BYU Gabbery

As a BYU alum I like to peek in on BYU Newsnet from time to time to see what the new controversy brewing on campus is- honor code, war protests, parking problems. The latest seems to be the invitation to VP Dick Cheney to speak at commencement at the end of this month. In all fairness, Cheney's a fairly controversial figure. Democrats loathe his Halliburton background, war stance and loyalty to President Bush. Republicans admire his political experience, war stance and loyalty to President Bush. But he is the Vice President of the United States. Quite a commencement speechmaker, I'm sure. How many graduating seniors get to hear a sitting Vice President at their graduation ceremony? Unfortunately, politics rears its ugly head and the BYU College Democrats and associated law professors protesting Cheney throw out faulty statistics and liberal talking points to persuade us that in all of their infinite wisdom, the Board of Trustees of BYU, consisting of General Authorites and a living Prophet of God, dropped the ball on this one. What were they thinking? Inviting a political figure to speak at BYU? According to protestors, Cheney's invitation gives the appearance of a political endorsement of Cheney, Bush and the Republican party. If that's the case, BYU should defer any future invites for politicians to speak on campus. Sorry, Mitt, Harry, Hillary & Orrin! BYU students can't stand free speech and public discourse of any political affiliation. Hopefully, the anti-Cheney protesters will respect the rights of their fellow students and let the graduating class of 2007 have a ceremony devoid of political rancor. Only time will tell!