It seems like the Lecture Fund has decided not to bring new speakers to campus this semester; instead, Georgetown is hosting encore performances of past, minor hits. How else to explain their heavyweight guests thus far this year: Bill Richardson (who spoke last year) and Christopher Hitchens (who rocks and all, but lives in D.C. and spoke two years ago)?

I have neither the desire nor the chops to pursue a beef with Hitchens (people who do always come to bad ends), but Richardson’s an easily-punctured puffball of bad ideas. Being gay is a choice? He supports the balanced budget amendment? This isn’t the kind of speaker that students are begging to be see reprised.

The situation is made worse by the hype they built around the Richardson announcement. In the last two days I was told by many Lecture Fundamentalists that a major presidential candidate was coming to speak. I don’t expect the top tier Democrats to come, but anyone is more interesting than someone we’ve already seen. Mike Gravel would be great, and you know he doesn’t have anything else going on. [Ed. note: No one wants to see Mike Gravel, either.]
-Will Sommer, blog editor

Flickr photo from VictoryNH