My Daughter's Graduation - Tony Snow's Hypocrisy

My oldest daughter graduated with honors and received her Masters Degree in Education today from Old Dominion University here in Norfolk. I am very, very proud of her!! She is beautiful, smart, talented and a wonderful sweet person. By a strange set of circumstances (one of the counselors had to unexpectedly go out of maternity leave early) she will have a position as a long term substitute for a counselor at the high school where she has already been working as an assistant coach for the school's swim team. Obviously, she is happy is very happy. Previously, she thought she would not have a position until in the spring semester when a different staff member was set to go out on leave. Hopefully, it will all translate into a full time position for her next school year.

The ceremony was nice as graduation ceremonies go, except for the fact that Tony Snow, the former White House Press Secretary was the commencement speaker. Early in his career, he had written for both the Virginian Pilot and the Daily Press on the Peninsula (i.e., Hampton and Newport News). Some of his factual statements were flat out wrong - I guess that's what happens when you work for a bosses like the Chimperator and Emperor Cheney who cannot discern the truth from their delusions. One of Snow's themes dealt with love of one's country - i.e., the USA. Among other things he said trying to make it seem as if the last seven years under the Chimperator have been productive, Snow made statements such as (a) the divorce rate is the lowest it has been since the 1960's - obviously not a true statement, and (b) the teen pregnancy rate is the lowest in years - also not a true statement sine in 2006 the rate increased, no doubt due to abstinence only sex education.

Moreover, in the area of civil rights for all citizens - prompted no doubt by the honorary doctorate awarded to a 92 year old local black woman who worked for years for the registration of and voting rights for black Americans - he talked about the steady progress in providing equality to all Americans, conveniently leaving out the efforts of the Chimperator's and the GOP's efforts to make LGBT Americans permanent second class citizens. I was about to gag and vomit when he made those statements. Then just at that moment I received a text message from my younger daughter who was sitting in another section of the convocation hall with her mother that read as follows: f*** this speaker!! My thoughts exactly. Fortunately, my son had stayed home and not come to the graduation. He - being an extreme liberal politically - no doubt would have wanted to yell something out to Snow and perhaps have caused an incident.

Other than having to listen to Tony Snow's lies and misstatements of the truth, it was a pleasant time. After the ceremony, I had a pleasant talk with both daughters (and even with their mother who is civil toward me now that the divorce is over).