It's pretty much painless

I gots two items of business that happen to be interrelated and are of grave consequence:

One- I am finally graduating from USU after five years of skipping class and b.s.ing on my exams. It is weird to think about finally graduating since I began my college career at USU in the fall of 2003, almost 7 years ago and now it's all coming to an end...weird, huh?

Two- Mr. Danny Glover is the speaker at my graduation commencement. I think the University made a great decision in choosing the star of the Lethal Weapons saga, Predator, and Angels in the Outfield for the graduation commencement speaker. I can only think of two people I would rather receive council from as I go out into the world, those being Jack Bauer and Tupac Shakur of course. With that said I mean no disrespect to Mr. Glover and I am extremely excited to hear him expound the mysteries of the universe and the future to me and my colleagues.

Unfortunately not everyone is so keen on Mr. Glover. Apparently he is a friend to Hugo Chavez and is "out there" because he believes in global warming. I had no idea that my favorite black actor of all-time (besides Will Smith, Samuel L. Jackson, "Morphius", Morgan Freeman, Jamie Foxx, Halle Berry, the guy from the All-State commercials, Tracy Morgan, Kenan & Kel, Denzel Washington, Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle, Chris Tucker, Chris Rock, Bill Cosby, Vince Vaughn, Eminem, and Ice Cube) had such crazy ideas. Many people in Northern Utah are in an uproar over the USU's decision to have Mr. Glover, who is a "crazy", "liberal", "socialist", "communist", "nazi", "America-hater", and "non-conservative",  speak at USU. Some opponents of Mr. Glover believe he should be stripped of his US citizenship because he has different views and opposes many of the actions of the government which we all know is not allowed in the US and is considered treason and should result in his being hanged. Some people are so disturbed by Mr. Glover and his crazy ways that they now hate USU and will never donate a penny to the institution. Apparently the whomever the University chooses for it commencement speaker at graduation becomes the face of the institution and shows the true character of the institution.

I am honestly baffled at the very stringent opposition to Mr. Glover. I myself don't agree with many of the views of Mr. Glover, but what does it hurt to learn about different perspectives and ideas? In fact, I bet that he doesn't even talk about his political views, but rather talks about succeeding in life and making a difference in the world, you know, something that would make sense at a graduation speech. All those critics and haters of Mr. Glover also seem to always leave out the fact that he is a very active philanthropist and holds a key leadership position in UNICEF, not to mention his amazing acting skills. He might have some crazy ideas and disagree with the opinions of many Americans, but that that is what America is all about and it certainly doesn't make him a bad person.

People always seem to be scared of what they don't understand and things they are uncomfortable with. This insecurity and people's inability or lack of desire to understand other people and cultures often results in bigotry, hatred, and conflict. People need to lighten up and open up their minds to new ideas and perspectives it makes the world a better, happier, and more interesting place to be. I'm not saying anyone has to agree with another person's opinions or ideas (especially not Mr. Glover's), but what does it hurt to listen and try to understand something/someone a little better?

...it doesn't hurt at all.


Watch this and then try hating Danny...it's not possible.