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President Politicizes Naval Academy Grad Speech, Ignores Navy’s Greatness

by Jack Butler - Hillsdale College on May 25, 2013

In a speech that launched Memorial Day weekend, President Barack Obama’s commencement address to the U.S. Naval Academy on Friday was largely politicized and failed to recognize or honor truly the U.S. Navy’s purpose.

Obama used his time at the podium at one of the most prestigious military institutions in the nation to deny culpability for automatic cuts in defense spending, and went on to promise to “keep fighting to end those foolish across-the-board budget cuts known as the sequester”—an idea originated by his own administration.

In paying homage to big government, the president noted the financial system’s crisis, stating that “we’ve also seen how the misdeeds of some — wild risk-taking or putting profits before people — sparked a financial crisis and deepened the recession that cost millions of Americans their jobs”—a remark straight from the campaign trail.

The president also blamed Republicans in all but name for Washington’s present ills, lamenting a political environment “where compromise is rejected as a dirty word, and policies are driven by special interests rather than the national interest…that breeds a cynicism that threatens our democracy.”

In a curious nod to the many scandals that have embroiled the beltway, Obama vaguely denied any responsibility, saying “as we’ve seen again in recent days, it only takes the misconduct of a few to further erode the people’s trust in their government … that’s unacceptable to me, and I know it’s unacceptable to you.”

The president also neglected to speak on the actual purpose of the Naval Academy. Instead, he referenced the trials the graduating midshipmen have undergone and future struggles.

“When your service is complete, many of you will go on to help lead your communities, America’s companies, you will lead this country,” the president said. “And if we want to restore the trust that the American people deserve to have in their institutions, all of us have to do our part.”

Obama also appeared uncomfortable telling his audience what they will actually do between the end of their academy years and the end of their service.

At times he came close, as when he asserted “we need you to project power across the oceans, from the Pacific to the Persian Gulf —100 percent on watch,” but this mission comprised only one in a series that included partnering with other navies and helping out in disasters.

What’s more, his approximation of the Navy’s role resorted to mere uncertainty: “And just as classes before you could not know that they would find themselves at Coral Sea or Midway or Fallujah or Helmand, we cannot know sitting here today where your service will carry you.”

While true, Obama sidestepped highlighting the primary mission of the Navy, which is to serve America’s offensive and defensive needs, even—especially—when that involves conflict. Obama’s opportunity to focus on the Navy’s immense historical, cultural and practical significance was lost to politicking and blame games.

He even took this celebratory moment to chide the grads about sexual assault scandals that have plagued the military recently, saying “those who commit sexual assault are not only committing a crime, they threaten the trust and discipline that makes our military strong. …That’s why we have to be determined to stop these crimes, because they’ve got no place in the greatest military on Earth.”

The best of Obama’s speech, unsurprisingly, was the homage he paid to the grads.

“In your four years by the Bay, you’ve met every test before you,” Obama said. “And today is the day that you’ve been counting down to for so long. You will take your oath. Those boards and gold bars will be placed on your shoulders.”

“I say all this because you’re about to assume the burden of leadership. As officers, you will be trusted with the most awesome of responsibilities — the lives of the men and women under your command.”

Fix contributor Jack Butler is a student at Hillsdale College.

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IMAGE: Screenshot/ YouTube via the White House

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George Washington University Professors: Obama on Mt. Rushmore – Eventually

by Katherine Rodriguez - George Washington University on May 23, 2013

A handful of George Washington University political and history professors largely support the idea of adding President Barack Obama’s face to Mount Rushmore – just not quite yet.

According to a survey conducted by The College Fix, three out of the 10 George Washington University history and political science professors questioned via email replied it’s simply too soon for Obama’s likeness to be immortalized on Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

But he very well could and should be added – eventually – the three educators said.

“Historical judgments take time to form and Obama is still in office,” said history professor Edward Berkowitz. “It could be that he will be one of the great presidents, worthy of having his likeness carved on a mountain, but certainly not yet.”

