Afternoon Baseball

Nothing too controversial. If there were protesters, as was the scuttlebutt, then either the rain drove them off or it was such a chaotic scene that I couldn't tell who was who. Giuliani was great -- talked about leadership and the four principles he felt were most important. Cited September Eleven, 2001 (saying it exactly like that) about every 12 seconds, but I would too. It's a defining moment in the last 60 years of America, much less his own life.
He alluded to the controversy over his abortion and gay rights views only once, saying that he understood that there was controversy over his views, but he was sorry, he still was going to be a Yankees fan. By the way, Cardinal Keeler, who huffily refused to send a delgation, has never attended a Loyola graduation. The Hedgehog Report has done a good job covering that interesting tidbit.

The important thing is to not lose sight of the bigger picture. With so much of Loyola being concentrated in the NYC area, Giuliani is a hero for his actions to a large portion of the graduates, who interim president David Haddad called the "Class of 9/11." That's it. It's to bring and recognize a speaker who had a profound positive impact on most of the graduating class. In that regard, Loyola scored a great success, and their detractors, in this instance, missed the point entirely.