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Wednesday, May 17, 2006

A Different Kind of Commencement Speaker

The graduating cadets at the Virginia Military Institute held their commencement exercises yesterday afternoon, and were fortunate enough to have as their keynote speaker Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. It is a different world down there. From these northerly climes, inviting a Republican Secretary of Defense is hardly imaginable, and if one ever were to be asked to speak, one imagines that there would be not only protests but resignations from the professoriat, as there were this year for even less divisive GOP figures.

A reader e-mails audiotape of Secretary Rumsfeld’s graduation address. You can hear it below, or download it for later listening.

Download: [MP3]

An excerpt:

You may find people who will contend that patriotism is something to be a bit embarrassed about. That honor is a somewhat outdated notion. And that concentrating on America’s imperfections makes you a realist. Not so. It makes you a cynic.

Being a cynic is the easiest thing in the world. You can just sit back and heckle from the cheap seats while others serve, storm beaches, build nations, and meet their destinies.

Idealists write history’s stirring chapters. Cynics only read about them, and seem not to understand. I hope you choose to be an idealist.

There are always people who contend that America is what’s wrong with the world. Don’t believe them.

Remind people why you are proud of our country and our values — and why those values are worth fighting for.

Remind them that today, somewhere in Lexington, Virginia, an entrepreneur arrived at her small business, free to invest and take risks and fail and try again. A family ate breakfast in a kitchen full of love and laughter and hope. Morning prayers were said across the country, not by the dictates of a theocracy, but by choice, in a dozen different languages, through a thousand different prayers. And that even those down on their luck remain blessed by the liberty of America. Such are the blessings that we enjoy. Such is the freedom we must defend and preserve.

Posted on May 17, 2006 11:46 AM. Permalink