Dear Fr. Jenkins,
Like the overwhelming majority of my fellow graduating seniors I am absolutely outraged that President Barack Obama is our Commencement speaker. To force us to listen to such a heathen is despicable. However, instead of complaining I would like to offer a solution.
I have taken the liberty of doing some research and found a man who I believe is an ideal candidate to address the graduates of Our Lady's University. Bruce Edwards Ivins was born in the Midwest and after a strong family upbringing converted to Roman Catholicism. Ivins 1, Obama 0.
Ivins is also an extremely intelligent man. He is a microbioligist, a vaccinologist and a researcher for the U.S. Army. A Catholic and a patriot, score another one for Ivins. Too boring you say? Ivins also plays the keyboard in a Celtic rock band and is the founder of the Frederick Jugglers club. I doubt that Obama will be doing the jig while tossing flaming bowling pins in the air.
But, most importantly he is a staunch pro-life advocate. Ivins and his wife have stood up against abortions for years. In 2001, he sent a letter to pro-choice Catholic Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy asking them to reconsider their position.
Yes, those letters may have also contained a few anthrax spores. A few numbskulls down at the FBI did claim that he was "solely responsible for the deaths of five persons and the injury of dozens of others." Maybe his acts did inspire several others to send similar envelopes to abortion clinics across the U.S. But this is a man who has stong beliefs - strong Catholic beliefs - and has done something about them. He's not standing around with pictures of dead babies. He is out there seeking vengeance and I feel he should be honored for his bravery.
The only problem is that Ivins was found dead last summer when he overdosed on Tylenol PM. Wait, this guy is pro-life but he killed himself?
Never mind stick with Obama.
Dan Murphy
senior
off campus
April 22
The writer of the above letter was the Sports Editor of The Observer for the 2008-2009 term.
