Is Turn on, tune in, drop out and going Galt the same thing?

Mary Ann Glendon, a Former Bush Administration Ambassador, has announced that she will reject the prestigious 2009 Laetare Medal

an annual award given by the University of Notre Dame in recognition of outstanding service to the Roman Catholic church and society. The award is given to an American Catholic layperson "whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the church and enriched the heritage of humanity."

Why will she reject this award you may ask?  It seems like a pretty big honor.  

Well it is this: she feels she has no other choice because Notre Dame will grant an honorary degree to President Obama at the graduation ceremony. And as everyone knows, an honorary degree should not be granted to someone who acts “in defiance of fundamental moral principles.”  This apparently is code talk for Obama’s alleged support of infanticide.

Glendon, is also a part time Anti Gay Marriage Activist, who has called, unabashedly I might say, for a new era of popular sovereignty on the issue of Gay Marriage. This call to action was issued before the 2004 election and corresponding ballot initiatives to ban Gay Marriage. It was imperative, due to the inevitable religious discrimination that the legalization of Gay Marriage will usher in.  It will be illegal to be practice your faith if the gays can get married, or so she says.

Look I understand that it is hard to cope with changing times.  The Economy is fucked up. The Commies have fallen and we can’t quite decide who to replace them with.  The Climate is changing.  And the long slow march toward gradual and increasing levels of democratization continues forward.  

More and more people are empowered, making decisions everyday or in case of economic decisions hundreds of decisions a day that affect the world we live in.   And it is not just that globalization has made the world smaller, it has increased the number of people at the table participating at the same time. It can be chaotic.  I feel her pain. But equal rights for Gays are coming.  And the legalization of abortion has been largely settled.  It is just the way it is.    

But why drop out?  Why not accept the Award as an honor for a life well lived and use the opportunity to express the values for which she was so honored?  In the larger marketplace of ideas, why retreat instead of compete?  Is it because she believes that she cannot compete?  

It sounds more these days that Movement Conservatism is just a counter-culture. Yet we hear such actions constitute true leadership.  Maybe it is so.  

Or maybe it is just tuning in, turning on and dropping out.

Post Script: Perhaps newly Minted Catholic New Gingrich would be more appropriate to receive an honorary degree.  After all he recently spoke at a Catholic University in New York.  I heard no calls about his “defiance of fundamental moral principles.”  So presumably he’d be good to go.