Yes, it’s time for college commencements once again.  That time when the graduates finally get their diplomas, and their families free themselves of tuition and fees.  You go to the campus, where you brave the heat, or the rain, and you get to sit through a commencement address, typically from some boring academic you never heard of.  At my college commencement nearly 50 years ago, we got to hear from psychologist Bruno Bettelheim.  I’d like to tell you his words inspired me, but I don’t remember anything he said.

But there are commencements, and then there are commencements.  If you went to a more prestigious school, you may have heard from a more well known commencement speaker.  The service academies are a good example.  Each year, the President speaks at one of them.  In 2023, President Biden spoke at the Air Force Academy.  The most memorable part of that speech was Biden’s trip-and-fall face-plant while on stage.

This year, President Trump spoke at West Point.  The speech was typical Trump.  A little flattery, a little comedy, and a little bluster, with Trump’s national security accomplishments generously sprinkled in.  The President told the graduating cadets that each and every one of them was a winner.  Then he detailed his improvements in military readiness.

President Trump told the graduates that the era of DEI advancement in the military is over.  Going forward, promotions will be made solely based on merit.  About time.

He offered the new second lieutenants words of inspiration. “There are a lot of different paths you can take. So follow your instincts and make sure that you take the path that you love, that you’re doing something that you love within your military.  You will be happier in the Army.  Second is to think big.  Always think big.  Third, though, you’ve got to do this with great power you have to have, potential you have to have, but to be real successful, you’re always going to have to work hard.  Fourth is, don’t lose your momentum.”

Then he spoke of culture and tradition.  “And finally, hold on to your culture and your traditions, because that’s what makes something really great.  And that’s what’s made the Army great.  The culture and the tradition. Whether we’re talking about attacking a business, a sports team, or even a nation, history has shown that in many ways culture is destiny.”

All in all, the Trump commencement speech was uplifting and hopeful.  Compare that to the Scott Pelley commencement speech at Wake Forest University.  CBS, 60 Minutes correspondent Pelley gave a speech that devolved into what amounted to an anti-Trump rant, replete with the same nonsensical Leftist talking points that have made the Democrat Party the hopeless wreck it is today.

Pelley began with a lie, “As a reporter, I have learned to respect opinions.  Reasonable people can differ about the life of our country.  America works well when we listen to those with whom we disagree and when we listen and when we have common ground and we compromise.”  The problem is that Pelley and the rest of his cabal don’t respect differing opinions.  The consider those who disagree with them  unreasonable, and thus, unworthy of being heard.

The foray into fantasy continued.  “Today, great universities are threatened with ruin.  Institutions of higher education share a commitment to serve as centers of open inquiry where, in their pursuit of truth, faculty, students, and staff are free to exchange ideas and opinions across a full range of viewpoints without fear of retribution, censorship, or deportation.”

Here Pelley gives voice to the goals and values that once were respected by our institutions of higher learning, but no longer.  Faculty, students, and staff are not free to exchange ideas and opinions across a full range of viewpoints.  The only viewpoints permitted on campus by the 60’s radicals who run the schools are Left wing opinions.  Conservative speech has been relentlessly suppressed by violence and threat of violence.

“First, make the truth seekers live in fear.  Sue the journalists.”  “Truth seekers,” really?  These are the truth seekers who actively hid Joe Biden’s dementia and who regularly buried the truth by spiking stories for political gain.

“Sue the journalists?”  When Trump sued ABC for defamation they confessed judgment and had to pay him $16 million.  Maybe he meant the suit against CBS, 60 Minutes, where he works.  That’s the one where CBS fabricated answers to their questions to Scamala Harris to resurrect her horrendous performance, in an attempt to influence the 2024 election.

Journalists have no need to live in fear.  Journalists are not being sued.  But those who masquerade as journalists, and who bury the truth in hopes of deceiving the public ought to live in fear.  Pelley’s message seems to be, “We’re allowed to lie with impunity under the guise of journalism, and any attempt to correct our lies is a crime against speech.”  He is mistaken.

Pelley was just getting started.  “Then, move to destroy law firms that stand up for the rights of others.”  He refers to Perkins Coie, the firm of Mark Elias, the lawyer who helped perpetuate the Russia hoax.  Once again, Pelley paints Republicans as mere ducks in a Left Wing shooting gallery.

He went on.  “Diversity is now described as illegal.  Equity is to be shunned.  Inclusion is a dirty word.”  Diversity isn’t illegal.  The private sector can pursue all the diversity and equity it likes, whatever that is supposed to mean.  Just no longer expect the government to pay for a perverted system that destroys merit.

Then Pelley really exhibited hypocrisy laden with ignorance.  “If we walk a little bit further past the BBC, we will encounter another hero in the fight against fascism, George Orwell.  He’d be standing there, frozen in bronze with his words carved in the side of a building: “If liberty means anything at all, it means something worth saying that some people don’t want to hear.” ”He understood that ignorance works for power.”  Yeah. He also understood the danger of the Big Brother government CBS and Pelley protected, dictating every aspect of our lives.

The fascists Orwell opposed were socialists, just like Pelley and his lefty pals.  Liberty does mean the ability to say things that some people don’t want to hear.  Unfortunately, Pelley and company are the ones who don’t want to hear any dissent.  They believe in free speech only when they’re talking.

If the Scott Pelley commencement speech proved anything it was that Democrats still don’t get the point.  They’re so consumed by Trump Derangement Syndrome that they’re willing to oppose positions held by 80% of the electorate simply because Trump supports them.  Here’s some free advice.  Unless and until Democrats are ready to work for the betterment of the American citizen, spare us your lectures.

Class dismissed.