Where Was I?

A reader asks:

Again, where were you all when pro-choice, pro-death penalty, pro Iraq War, pro-torture Condie Rice spoke at Boston University? Oh, that’s right; she’s a Republican. Never mind. IOKIYAR.

I take it you don’t read this blog too often. It’s been a while since I’ve been accused of being a GOP shill, much less pro-choice, pro-death penalty, pro Iraq War, or pro-torture. But the needs of the demagogue seldom cavil at such trivialities as facts or the thought process.

On the remote chance you actually want to know, I will answer the question.

A) I never knew Condi Rice spoke at Boston U. I live in Seattle and don’t keep my finger on the pulse of everybody who speaks at Catholic colleges across the US. Hence my hypocritical silence.

B) If I had known, I would have asked “Are they having her speak our of the competence of her office or are they heaping honors on her?” If the former, I would have no objection, just as I would have no objection to Obama speaking at Notre Dame. Part of the mission of a university is to engage with the movers and shakers, not to retreat from the world. But a Catholic University, while it has an obligation to engage with those who act in high office (such as Presidents and Sec’ys of State) has no obligation to prostitute itself by according high honors to public officials who advocate policies repugnant to the Catholic Faith. Had Boston U awarded Rice an honorary law degree, I would oppose it as vehemently as I oppose ND’s prostration before Obama.

Do you, dear reader, in turn, oppose the honors given Obama by ND as vehemently as I oppose according the same honors to Rice? Or are you just another ideological shill who is full of crap and seeking to score a point?