Smug are the "brave"

Reihan Salam on the John McCain commencement speech and the "brave" protesters:

And so Ms. Nga is "brave" enough to face down an elderly neoliberal ex-politician (unarmed, presumably) and Mr. Kerrey is "proud" of his students for not engaging in "guerrilla politics." I believe we call this "the soft bigotry of low expectations." Because Ms. Nga is 21, she ought to understand that the thousands of Iraqi trade unionists who face death every day simply by virtue of doing their jobs (let alone the Iraqi and American faces who actively confront insurgents) are by necessity quite a bit braver than she is, and Mr. Kerrey ought to understand that the students were engaged less in respectful protest than in the kind of public affirmation of mass taste you normally see during a live broadcast from TRL studios. We all love Rihanna's "S.O.S.," and we don't care who knows about it!

This is not to say that anti-war sentiments are trivial. But really, is it a major shocker that the kids at the New School disagree with arch-hawk Sen. McCain? This is kabuki, and it will, of course, redound to McCain's benefit.

I might add that the phony "bravery" of those students was thrown into relief by the memory of the very real past bravery of the man they were booing and heckling. As for whether this event redounds to McCain's benefit, I think it certainly helps him with the "base." I've never been a huge fan of McCain the politician, and I think McCain-Feingold is an abomination, but this event had me pulling for him. Enough to vote for him in a primary? Not yet, maybe, but I'll listen to what he has to say . . .