Anti-War Students Protest McCain Stance

Button-wearing, umbrella-waving Columbia University students greeted U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who backed the Iraq war and the right to argue about it.

Americans should argue about this war, McCain said Tuesday during his graduation keynote address. “It has cost the lives of nearly 2,500 of the best of us.

Americans deserve more than tolerance from one another — we deserve each other’s respect, McCain said.

A combination of cheers and jeers greeted McCain’s remarks.

Hundreds of students wore McCain does not speak for me buttons while scores of others waved orange-and-white umbrellas containing anti-war slogans, The New York Post reported.

We felt that we communicated our opinion and did so in a respectful way, Columbia senior Nick Cain, an organizer of the protest, told the newspaper.