Professor Paul Wahlbeck, a professor and chairman of the political science department, said he is “reluctant to venerate political leaders while or shortly after they served,” but still remains optimistic.

“History undoubtedly will accord President Obama a special place by virtue of being the first African American President,” Wahlbeck said in an email to The College Fix.

The three professors seemed united that a president’s legacy should not appear prematurely.

Political Science Professor Robert Stoker, who specializes in social policy and authored an article in January claiming that Social Security does not add to the nation’s debt, voiced skepticism about venerating Obama’s legacy too soon.

“I recall how unseemly it was when Republicans started a premature campaign to cement President Reagan’s legacy by naming everything they could find after him,” Stoker said, referring to the campaign to name the national airport in DC after President Reagan.

“At least the Republicans waited until Reagan was no longer in office.”

Of the remaining George Washington University professors surveyed, one declined to weigh in, and six simply said “no” to the question of whether Obama belonged on Mt. Rushmore.

Dedicated in 1941, Mount Rushmore, located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, has only four faces etched into eternity at this time: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. To be added to that list would be one of the highest honors bestowed on any American, alive or dead.

With that, perhaps it’s no surprise that some professors at George Washington University can eventually see Obama – a democrat and America’s first black president – added to Rushmore sometime in the future.

The university has a reputation as a school with an inclination for liberal bias, where two gay students took aim at a campus priest, a law professor taught students how to lobby for Obama policies, and an abortionist practices on campus grounds next to a residence hall.

According to the Federal Election Commission, professors funneled $132,702 into Barack Obama’s campaign in the 2012 election cycle.

None of the professors surveyed financially supported Obama’s campaign in the 2012 election cycle, but more than a few have vocally supported liberal causes.

While those at GW think President Obama’s legacy is too soon to be etched on a monument, countless others have picked up the slack to name things after our current president before his time using taxpayer money.

•Pennsylvania: An international magnet school has already been named “The Barack Obama Academy for International Studies” only two years after President Obama assumed office.  The Duquesne Duke, March 2011.

•Florida: A street has been re-named “Barack Obama Avenue” in Opa-locka, FL in February 2009 after the city commission “voted unanimously” to rename part of Perviz Avenue and make it official on President’s Day.  USA Today, January 2009.

•Florida: There is also a parkway in Orlando named “Barack Obama Parkway” that is about one and a half miles in length that was dedicated by Orlando’s mayor in October 2011.  The Blaze, October 2011.

•New Jersey: “A Plainfield public high school for at-risk students has been renamed for President Barack Obama, becoming the first school in the state to adopt the change.” The Star Ledger, February 2009.

•New York: The Hempstead Union Free School District board voted unanimously to rename “Ludlum Elementary School” to “Barack Obama Elementary School” just three weeks after the president was elected.  Fox News, November 2009.

•Wisconsin: The Milwaukee Public School Board voted in April 2011 in a “5-4 vote to approve naming a school after the current president.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 2011.

•California: “The former Qued Charter Elementary School changed its name to the Barack Obama Charter School” in January 2009 just days before the presidential inauguration.  LATimes.com, January 2009

Fix contributor Katherine Rodriguez is a student at George Washington University.

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IMAGE:   Eric Fredericks/Flickr

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Some Blacks Offended By Obama’s Morehouse Commencement Address

by College Fix Staff on May 21, 2013

It’s not uncommon for African Americans to criticize President Barack Obama’s job performance, and the latest example of that comes on the heels of his commencement speech at Morehouse College on Sunday.

During his keynote address at the historically black, all-male college in Georgia, Obama called for better family values among the black community and personal responsibility over complaints about racism.

During his speech, Obama told the grads to “recognize the burdens you carry with you, but resist the temptation to use them as excuses.”

