Jean Rohe, the student speaker at the New School graduation who spoke out against McCain, shared her experience over at Huffington Post:

It really wasn’t his fault that he got invited into a pit of very well-educated vipers, and it really wasn’t my fault that I did what I had to do in the situation. Had he been speaking at something other than our graduation, or had he spoken about almost anything other than his life and his position on the Iraq War and Darfur it might have been OK. But what did he expect? Campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination at the New School is like trying to catch fish in a swimming pool. It was just totally out of place. Many thanks go to the people in the audience who managed to capture with a few yelled and widely-quoted phrases, just exactly what was going on there.

Check out the rest at Huffington Post.

Poor old man never had a chance when student Jean Rohe took him head on in her address:

“The senator does not reflect the ideals upon which this university was founded,” Rohe proclaimed to loud cheers, with McCain sitting just a few feet away.

She added that she knew what McCain would be saying to the graduates since he had promised to deliver the same speech he gave at Rev. Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University last weekend and Columbia University on Tuesday.

“He will tell us we are young and too naive to have valid opinions,” Rohe said. “I am young and though I don’t possess the wisdom that time affords us, I do know that pre-emptive war is dangerous. And I know that despite all the havoc that my country has wrought overseas in my name, Osama bin Laden still has not been found, nor have those weapons of mass destruction.”

When McCain got up to speak, it was to a smattering of boos and hisses.  Many graduate wore or carried orange to signify their disapproval of McCain’s war-mongering stance and his continued support for intolerance.

Thank you New School graduates for exhibiting the disgust at McCain that all moral Americans would if they new the straight truth.

Congressman John Sweeney has been a busy guy. Many folks on the blogosphere know him from his infamous drunken photo-op at a frat house in New York. Then there’s Sweeney’s lobbyist skiing trips and defense of Tom DeLay. When his opponent, Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand stood up and called Sweeney on his nonsense, Sweeney responded with patronizing sexism.

So, what does this have to do with John McCain? You guessed it, the Senator from Liberty is swinging by New York for a fundraiser with Sweeney. Let me get this straight: McCain’s shilling for a corrupt Congressman who parties with frat boys, goes on skiing retreats with lobbyists, votes the party line, and refers to his female opponent as “a pretty face”? Yep, looks like “The Straight-Talk Express” has left the station.

Calling it an “Orange Revolution” (and cribbing just a bit off the Ukrainians) some students at Columbia University plan to show their dislike of Senator John McCain’s policies and positions by wearing orange buttons that read, “John McCain Does Not Speak For Me”:

“Our goal is to show our opposition to McCain’s policies and voting record in a peaceful silent demonstration during his speech,” one of the graduates planning to protest, Ari Rosmarin, said. “We want to be as visually powerful as we can.”

Mr. Rosmarin said that although some students feel a protest is inappropriate on Class Day, Mr. McCain is a likely presidential candidate and thus fair game. “If he has a right to come and be political, we have a right to respond in a political manner,” he said.

Mr. Rosmarin said some family members of graduating seniors also might participate by holding up protest banners. “We hope that what we’ve been taught in our four years at Columbia is to think critically about the world around us, and engage with it directly.” He said he disagrees with Mr. McCain’s support for the war in Iraq and for a ban on gay marriage.

Good for them. As Senator McCain continues to shake of any vestiges of moderate rhetoric that he might have once embraced, audiences need to call him on it at every turn.

American voters need to know that McCain is no maverick!

Senator McCain, have we really come to this?

“We must win in Iraq. We cannot fail. If we lose in Iraq, they’re coming after us. We will fight them somewhere else - like here,” he said. “It’s all part of a gigantic, titanic struggle between good and evil.”

Has McCain been reading a little too much Huntington?

This guy is clearly on the very edge of insanity. When it comes to war it seems McCain’s proclivity for emotion makes him a loose cannon.

Following are Senator John McCain’s remarks at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University graduation. Play-by-play commentary is in Italics.

