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Since Senator John McCain will be speaking at the Columbia College Class Day no matter what, students are planning on protesting him before the festivities. They are going to gather at 8:30AM on Tuesday, May 16, to protest and distribute literature, though we're not sure if they are going to sit out Class Day itself and boycott the ceremony from 10AM-12:30PM. But they have set up the website, mccainatcolumbia.com to discuss the issue, with sections about McCain's views on gay rights, abortion, Iraq, and his speaking at Liberty University. You can also add comments that may be distributed on Class Day.
McCain is also scheduled to be the New School commencement address speaker, which upsets many people.
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Their website is baffling. "John McCain does not speak for me." Who ever said that a Class Day speaker speaks for everyone? For Ivy League students these kids aren't that bright.
ah, the famous open-mindess of the liberal elite. People with different opinions should not be tolerated!
Thank you for your ignorant generalization of liberals open-mind
Hey one party,
How would you feel if you were a gay student and paid 36K a year to an institution and then have said institution honor the views of a right wing homophobic douche bag like McCain?
"right wing homophobic douche bag"? You honestly expect to be taken seriously when all you can do is name call? Thanks for making my point.
Having a speaker doesn't mean Columbia endorses his views. and my parents taught me to be open minded and listen to people I might disagree with. Apparently yours taught you to only seek out discussion that reinforces your beliefs.
Obviously you should listen to people you disagree with but inviting someone as a Class Day speak confers respectability to their views. This is completely different from McCain giving a regularly on campus speech.
If Columbia decided to invite say Al Sharpton as Class Day speaker, I think most people would balk at that.
McCain's voting record places him among the most conservative members of the Senate and to some students, McCain's views should not be honored by giving him the podium on what will be one of the most important days in many students' lives.
These activists make me sick. John McCain spent years being tortured in North Vietnamese prison camp and I think he deserves some respect. You may not agree on his views but where is your tolerance ? I forgot, you want to prevent people from speaking if they are not supporting your policy..this is your facist free-speech policy (of course, far-left liberals decide what are the allowed views).
I dont understand why someone should respect John McCain just because he was tortured in prison camps? You may feel for his experience but it doesn't mean he deserves respect especially if it is his congressional record and views that offends these students the most. I see no reason why anyone should be tolerant of McCain's views when they are in the opinions of these students, offensive to all that they believe in. McCain's views are not tolerant to many people so I can see why these students disagree. Free-speech is nice, but not when it offends a whole group.
funny, platoon was on last night
look at him, he's laughing at you.
you're going to take that?
Why is he even here? Isn't there an anti flag burning rally he should be attending?
"Free-speech is nice, but not when it offends a whole group."
I'm sure that once your party get in power they will outlaw McCain and his party in the name of free speech.
let's see. Liberal activists want to change the law (say, on gay marriage) and people who disagree are the enemy. Dissent not tolerated.
Great to know that Columbia provides Orwellian thought police. Free-speech is a overrated luxury anyway (to be reserved for liberals only).
I do not agree with my mother, pope or Hillary but I have respect for all of them and I would politely listen what they have to say. This is what civilized people are supposed to do and what people usually learn for free except the rich spoiled kids who can afford 36k a year to become a though police.
There is nothing anti-free speech about this protest. to say its restricting mccain's free speech is ludicrous. he has all the free speech he wants. as a senator, he can issue a press release any time and have everyone in the country hear about it.
it seems to me like this is not about restricting mccain's free speech, so much as columbia students expressing their own.
So this thread has gotten stupid. Although almost every one of the reasons these particular students offer are pretty stupid, I think the response here is even stupider. Stupid conservative(?) paranoia and still stupider generalizations. The students have every right to protest his speech, and he should have every right to speak. Why not? I think that the small and vocal group of stupid students are just pissed off. The important thing to do is toconsider that the protesters do see him as a person who denies basic human rights, whether you agree or not. But remember, McCain isn't gonna talk about hot issues, he's gonna blather on about something inoffensive and and mildly patriotic, so he gets a good plug for the 2008 Republican nomination. Stupid politicians.
Also, 90% of the kids who protest this kind of thing aren't brainwashed by Columbia, they're like that the first day of orientation and they stay that way for 4 years at least. After all, he was invited by the student council. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Oh yeah, one more thing. If you visit the site and read the discussion comments, you can see that this is not flying among the student body all that well.
I don't think anyone did bring up freedom of speech. So there.
And to think that the vocal few at Columbia speak for the entire campus is ludicrous. If even one kid want to hear McCain thats enough reason for him to speak.
McCain has a right to speak, but students have a right to protest how they see fit. Freedom of speech was confered to protect the right to dissent, not the right of a politician to have an audience that is forced to listen. The students protesting are not going to stop McCain from speaking, they're going to use the privilidge they've been given to engage him in a dialogue over the issues that are important to them.
Since about 60% of people don't support gay marriage I guess this means that those rich kids at Columbia can talk only to the remaining 40%. But I'm sure many of them have other disqualifying opinions (say, support for war on terror).
In the end, I think only about 10-15% are allowed to exists in your liberal utopia (the hard-core socialists, ANSWER, taleban supporters at Yale, et cetera). Maybe you should consider moving to North Korea.
McCain embodies homophobic and anti-choice policies. His newfound newcon demogaugery DOES NOT reflect the student body at Columbia, among the brightest students in the country, and the majority of the country, which is PRO-CHOICE. McCain was more at home at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University last week. Good for the students fighting against Rebublican discrimination who are pointing this out.
Let the students have this last chance to get the angst out of their system. It's just a matter of time before they grow up and realize how naive and idealistic they used to be. I don't understand why these silly student protests get so much attention anyway. These kids have been whipped up into a fervor by their ultra-liberal professors, most of whom live in their ivory towers and have never held a non-academic job. After a year or two of working (during which time I'm sure they won't protest senior mangement when they come to greet the group of new hires, despite potential philosophical differences), they'll either join the mainstream or quit and spend their days working at a bookstore and organizing "important" rallys.