Classic Rant #11 (May 18, 2009): Heckling the President

President Obama walked into the middle of a storm over the weekend, and I think he pretty much got out of this storm unscathed.

However, the behavior of some people toward the President of the United States was a bit over the top.

The President gave the commencement address at Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., which, if you want to be frank about it, is one of the great universities in our country, but is probably more well known for its athletic program (and Knute Rockne) than anything else it has done education-wise.

There has been great debate whether a pro-abortion, pro-stem cell research president should be making an address--or more importantly, and appearance--at a Catholic school, but he went anyway.

As he acknowledged the schism that existed between his Administration's views and those of the anti-abortionists, several people heckled him, and he had to stop his speech a few times, asking the majority of the crowd, which was now booing the heckler, that it was "all right," and that he could almost understand their disagreement with him.

He almost strode the middle ground by stating that everyone on both sides of the fence should work to reduce the number of women seeking abortions "by reducing unintended pregnancies and making adoption more available."

I have to agree, although I would have added that Hollywood is also to blame for the increase in out-of-wedlock pregnancies-- the glamorizing of this situation in both movies and television might add to this uptick in real life.

Back to the hecklers. Did they achieve anything? Well, I think they looked so stupid, and sounded so out of place, that they made our President look better than he has in a long time. Rather than get angry with their outbursts, he almost seemed to welcome them.

A better protest was adopted by several graduates, who respected our President but still disagreed with him by placing messages on top of their mortar boards.

Personally, I find hecking a tremendous waste of time, but in this case, it was great P.R. for a President who can use some slaps on the back every once in a while, telling him that he is doing a good job, especially with his plate brimming over like it is right now.