Thank you, Dr. Falwell. Thank you, faculty, families and friends, and thank you Liberty University Class of 2006 for your welcome and for your kind invitation to give this year’s commencement address. I want to join in the chorus of congratulations to the Class of 2006. This is a day to bask in praise. You’ve earned it. You have succeeded in a demanding course of instruction. Life seems full of promise as is always the case when a passage in life is marked by significant accomplishment. Today, it might seem as if the world attends you.

Yeah, I’m sure their coursework was truly rigorous considering Liberty is a 4th Tier School as ranked by US News & World Report in their college guide.
But spare a moment for those who have truly attended you so well for so long, and whose pride in your accomplishments is even greater than your own – your parents. When the world was looking elsewhere your parents’ attention was one of life’s certainties. So, as I commend you, I offer equal praise to your parents for the sacrifices they made for you, for their confidence in you and their love. More than any other influence in your lives they have helped make you the success you are today and might become tomorrow.

Unless you happen to be gay or lesbian, in which case your parents would disown you.
Read more »

Students at the New School are organizing a protest for Senator John McCain’s planned commencement speech on May 19th. The New York Times reports:

Brittany Charlton, the vice chairwoman of the University Student Senate, said Mr. Kerrey’s choice of speaker had left many graduates with unpalatable choices of boycotting commencement or attending and protesting.

“It is extremely distasteful and hypocritical to allow McCain, someone who does not value the ideals we have consistently been taught in our education, to speak at the ceremony that represents the culmination of our experience with this university,” she said.

Thank goodness these students are not duped by McCain phony Maverick PR machine. McCain’s voting record proves that he is an extreme conservative. His actions of late confirm that he is willing to sell his soul to become President.

Bob Geiger over at Democrats.com has a great post ripping apart the myth of John McCain as a maverick. Go check it out ASAP.

Today’s a busy day, but I couldn’t let this go unnoticed:

The U.S. Senate — including Arizona Republicans Jon Kyl and John McCain — Wednesday voted to divert some Iraq war spending to border security…Most Democrats opposed the measure, citing worries the fund move could decrease money for U.S. troops and body armor in Iraq.

So, for McCain, the choice is clear: pay for our troops to fight the war he so vigorously supports, or help Congressional Republicans grandstand. For McCain, the choice is simple - responsibility doesn’t play well with the racist Republican base.

When our troops don’t have the equipment they need to do the job Bush, McCain, and others send them to do, you can blame Republican demagogues like McCain.

Today’s “Far-Right Friend” should be familiar. It’s Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, otherwise known as “Liar McTheocon.” This blog has previously mentioned Santorum’s sleaze, but Rick is really an endless source of wignuttery. First of all, there’s Santorum’s shameful record on the environment. Then there’s this little gem: 

The Beaver County Times tells us about Lloyd “Skip” Haswell, a Marine Corps veteran who was recently listed as a member of a group of “Veterans for Santorum.” It seems that Rick’s recent vote against an amendment to provide “an assured stream of funding for veterans health care,” and his failure to respond to Mr. Haswell’s inquiries about that vote, have caused Mr. Haswell to reconsider his support for Rick…Haswell said he’s been trying to get an answer from Santorum’s people on why the senator rejected the amendment, but his calls have been ignored. Consequently, he pulled out of the Veterans for Santorum, saying he can’t campaign for someone who “votes against veterans” then can’t take the time to explain himself. “The veterans deserve answers,” Haswell said,” and that’s all I’m asking for.”

By the way, if you want more on how ridiculously out of touch Santorum is, just stop by Santorum Exposed.

So, just to recap, McCain is endorsing and campaigning for a man who:

• Uses a “charity” as an illegal campaign slush fund
• Votes against the environment 95% of the time
• Votes against veterans benefits
• Has repeatedly resorted to bigoted hate speech

Meanwhile, McCain claims to be:

• A reformer
• An environmentalist
• An advocate for veterans
• Opposed to homophobic GOP activism

So, forgive me if I’m not exactly clear where McCain stands on…well…..anything.