Betty Duffy, what Jason was saying, about "far too few dissenting voices that stand up to the power structure," most definitely applies to you and your stance. I guess that's what I was trying to ultimately say in my post, although I probably hadn't fully formed the thought: These voices of dissent are absolutely critical, whether we agree with them or not. Coming face to face with my own inconsistencies helped make this point clear to me. Also, I completely get this: "Inviting Obama to speak at ND is a way of putting pretty face on a deeply resonating conflict of interest." Thanks for speaking up here and sharing your perspective. 

Blackwasp19, that's a very important distinction to make—between stereotypes and generalizations—and I'm very glad you brought it up. I think I better understand what you're saying, now, and I hope I didn't misrepresent you in my followup post! Thanks for taking the time to explore this topic with me and others—we miss having you around "in real life."