The President gave the commencement address yesterday at Notre Dame University. Much of the media hype about this has focused attention on the differing views on abortion rights held by, on the one hand, the President, and the other, the Roman Catholic Church. There have been many outspoken critics of ND's decision to invite the President; strangely enough, however, a student protest prayer vigil held the night before commencement was attended by about 150 students. None of those arrested outside the grounds of the campus (there were no protests on campus) were members of ND's faculty or staff, but included Obama's opponent for the Senate seat in IL, Alan Keyes, and Norma McCovey, the "Roe" of Rove v Wade infamy, now a pro-life advocate.
By way of contrast, there were roughly 12,000 people in attendance at the commencement ceremonies, with only 20 to 30 graduating seniors refusing to attend.
So, the entire controversy was, for the most part, fake. There was no groundswell against the President speaking at Notre Dame. Those who spoke out most loudly and most often, and ended up being arrested, weren't even members of the Notre Dame community. They were trouble makers, publicity whores, and - compared to the size of the overall university population - such a small minority as to be insignificant.
