Two years ago, Katie Couric delivered the commencement address at her alma mater, the University of Virginia. NewsBusters senior editor Rich Noyes noted at the time that Couric used the occasion to complain about her many critics from her five-year stint as the anchor for the CBS Evening News.
Last Saturday, Couric gave an encore performance of her airing of grievances at a commencement address at American University’s School of Communications. Couric recycled some of her favorite lines about her time at CBS informing students that “critics complained about my clothes, my hair, my make up, my delivery, even the way I held my hands on the anchor desk.” She followed up with a lament of sexism in the broadcast news business. "Some claimed I lacked gravitas. I decided, that’s Latin for testicles," she quipped.
But wait, there's more.
Couric couldn't refrain from taking a jab at former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. While mentioning the stories she was able to bring to viewers' attention, Couric mentioned that she helped Americans “get to know Sarah Palin.” She paused briefly, indicating perhaps she expected it was going to be a big laugh line. The crack, however, elicited only a few muffled chuckles, which Couric followed by quipping, "don’t mention it."
The newly-minted anti-obesity "activist" is set to deliver the commencement address this weekend at Trinity College. We’ll see if she can muster up enough creativity to cook up new material or if it ends up serving leftovers.
