Friday, October 2, 2009

Red Rover

Tonight was the Political Awareness Committee's Fall Speaker. This year, the speaker was Karl Rove. Oooh! Controversial figure! They reserved the Skoglund Gymnatorium for the Fine Arts so they could get enough seating for everyone. (Side note: Skoglund is just a gym, but it fits the most people of anywhere on campus, so it's used frequently for music events, hence the nickname).

I was expecting the event of the year. I guess it was pretty remarkable. Hundreds of students waited in line outside Skoglund in the rain for a good seat. I think several hundred probably didn't come because of the rain. This behavior is typical of Oles. It must be a remarkable event for people to (1) walk down to Skoglund for an event and (2) walk and stand in the rain for it.

As I was huddled under a nice music major's umbrella and we were slowly trudging to the entrance, I saw a figure in red and white run toward the building, something smoking in hand.

"Oh god," I thought, "Now they're just going to cancel the event. Some stupid kids gotta play terrorist for Karl Rove."

Surprisingly, they just threw the smoke bomb back outside, and kept letting people in.

I got in, took my seat next to KT, and prepared for the fun. Then there was a disturbance behind us. The same red and white figure was now laying on the ground, blood coming from his mouth, not moving. The security guard just started at him, and beckoned some EMTs over. Then they all stood staring at him. Then an officer picked him to his feet and marched him outside. I think he was trying to protest the violence that has come about as a result of Karl Rove's influence, but I think he was a little high so it didn't really come out the way I think he intended. The blood was fake, by the way. Some people, including me, applauded him as he was marched out. KT glowered at me. I think it takes a lot of guts to do something like that, especially at St. Olaf where Minnesota Nice is not only encouraged but institutionalized. I frown on the smoke bomb, but exhibiting your message in a non-verbal form is a unique gift that not many people can pull off, including Reed.

Anyway, Karl Rove eventually started speaking. He spent a long time talking about being Norwegian and Lutheran. The beginning of the speech was directed at the stereotypical St. Olaf students, being as we're a Lutheran and Norwegian school. I don't think he realizes that many of us are not Lutheran or Norwegian. Anyway, then he got into his talking points about healthcare. There was much recitation of the Republican standpoint on health care. It wasn't really anything we don't hear every day now that health care is the biggest issue in politics right now.

It wasn't until the Q&A portion that things got really interesting. (I mean, the health care debate is interesting, but not when only one side is presented and it's a side that's been repeated hundreds of times in the media and town hall debates). Questions were written on note cards, collected by SGA volunteers and then selected by lottery, moderated and read by PAC people. There were questions asking him to defend his role in the war on Iraq, his election tactics, etc.

There was a lot of question evading and more talking points being recited. A lot of facts cited that we've all heard before that don't represent the whole of the issue. The best moment of the night, however, was when someone asked about whether or not another Reagan figure would come to the Republican party, and someone shouted behind us "It's the Second Coming of Reagan!" Pretty sure we laughed at that for over a minute. : )

By the experience, I am satisfied. By the talk itself, not so much. I guess I was expecting new and innovative ideas to be addressed in his speech, but it wasn't anything really challenging.

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