Thumbs down: At least the Notre Dame graduation protesters didn't disrupt Vice President Pence's speech

Vice President Mike Pence didn’t comment on the dozens of Notre Dame students who stood up and walked out of their own graduation Sunday when he got up to give a commencement address. But he certainly alluded to them when he said Notre Dame “is a vanguard of the freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas at a time, sadly, when free speech and civility are waning on campuses across America.”

We don’t disagree that free speech is struggling on campuses where, in a number of cases, students have prevented conservative speakers from having their say. We’ve been critical of this trend as well. But the problems with civility certainly aren’t contained to college campuses. How about the White House itself?

Two days earlier, the New York Times had reported that during a visit with Russian officials in the White House nearly two weeks ago, Trump bragged about firing FBI director James Comey, calling him “crazy, a real nut job.”

Set aside the possible obstruction of justice issues presented by Comey’s removal, which Trump clearly indicated was connected to the Russian investigation. (“I faced great pressure because of Russia,” he reportedly told the Russians. “That’s taken off.”) But did he need to resort to calling the former head of the FBI names? Even the Notre Dame students showed more class than that.