Spot the difference: Who has class, and who doesn’t?

Actress Jessica Lange, giving the commencement address at Sarah Lawrence College on Friday:

BRONXVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Oscar-winner Jessica Lange bashed the Bush administration and denounced the war in Iraq during a commencement address at Sarah Lawrence College.

The star of “Tootsie” and “Blue Sky” was applauded by students Friday at the small liberal arts college after comparing the conflict with the Vietnam War. She said the graduates have “a heavy burden” to chart a new path for the country.

“We are living in an America that, in the last seven and a half years, has waged an unnecessary war, established prison camps, condoned torture, employed corporate armies, eliminated the right of habeas corpus, practiced extraordinary rendition, and believe me, this is only a partial list,” Lange said.

Lange’s 22 year-old daughter Hannah Shepard was among the graduates.

Here’s the transcript from Lange’s tirade, including her reference to the infamous “destroy the village to save it” from the Vietnam war, which she says has happened again in Iraq. Little does the witch know that the “village” quote was fabricated by anti-war journalist Peter Arnett. Newsbusters’ Tim Graham points out other instances of Lange launching an all out assault on the Bush administration, including this 2002 classic from a press conference in Spain:

“I despise him [President Bush]. I despise his administration and everything they stand for….To my mind the election was stolen by George Bush and we have been suffering ever since under this man’s leadership….And I think this latest thing with Iraq is absolute madness and I’m stunned that there is not opposition on a much more global scale to what he’s talking about….There has to be a movement now to really oppose what he is proposing because it’s unconstitutional, it’s immoral and basically illegal….It is an embarrassing time to be an American. It really is. It’s humiliating.”

Contrast that with country music star Trace Adkins, in a song from his 2005 album “Songs About Me,” simply titled “Arlington” (via Bob Owens):

The lyrics:

I never thought that this is where I’d settle down
I thought I’d die an old man back in my hometown
They gave me this plot of land,me and some other men, for a job well done
There’s a big white house sits on a hill just up the road
The man inside he cried the day they brought me home
The folded up a flag and told my mom and dad
‘We’re pround of your son’

And I’m proud to be on this paecful piece of property
I’m on scared ground and I’m in the best of company
I’m thankful for those thankful for the things I’ve done
I can rest in peace, I’m one of the chosen ones, I made it to Arlington

I remember that my daddy brought me here when I was eight
We searched all day to find out where my granddad lay
And when we finally found that cross
He said, ‘son this is what it cost to keep us free’
Now here I am a thousand stones away from him
He recongized me on the first day I came in
And it gave me a chill when he clicked his heels and saluted me

I’m proud to be on this peaceful piece of property
I’m on scared ground and in the best of company
I’m thankful for those thankful for the things I’ve done
I can rest in peace I’m one of the chosen ones, I made it to Arlington

And every time I hear twenty-one guns
I know they brought another hero home to us

We’re thankful for those thankful for the things we’ve done
We can rest in peace, ’cause we were the chosen ones
We made it to Arlington, yea, dust to dust
Don’t cry for us, we made it to Arlington

Last March, the USO honored Adkins with the 2007 USO-Metro Merit Award in honor of the many ways he’s shown his support for our troops over the years:

Adkins is being honored with a USO-Metro Merit Award because of his dedication to assisting others through his charitable works. He has traveled into combat zones as part of a USO tour to entertain service members stationed at “Operation Enduring Freedom” Forward Operating Bases where he performed free concerts, signed autographs and mingled with the troops. Adkins also performed at the 2002 USO Gala in Washington, DC and was the headliner for the USO’s first annual charity golf tournament at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, Virginia. Adkins’ dedication to U.S. troops even shines through in his music. In 2005, he paid tribute to our American heroes with the poignant ballad, “Arlington” featured on his double-platinum CD, Songs About Me.

“This is such an honor to be recognized by the USO,” said Adkins. “Whatever I do to show support to our troops, is so small by comparison to what these men and women do for us. In fact, I’m not sure any of us can ever truly express how grateful we are for the men and women of the military who serve this country and put their lives on the line every day for our freedom.”

Several months later, Adkins published his first book A Personal Stand: Observations and Opinions from a Freethinking Roughneck, in which he expressed views that are definitely considered “un-PC” in today’s “you must watch everything you say!” world.

Earlier this year, Adkins recorded a spot for the DOD’s America Supports You website, a site designed to help show our troops just how much their fellow Americans care.

One obviously has no class while the other exudes it. I report, you decide.