.”

If the “N-word” in question was “nincompoop” then I cannot help but agree. Somehow, I suspect that’s the wrong “N-word.” So I agree with Romney. (You’re not going to hear that around here much.)

It just goes to show you, racism is still alive and well in the United States, especially down there in the Deep South.

Wait . . .

THE “L” WORD

Is this Latino being groomed for veephood?

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro will be nominated as secretary of Housing and Urban Development, two officials told ABC News.

The White House declined to comment on the timing of an official announcement. The position must be confirmed by the Senate. The officials said the news was not intended to be disclosed, but apparently it leaked out because Castro’s associates in San Antonio received calls from the FBI about a background check. It was first reported in a column in today’s San Antonio Express News.

. . . .

If Castro is indeed nominated and confirmed, he will instantly add political star power to the president’s Cabinet. He has been speculated to be a possible Democratic vice presidential pick in 2016

Hillary’s problem, of course, is naming her accomplishments. In addition to playing the identity politics game, she needs someone with an even thinner record of accomplishment than she has. Castro fits the bill.

THE “I” WORD

No lake for you, Mark Twain:

A state panel has effectively killed a bid to name a Lake Tahoe cove for Mark Twain, citing opposition from a tribe that says he held racist views on Native Americans.

The Nevada State Board on Geographic Names this week voted to indefinitely table the request after hearing opposition from the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, whose ancestral homeland includes Lake Tahoe.

Supporters had sought to name a scenic cove on the lake’s northeast shore for Samuel Clemens, Twain’s real name.

But Darrel Cruz, head of the tribe’s cultural resource department, said Twain was undeserving of the honor because of derogatory comments about the Washoe and other tribes in his writings.

Among other things, he cited Twain’s opposition to the naming of the lake as Tahoe, which is derived from the Washoe word “da ow” for lake.

. . . .

Supporters sought to honor him because there is no geographic feature in the state named for Twain, whose book “Roughing It” put Nevada on the map.

Racists

THE “C” WORD

Speaking of which, did you know that bringing a camel to campus for “hump day” is racist? Now you do.