I just returned from a six day round-trip journey from Connecticut to Notre Dame to see my nephew commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army and as a graduate from the Mendoza College of Business at Notre Dame. The highlight of the three days of festivities was NOT Apology Obama's commencement address. Please let me explain.

Most graduation ceremonies are a one-day affair, at least the ones I have attended! However, my nephew's turned out to be a three day event, partly because of his Army commitment. On Friday, I watched with great pride a private ceremony where my nephew's father and two sons took part in putting his stripes and pin on his uniform. My nephew was now a proud member of the Army. Later that afternoon we sat through a two hour graduation ceremony where he received his degree from the Mendoza College of Business.

On Saturday, he formally became a second lieutenant in the Army and was sworn in by a Three Star Air Force General. Following that ceremony was a reception where I had the pleasure to meet his new fellow officers of the Army, Air Force, Marines and Navy. I took the opportunity to shake as many hands as possible of the new officers as well as the seasoned officers. I thanked each one of them for their service and told them how proud I was of Stephen and the rest of his classmates. On Saturday night we joined 15,000 Notre Dame students, parents and relatives to celebrate mass in the basketball arena. The most amazing part of this mass was seeing 14,500 people receive communion in 20 minutes!

On Sunday, we drove to the campus through a gauntlet of hundreds of peaceful anti-abortion/pro life protesters. We got to the arena about an hour before the commencement was to begin. There was a buzz in the air -- for most people it was a "two-fer", you got to see your kid graduate AND hear the President of the United States of America speak. Even though I am not a big fan of Apology Obama, I respect the office and was looking forward to hearing him speak and to witness the "event". All the networks were there. I was a witness to history, even though I had bleacher seats to the event.

Much has been written about this day. Suffice it to say, I am convinced that Obama and Father Jenkins had a little "chat" about what each would say. Father Jenkins' introduction of the President was a real piece of work. He seemed to chastise those who were critical of Notre Dame's invitation to the pro-abortion President. He clearly was ignoring the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' 2004 Denver statement that Catholics who persistently hold an anti-life position ought not to be given a platform or honors by Catholic institutions. Perhaps because Obama is not a Catholic gave Father Jenkins an "out" for the invitation.

Father Jenkins, who must have had Kool Aid instead of wine at the Saturday mass then set up Obama by talking about the need for "dialogue". I did not hear anything about the Catholic Church standing up to its principles of life beginning at conception or that abortion is wrong. Regardless, the crowd was enthusiastic about his opening comments. He lobbed the President a hanging curve and the President "wowed" the crowd by saying essentially nothing. Obama is a great communicator who seldom says anything of substance. He joked about being "1 for 2" in honorary degrees and bantered about ND sports. He had high praise for Notre Dame and Father Hesburgh and praised Father Jenkins for the great job he is doing at the university and for encouraging "dialogue".  He then "struck out" when he admitted that the Pro-Life and Anti-Life (Pro Choice to most) views were irreconcilable. At that point, I realized Obama was up to his old tricks -- he knows how to work a crowd while saying nothing new.

He went on and on about the need to be open and to have civil discussions about difficult subjects (while not changing his mind about abortion). As he spoke I noticed that most of the kids seemed to enjoy the President's speech. That is to be expected since most kids who graduate from college are liberal until they have worked for a while and see their pay confiscated by government. He got several standing ovations, many more than ND football coach Charlie Weiss would ever get if he gave the commencement speech! There were a couple of mild anti-abortion protests, but these people were escorted from the premises quickly.

During his speech, Obama praised the class valedictorian who is the reincarnation of Mother Theresa. A medical student, she had devoted much of her time at medical facilities in places like Haiti and Thailand, where people have little hope. I kept waiting for the Commander-in-Chief to thank the 47 graduates who were commissioned in the armed services. It would have been nice of him to use them as an example of real sacrifice -- less than 5% of the graduating body going into the military to keep us all safe.

I was disappointed but not surprised since Obama seems to be more comfortable being the "Bankrupter-in-Chief" than the Commander-in-Chief. At any rate, it was a weekend I will never forget. My nephew has a few months more training in the states before he heads off to Iraq or Afghanistan. I could not be more proud of him or the other 46 newly commissioned officers. Our country is in good hands with fine young men and women choosing to defend our freedom around the world.

I have a suggestion to Father Jenkins. Perhaps you can invite Father Pfleger, Reverend Wright, and William Ayers, all friends of President Obama, to next year's commencement. You will surely get an honest "dialogue" then.

Good luck, Stephen and all the rest of your fellow officers. America is proud of you.