Burnt Orange Report

Westminster President Apologizes for Cheney Speech

By Byron LaMasters

Yesterday Dick Cheney delivered a speech at Westminster College in Missouri. Westminster College President Fletcher Lamkin was asked by Dick Cheney if he would deliver a "major foreign policy address" to the College. Lamkin did what most any college president would do when asked by the Vice President of the United States. He said, sure. Little did Lamkin know that Kerry-basing would be part of the "major foreign policy address". Anyway, Lamkin did the right thing. He's invited John Kerry to the college out of fairness, and Kerry has accepted:

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry will speak Friday at Westminster College, whose president complained after Vice President Dick Cheney sharply criticized Kerry during a campus appearance Monday, campaign officials said.

Kerry accepted an invitation to speak from Westminster President Fletcher Lamkin, Kerry spokesman Bill Burton said. Lamkin said Monday he was inviting Kerry out of fairness following Cheney's visit.

Lamkin expressed disappointment after the Cheney speech, telling students and faculty in an e-mail Monday that he had been told Cheney would deliver a "major foreign policy address" and was unhappy with what he called "Kerry-bashing." However, Cheney's spokeswoman said the speech was always intended as a campaign event.

Cheney questioned whether Kerry was fit to serve as president during wartime, repeating what he had said during a campaign event in March. "The senator from Massachusetts has given us ample grounds to doubt the judgment and the attitude he brings to bear on vital issues of national security," the vice president said Monday.

British statesman Winston Churchill gave his famous "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College at the dawn of the Cold War in 1946.