Young Republicans

I try to refrain from criticizing the youth of America on this blog, but today's opinion piece in the daily Pennsylvanian was just irresistible. After Kofi Annan was commencement speaker this year, Melody Joy Kramer has a speaker suggestion for her graduation:

"I'm sure Penn is already in the rough planning stages for deciding who will speak at next year's graduation. After all, it is the 250th graduating class and the 300th anniversary of the birth of Ben Franklin. It is important that we get a graduation speaker who upholds the values that Franklin wrote of in his 1749 treatise 'Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania." Franklin wrote that "on Historical Occasions, Questions of Right and Wrong, Justice and Injustice, will naturally arise, and may be put to Youth, which they may debate in Conversation and in Writing.'
We need a historical speaker, one who has struggled with 'questions of right and wrong, justice and injustice' during a career in the public spotlight. Only one person comes to mind who fits both the educational philosophy of Franklin and the prestige needed for such an important anniversary."

Rick Santorum! No, just kidding, it wasn't quite that over the top, but close:

"I want the president of the United States to speak at my graduation."

Why, praytell?

"Whether you agree with him or not, Bush is a dynamic speaker and a leader on the world stage."

And, he doesn't do nuance!

"He would certainly be appropriate for such a meaningful anniversary year."

That's if you want the Old Conjurer rolling over in his grave fast enough to generate a gravitational field that would suck in the Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall! Did I just feel the earth move a bit by the mere mention of Franklin and Bush in the same sentence?