“That’s what being an American is about. Success may not come quickly or easily. But if you strive to do what’s right; if you work harder and dream bigger; if you set an example in your own lives and do your part to help meet the challenges of our time, then I am confident that, together, we will continue the never-ending task of perfecting our union.”

But some African Americans on Monday called that message tired and insulting, saying it was rhetoric meant to pander to white people.

“Trevor Coleman thinks it’s time for President Obama to get a new speech for black audiences,” The Washington Post reports. “The personal responsibility finger-wagging, delivered most recently Sunday at Morehouse College’s commencement, is getting old. … Coleman, a former speechwriter for former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, said … he was disappointed that Obama almost always defaults to the clean-up-your-act message when talking to predominantly black audiences.”

The Post goes on to quote Leola Johnson, an associate professor and chair of the Media and Cultural Studies Department at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.,  who said Obamas’ speeches “are actually not aimed at black people.”

“They’re actually for white people, liberals especially,” she said.

However, Obama’s speech was different that his usual “you didn’t build that” pro-government, pro-socialism rhetoric, as The College Fix reported Monday. If it was meant to pander to anyone, it was probably the conservatives he’s been accused of harassing and targeting via the IRS. But we digress.

The Post goes on to report:

Kevin Powell, an activist based in New York who travels the country encouraging black men to take responsibility for their lives, said he has no problem with Obama challenging the black community, but . . .

“You also have to challenge the system, just as you challenge the people. It’s not an either/or,” said Powell. …

A. Scott Bolden, a Washington lawyer and Morehouse graduate, and Coleman, the former speechwriter and Detroit-based writer, offered finger-wagging lectures of their own.

“It’s interesting that President Obama is always asking black people to take responsibility for themselves,” Bolden said. “It would be really nice if he’d take responsibility for black people in his second term.”

Apparently, Obama’s message fell on deaf ears.

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Professors: IRS Scandal Could Lead To Impeachment

by Jennifer Kabbany - Associate Editor on May 20, 2013

If it can be proven President Barack Obama was involved in the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups, that’s an impeachable offense, two professors said in interviews with The College Fix.

“If there was a clear line of responsibility or authority that could be shown between the IRS and their actions targeting conservative groups and the president – he wouldn’t make it through the end of the day,” said Scott Waller, assistant professor of political science at Biola University.

Grove City College media law and ethics Professor Daniel Brown agreed, saying if President Obama knew about and did nothing to stop the IRS targeting of conservative nonprofit efforts, which took place as early as 2010 and through 2012, that’s grounds for impeachment.

Brown cited one of the articles of impeachment leveled against Richard Nixon to prove his point, noting it related to the former president using the IRS in a discriminatory manner:

Using the powers of the office of President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in disregard of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has repeatedly engaged in conduct violating the constitutional rights of citizens, impairing the due and proper administration of justice and the conduct of lawful inquiries, or contravening the laws governing agencies of the executive branch and the purposed of these agencies.

This conduct has included one or more of the following:

He has, acting personally and through his subordinates and agents, endeavored to obtain from the Internal Revenue Service, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, confidential information contained in income tax returns for purposed not authorized by law, and to cause, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, income tax audits or other income tax investigations to be initiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner.

“Our country has barely recovered from Watergate, so with a heavy heart, I concede it (could be) an impeachable offense,” said Brown, also a contributing scholar with the college’s Center for Vision and Values.

Both Grove City College and Biola University are Christian institutions.

Waller, during his interview, said a “clear line” – such as a memo or paper trail – would be the most effective evidence to show whether the president ordered or condoned the systemic and large-scale undertakings of the IRS to thwart and delay applications for tax-exempt status from conservative groups.

But he added the chances of that are slim to none. What’s more likely, the professor said, is that the president would be accused of being complicit in the IRS scandal.

Only time will tell, Waller said.

“It took two years for the Nixon scandal to kind of burgeon to the point where Nixon lost the political support of Republicans, and that is really what brought him down,” Waller said. “In a similar vein, it is going to take a while if there is something here of the damaging sort to make itself known.”

