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DAVID HOLAHAN, HARTFORD COURANT - Karl Rove's national rehab tour,
which some are calling "More Venom and Then Some," makes a stop at the
prestigious Choate Rosemary Hall School on Feb. 11. After that, "The
Divider" is off to the University of Pennsylvania to spread his unique
brand of bipartisan bonhomie. . .
In less than a month, Rove managed to do for Choate what he and his
colleagues in the Bush administration have done to America over the past
seven years. Members of this patrician prep school community were at one
another's throats over the roly-poly power broker.
Left-of-center alums reportedly flooded the school with calls and
e-mails threatening to cancel their donations if Rove wasn't replaced as
commencement speaker.
The politicking got downright Rovian, as students sporting Topsiders and
Uggs used all means, fair and foul, to make their case. Some floated the
idea of an "alternative graduation" at which faux news commentator
Stephen Colbert would preside. Had that come to fruition, Headmaster
Edward J. Shanahan and the board of trustees likely would have found
themselves largely alone, chatting with Mr. Rove over plates of cucumber
sandwiches.
Some of the "Throw Rove Overboard" cadre went straight to his resume.
They pointed out that it was ironic that a man who has declined to talk
under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee about his role in the
firing of U.S. attorneys should be expected to tell it like it is to the
class of 2008. The Senate committee has cited Rove for contempt of
Congress. They added that Rove was notorious for not talking to the
media, unless it involved a leak to a friendly journalist, often to
skewer a political opponent.
Others sniffed that someone who went to college, receiving a deferment
from the draft, but never earned his degree was hardly up to the
standards expected of a graduation speaker at this elite preparatory
school. . .
Headmaster Shanahan finessed this delicate situation nicely. He, not
Rove, would be the graduation speaker, but Rove would take part in a
less formal rumpus with the student body on Feb. 11. This would appease
the both sides of Choate's collective brain, the left and right lobes.
http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-holahan0130.artjan30,0,1099441.story
HEADMASTER EDWARD J. SHANAHAN - Mr. Rove has been, to say the least, a
controversial figure in the public life of our country over the last
several years. He has drawn praise for his political acumen and for his
creative, perhaps shrewd, strategizing in support of the Republican
Party and the policies of our president. In addition, he has overseen
two successful presidential elections, played a vital role in the major
policy decisions made during the Bush presidency and is considered by
some to be one of the most powerful White House advisers in American
history. To be sure, a host of questionable maneuverings in several
areas of administrative activity and decision making have been
attributed to him over the past several years; but, while lingering,
these charges remain unproven to date.
Exposing our students at Choate or at any serious academic institution
only to one point of view, or refusing to expose them to controversial
public servants, is not a sound strategy, and is potentially corrosive
of our historic mission.
Choate has been no stranger to heated debate and rigorous discussion.
Our school has, with great and lasting benefit to its student body,
happily served as a venue for a number of controversial speakers over
its long and rich history: Alexander Kerensky (purported father of the
Russian Revolution), Dean Acheson, Norman Thomas, Eugene McCarthy,
Mikhail Gorbachev and others. As an educational marketplace, Choate
should, therefore, be a place for the open exchange of ideas. We should
not hesitate to bring before our students people who stimulate those
ideas, even people espousing opinions with which we may passionately
disagree.
http://www.choate.edu/data/files/News/
HomepageNews/Hartford_Courant_Commentary.pdf
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DAVID HOLAHAN, HARTFORD COURANT - Karl Rove's national rehab tour,
which some are calling "More Venom and Then Some," makes a stop at the
prestigious Choate Rosemary Hall School on Feb. 11. After that, "The
Divider" is off to the University of Pennsylvania to spread his unique
brand of bipartisan bonhomie. . .
In less than a month, Rove managed to do for Choate what he and his
colleagues in the Bush administration have done to America over the past
seven years. Members of this patrician prep school community were at one
another's throats over the roly-poly power broker.
Left-of-center alums reportedly flooded the school with calls and
e-mails threatening to cancel their donations if Rove wasn't replaced as
commencement speaker.
The politicking got downright Rovian, as students sporting Topsiders and
Uggs used all means, fair and foul, to make their case. Some floated the
idea of an "alternative graduation" at which faux news commentator
Stephen Colbert would preside. Had that come to fruition, Headmaster
Edward J. Shanahan and the board of trustees likely would have found
themselves largely alone, chatting with Mr. Rove over plates of cucumber
sandwiches.
Some of the "Throw Rove Overboard" cadre went straight to his resume.
They pointed out that it was ironic that a man who has declined to talk
under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee about his role in the
firing of U.S. attorneys should be expected to tell it like it is to the
class of 2008. The Senate committee has cited Rove for contempt of
Congress. They added that Rove was notorious for not talking to the
media, unless it involved a leak to a friendly journalist, often to
skewer a political opponent.
Others sniffed that someone who went to college, receiving a deferment
from the draft, but never earned his degree was hardly up to the
standards expected of a graduation speaker at this elite preparatory
school. . .
Headmaster Shanahan finessed this delicate situation nicely. He, not
Rove, would be the graduation speaker, but Rove would take part in a
less formal rumpus with the student body on Feb. 11. This would appease
the both sides of Choate's collective brain, the left and right lobes.
http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-holahan0130.artjan30,0,1099441.story
HEADMASTER EDWARD J. SHANAHAN - Mr. Rove has been, to say the least, a
controversial figure in the public life of our country over the last
several years. He has drawn praise for his political acumen and for his
creative, perhaps shrewd, strategizing in support of the Republican
Party and the policies of our president. In addition, he has overseen
two successful presidential elections, played a vital role in the major
policy decisions made during the Bush presidency and is considered by
some to be one of the most powerful White House advisers in American
history. To be sure, a host of questionable maneuverings in several
areas of administrative activity and decision making have been
attributed to him over the past several years; but, while lingering,
these charges remain unproven to date.
Exposing our students at Choate or at any serious academic institution
only to one point of view, or refusing to expose them to controversial
public servants, is not a sound strategy, and is potentially corrosive
of our historic mission.
Choate has been no stranger to heated debate and rigorous discussion.
Our school has, with great and lasting benefit to its student body,
happily served as a venue for a number of controversial speakers over
its long and rich history: Alexander Kerensky (purported father of the
Russian Revolution), Dean Acheson, Norman Thomas, Eugene McCarthy,
Mikhail Gorbachev and others. As an educational marketplace, Choate
should, therefore, be a place for the open exchange of ideas. We should
not hesitate to bring before our students people who stimulate those
ideas, even people espousing opinions with which we may passionately
disagree.
http://www.choate.edu/data/files/News/
HomepageNews/Hartford_Courant_Commentary.pdf
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