A Bit of Wisdom, Laced with Humor, on Graduation Day

06.5.2018 / By Dale Eisman

The valedictorian at a Kentucky High School borrowed part of his speech from a presidential commencement address -- with a special twist for the audience.

Deep in Trump country, in a southeastern Kentucky county where the president got 82 percent of the vote in 2016, it takes a special young person to challenge the conventional wisdom about the nation’s chief executive — and get a laugh or two in the bargain.

On Saturday, Ben Bowling showed himself up to the task.

Valedictorian at Bell County High School, hard by Kentucky’s boundaries with Tennessee and Virginia, Bowling drew raucous applause when he offered up an inspirational quote:

Don’t just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table’— Donald J. Trump.

Amid raucous applause, he delivered the kicker:

Just kidding. That was Barack Obama.

The cheers stopped, replaced with a few laughs and a couple of scattered, though robust “Boos.”

“I just thought it was a really good quote,” Bowling told the Louisville Courier-Journal. “Most people wouldn’t like it if I used it, so I thought I’d use Donald Trump’s name. It is southeastern Kentucky after all.”

Bravo, Mr. Bowling. Something tells me you’ve got an interesting future ahead.

 

 

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