I’m sure I wasn’t the only person in the world who noted the irony in the recent furor over John McCain’s address at the New School graduation. McCain delivers a speech filled with admonitions such as this one: “It is more than appropriate, it is necessary that even in times of crisis, especially in times of crisis, we fight among ourselves for the things we believe in. It is not just our right, but our civic and moral obligation.” And then, predictably enough, a fight breaks out – with faculty members turning their backs on the Senator, and students booing and heckling. And what was the response?
From McCain just after the address: “I feel sorry for people living in a dull world where they can't listen to the views of others."
From the Wall Street Journal: “Rude college kids and left-wing professors are hardly a new story. But the ugliness of the New School crowd toward Mr. McCain reveals the peculiar rage that now animates so many on the political left.”
And from a post from longtime McCain aide Mark Salter, addressing the students:
“{your} comical self-importance deserves a rebuke far stronger than the gentle suggestions {Senator McCain} offered you. So, let me leave you with this. Should you grow up and ever get down to the hard business of making a living and finding a purpose for your lives beyond self-indulgence some of you might then know a happiness far more sublime than the fleeting pleasure of living in an echo chamber. And if you are that fortunate, you might look back on the day of your graduation and your discourtesy to a good and honest man with a little shame and the certain knowledge that it very unlikely any of you will ever posses the one small fraction of the character of John McCain.”
(To deepen the irony, Mr. Salter helped to write the speech McCain delivered that day. Needless to say, there’s no way a post of that nature could have gone out without Senator McCain’s direct approval.)
Because I made clear my admiration for McCain in this blog, and my respect for the things he had to say at Liberty University (he delivered the same remarks at the New School) I think it’s worth delving into this conflict a little bit to see how it played out.
The post-event echo reverberated online in the Huffington Post and on television in the cable news networks. Jean Sara Rohe, the student speaker who presented just before Senator McCain, quickly became the personification of the hecklers (because all conflicts need to have single personalities on each side to play out effectively on television.) She posted first on Huffington Post, essentially explaining the motivation behind the last minute change in her address and offering a transcript of her remarks (which were actually far less disrespectful than was implied in much of the coverage – though her speech was conflated with the heckling and booing, her actual words were much more reserved.) Then Mr. Salter responded, also on Huffington Post. Ms. Rohe followed up with a last rebuttal.
I won’t get into the various accusations thrown back and forth in these dueling posts (Salter was likely motivated by his personal respect for McCain and his anger at the slight, and Rohe was empowered by her new role as spokesperson for all her fellow students and, writ large, opponents to the war overall) but I thought the best distillation of the situation overall came from Bob Kerry, the current President of the New School and a former senator himself. Kerry was supposedly called a “war criminal” by one heckler during the ruckus, but he came to the defense of the students overall. His comments read, in part:
“…student protests are a necessary and essential part of democratic free expression. Did we not love the brave and disrespectful students at Tiananmen? Did we not applaud the determination of the student led movements that helped bring down the dictators that ruled Eastern Europe in 1991? Have we forgotten the critical difference students made in reversing an unlawful election in Ukraine or in driving the Syrians from Lebanon or who still seethe in discontent under the religious law of Iran’s mullahs?
Thus, when some of the critics of The New School students suggest they should have behaved with more discipline, as did the students at Liberty University, I strongly disagree. Our students were moved by idealism, not arrogance. I may not agree with their conclusions, but I do not begin with the presumption that my age gives me a privileged view of the truth. Quite the contrary – I believe that those of us who are older should keep our ears and hearts open to the possibility that our age may have cost us the most important of human characteristics: the hope for a better, fairer, and more just world.”
A portion of McCain’s speech dealt with the arrogance of youth (I cited it in my prior blog entry on his speech, focusing on the implied criticism of the blogosphere). Ms. Rohe specifically addressed those comments and explained how they offended her.
Kerrey addresses that in his remarks as well:
“When I first read this statement, it did not occur to me that this would offend a young audience. That is because Senator McCain and I are approximately the same age. I heard a humble and contrite man offering himself as an example of the danger of human arrogance. This is not an uncommon commencement message and I thought Senator McCain’s delivery would give it special meaning.
As I listened to Ms. Rohe, however, I understood why the statement, in the context of a debate between those who objected to the Senator’s presence and the Senator, would be offensive. Senator McCain, quite understandably because he was speaking, did not. Thus was born a disagreement that has unfortunately become too personal and too directed at the intelligence and motivation of the participants.”
Kerrey also did an artful turn in his comments, paralleling the actions of the students with some of McCain’s own political tactics:
“I do wish that Senator McCain had not been insulted at our commencement. And, I hope he does not conclude that our university and our students do not respect him. We do. Further, I hope he comes to understand that among the reasons we admire and respect him is that he sometimes still confronts the overly-circumspect and sluggish protocols of the U.S. Senate to fight against government waste and corruption and to advance laws that will make us feel proud, rather than ashamed. I know from personal experience that many who have found themselves on the opposing side of his arguments have, at times, wondered about the absence of civility and courtesy in his tactics when he is passionately and doggedly working for what he believes.
Those of us who respect the Senator so much understand that that is one of the reasons John McCain is so effective. I contend that our protesting students deserve the same credit.”
In this exchange it is Kerrey who emerges as the most effective politician. In straddling public opinion, which was shaped by the media coverage of the event, and his own relationship with the faculty and student body of the New School, Kerrey gets closest to the conflict management perspective on what occurred. Which underscores a key point in addressing any rapid escalation conflict such as this one: find the person who can see both sides, and who has credibility that straddles the divide. In that individual is the wisdom to light a path out of the anger.