Boston College Protest
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This is a partial transcript from "Hannity & Colmes," May 22, 2006, that has been edited for clarity.
SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: This was the scene at the Boston College commencement ceremony earlier today when students displaying antiwar messages turned their backs on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she accepted an honorary degree. Our cameras were on campus during this protest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Having Condoleezza Rice here just misrepresents everything that we've been taught here at Boston College.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has compromised her own values as a human being and not standing up to the injustices that have happened in Iraq, in Guantanamo Bay. I do not think she's a good representative of anyone, especially as a Commencement speaker.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: ... based on lies. Every 10 minutes, somebody dies in this war based on lies. Every 10 minutes, somebody dies!
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's a warmonger and a liar and unrepentant. And she — you know, we should be giving her a subpoena today for war crimes and crimes against humanity, not an honorary degree.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is going to be celebrated for being a cultured, sophisticated, musically talented, you know, enlightened individual. And she's just as responsible for lying and in terms of laying out the architecture for the war.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is certainly a great dishonor, and we're here to say how dishonored we feel as Catholics. And I'm sure the Jesuits, many feel similarly.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of her education was in vain. She didn't learn any morals along the way. She didn't learn any restraint. She didn't develop a respect for the rule of law and respect for the sovereignty of other countries.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Liar, Condi, Liar, Condi...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}HANNITY: Joining us now, Steve Almond. He resigned his position as an adjunct professor of English at Boston College when Secretary Rice was invited to campus.
Welcome aboard, sir. Thanks for being with us. Steve, I guess it's fairly obvious. You probably voted for John Kerry in the last election. So politics play any role in your position here?
PROF. STEVE ALMOND, RESIGNED TO PROTEST RICE: I think actually morality plays a role. I just feel public officials shouldn't lie to us, especially about matters that are as important as war.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}HANNITY: I got that. But did you — but you are politically a Democrat. You're politically lefty. You voted for John Kerry, right?
ALMOND: I believe that politicians shouldn't lie to the American people.
HANNITY: I didn't ask you that. Did you vote for John Kerry, sir?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ALMOND: And I'm telling you that I don't believe that our public officials should lie, Democrat, Republican, or...
HANNITY: I got that. You're a broken record. Now this is a simply question: Did you vote for John Kerry?
ALMOND: I don't see what it has to do with Condoleezza Rice...
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: I'll tell you what it has to do with it.
ALMOND: ... lies to the American public. What does it have to do with it?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}HANNITY: I'll explain it to you. If you would give me an honest answer, I can explain why. Did you vote for John Kerry?
ALMOND: What is it that you want to say to me? Are you going to try to establish that I'm a lefty or Democrat? I believe that public officials shouldn't lie, and Condoleezza Rice has lied repeatedly.
HANNITY: I already know you voted for John Kerry, but you won't admit it. But you don't have to. I'll tell you why: Because John Kerry, in the lead-up to this very war, in your letter, where you say, "In an effort to build the case for war, then-National Security Adviser Rice repeatedly asserted that Iraq was pursuing a nuclear program."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Well, I'll quote John Kerry, the guy that I suspect you voted for. He says, "If you don't believe Saddam is a threat with nuclear weapons or WMDs, you shouldn't vote for me." Is the guy that you voted for a liar?
ALMOND: The secretary of state, who has also been a part of prosecuting this war...
HANNITY: All right, you can't even answer a question.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ALMOND: ... incredibly ineptly is...
HANNITY: Is John Kerry a liar?
ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: Let me jump in here. Steve, I don't care whether you voted for Kerry or not, but it's Condoleezza Rice...
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ALMOND: Thank you. It's a matter of morality. Not everything is politics. Some of it is basic morality.
COLMES: ... who's setting policy. Let me pursue a different line of questioning here. It's Alan. I'm on your side politically. But I think there might be better ways to protest. Why quit your job? Why not turn your back, or speak, or hold a protest rally, or hold an alternate ceremony to put forth your point of view? Why not do it that way?
ALMOND: Well, there are plenty of ways to. -- For me, you know, it was an act of conscience. I didn't want to collect a paycheck. It would be as if you worked at a TV station, for instance, and you were a strong advocate for women's rights, and one of your colleagues, a powerful colleague, sexually harassed his employees. And you didn't want to stand for that. You didn't feel the TV station had done enough to punish him, and you might, as a matter of conscience, resign because of that.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}COLMES: I might, or I might use my platform to speak out, or I might do things behind the scenes to speak out that have nothing to do with what I would do publicly, but you chose to quit.
ALMOND: Sure.
COLMES: And I just wonder if there might be a more effective way to put forth your point of view, which I think is a very valid point of view. Whether you're left or right, it's not relevant, but there might be better ways to get that point across.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ALMOND: Well, I don't think I'm really the issue here. I think Condoleezza Rice and her campaign of deception and this administration's prosecution of an immoral war is the issue. There are no WMDs, unless you got them there at FOX News under your desk. And we've been hearing for over three years and coming up on 20,000 casualties, and the American people are getting sick of it.
HANNITY: You know what? If that's the case — and I suspect I'm right, and you voted for Kerry — you voted for a guy that made that exact same case as she did. What would that make you?
ALMOND: I'm sorry: The administration in power is the one that has gotten us into this mess, OK? You're not going to blame it on Kerry.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}HANNITY: John Kerry voted for it.
ALMOND: You're not going to blame it on Clinton.
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