Obama gives commencement speech at Rutgers:'Ignorance is not a virtue'; attacks Trump's isolationism

[pampango]

President’s wide-ranging graduation address defends factual knowledge and attacks isolationism as he targets Trump’s border wall plan

Barack Obama delivered a stinging rebuke to a culture of isolationism and falsehood, and an adamant defense of facts and science, in his commencement address to the Rutgers University graduating class of 2016 on Sunday.

In a wide-ranging address, Obama singled out the issue of income inequality and proposed closing tax loopholes on hedge fund managers, highlighted the importance of voting and accountability, and commented on the problems of money in politics and climate change.

The president took particular umbrage with a culture of willful ignorance, ridiculing leaders and commentators who reject science and facts. “And yet, we’ve become confused about this,” he said.

He also argued that the notion of a wall on America’s borders ran counter to the nation’s founding principles: “The world is interconnected and becoming more so every day. Building walls won’t change that.”

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/15/barack-obama-commencement-speech-donald-trump

As FDR said a few months before his death in 1945:

Perfectionism, no less than isolationism or imperialism or power politics, may obstruct the paths to international peace. Let us not forget that the retreat to isolationism a quarter of a century ago was started not by a direct attack against international cooperation but against the alleged imperfections of the peace.

[Rex]

1. Sadly, ignorance is a badge of honor for conservatives.

They wear it with false pride.