Waller said he suspects the IRS scandal isn’t going away any time soon.

“If in the investigation we start to see links to the White House and the IRS scandal, this thing is not going away for a long, long time.”

Jennifer Kabbany is associate editor of The College Fix.

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Leftists, Democrats Dominate Commencement Speakers List

by College Fix Staff on May 17, 2013

Young America’s Foundation has uncovered that liberal-leaning and Democrat speakers dominated this year’s slate of commencement speakers across the nation.

Specifically, while 62 liberal speakers are scheduled to speak or have already spoken at  commencement ceremonies at the top 100 universities this graduation season, the group’s survey found that, in comparison, only 17 conservatives could be identified as taking the podium. For the rest of the speakers, their ideology could not be determined.

“Star-studded examples of imbalance include Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker speaking at his alma mater, Yale University,” the foundation reports. “Big government mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg will speak at Stanford University; House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will keynote at the University of California-Davis School of Law’s commencement; Oprah Winfrey is speaking to Harvard University; and Vice President Joe Biden will give graduates one last dose of liberalism at the University of Pennsylvania.”

What’s worse, conservative voices are silenced, Young America’s Foundation notes.

“Neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson, who has risen to national fame for his criticism of this administration’s leftist policies, was banned from speaking at Johns Hopkins University by an online petition from liberal students,” its officials state.

And then there’s the ongoing President Obama tour.

“President Obama, who has been on a college campus one out of nine days since taking office, according to an ongoing foundation study, will be giving three commencement speeches this spring, including at Ohio State University where he challenged the students to ‘reject’ voices who are critical of his big government policies.”

For a full list of the foundation’s survey, click here.

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IMAGE: Flickr/Domstersch

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NYU Prof Against Traditional Marriage, For Same-Sex Marriage

by College Fix Staff on April 30, 2013

Follow this logic – an NYU professor is against traditional marriage, but for same-sex marriage.

The Heritage Foundation reports on Professor Judith Stacey’s mind-bending ideas on “What is marriage?”

Her take? “Why should there be marriage at all?”

The think tank, which recorded one of her talks, further expounds on the sociology and cultural analysis professor’s beliefs, and they actually get much, much worse:

Stacey concedes that we live in a world where marriage exists and so asks, “What should limit [marriage] to two, and why should it be monogamous?”

… Stacey rejects the relationship between marriage policy and the interests of children. She also rejects the overwhelming evidence that children tend to do best when raised by their married, biological parents: “I would say that children certainly do not need a mother and a father.… There is no evidence that three parents would not be better than two.”

Stacey also rejects the conclusions of studies of the past 40 years that conclude there are social consequences when the law teaches fathers are optional. Unwed births make children more vulnerable to poverty, and children without fathers also are much more susceptible to participate in crime and drug abuse. All the while, unwed childbearing leads to dramatically higher welfare costs and limits social mobility.

Stacey even disputes the recent statement of President Obama, who was raised by a single mother, about children growing up without fathers: “We know the statistics—that children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime; nine times more likely to drop out of schools and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral problems, or run away from home or become teenage parents themselves.”

Stacey’s response: “Obama is not a social scientist and was deeply misled.… Obama was dead wrong.”

In fact, Stacey goes so far as to attest, “I suspect, for the reasons of selection effects, the children of gay male co-parents will wind up having probably the best parents.”

Stacey is co-author of “How Does the Gender of Parents Matter?” and “Ideal Families and Social Science Ideals.” We can only surmise those works aren’t fans of traditional marriage.

This woman is at the helm of sociology and cultural analysis studies at NYU, yet her beliefs are probably similar to most of her peers across the nation. In effect, is it any wonder the war against traditional marriage is losing so badly nowadays? We send our children off to college to further their educations, but oftentimes they’re indoctrinated by educators like Stacey along the way.

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