Outrage Over Obama at Notre Dame

Protests will likely amount to nothing

A Catholic group has started up a petition drive to prevent President Obama from speaking at Notre Dame's commencement ceremony in the spring. This is because Obama supports abortion rights, which many Catholics and conservatives do not.

Chances are the university will not officially rescind the president's invitation, because come on, that is just rude. Instead, many students will likely just decline to clap for Obama's speech, or maybe they'll hold up some protest signs, like Yale students did when President Bush spoke at his alma mater eight years ago.

This way, everybody wins. President Obama gets to hit the trifecta of commencement addresses his first year in office: a state university, a private Catholic university and a military academy. Pro-lifers get to voice their outrage that a pro-choicer is allowed on the Notre Dame campus. And everyone on the sidelines all can congratulate themselves that we are disagreeing without being disagreeable.

What will be truly fantastic is when Obama gets an invite to speak at, say, Liberty University, or Bob Jones University, and leaves his own supporters slack-jawed that he would agree to speak at such a wretched institution. And then the very people who are currently baying for his blood for daring to speak at Notre Dame will praise his spirit of Christian brotherhood. Funsy.

Sara K. Smith never met a commencement speaker she didn't find outrageous. She writes for NBC and Wonkette.

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