Commencement, Christian-Style

He also notes that the college asks "its faculty members to belong to the Christian Reformed Church; they are all also expected to sign three confessional creeds of the church: the Heidelberg Confession, the Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dordt."

In 1999, James C. Turner wrote in Commonweal magazine that Calvin is one of the "seedbeds of an intellectual renaissance within American evangelicalism."Flashback to 2000

Bush has been to Calvin College before. It was the site of one of the Republican presidential candidate debates in 2000.

Congressman Ehlers told the Grand Rapids Press that the president has "fond memories" of his appearance there.

Candidate Bush shared the stage with Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, Gary L. Bauer, Steve Forbes and Alan Keyes.

There were quite a few memorable exchanges between Bush and McCain, his only serious opposition at the time.

For example, McCain was relentless in his criticism that too much of Bush's proposed tax cut proposal would benefit the wealthiest of Americans while ignoring other needs.

"There's a fundamental difference here," McCain said. "I believe we must save Social Security, we must pay down the debt, we have to make investment in Medicare. For us to put all of the tax cuts -- all of the surplus into tax cuts, I think, is not a conservative effort. I think it's a mistake. I think we should put that money into allowing Americans to be sure that their Social Security system will be there when they retire."

Bush shot back: "I have a plan that takes $2 trillion over the next 10 years and dedicates it to Social Security. My plan has been called risky by voices out of Washington. In my judgment, what's risky is to leave a lot of unspent money in Washington, because guess what's going to happen: It's going to be spent on bigger federal governments."

New Joint Chiefs

As expected, Bush today appointed Marine Gen. Peter Pace to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Navy Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr. as the new vice chairman. New York Post reporter Deborah Orin writes in her pool report: "Everyone smiled, including the President, at his inability to pronounce Giambastiani's name -- he finally settled for saying the admiral will 'be known as Admiral G.' It became a kind of running gag."

Social Security Watch