What's up with Greenwich High School? They disinvited TalkLeft pal, Mickey Sherman, from being the graduation speaker because...he's a defense lawyer.

The Greenwich Time takes the school to task, calling the school's action shameful.

It's difficult to decide which is the worse message to send to graduating seniors -- that school officials will topple like tenpins under a wisp of parent pressure, or that they will countenance the implication that defending unpopular clients disqualifies a lawyer from respect. GHS has done both. No one put school officials under the obligation to invite Mr. Sherman. But once extended, the invitation should have been honored.

At its best, Greenwich is the kind of community that nourishes people like Mr. Sherman, who as a youngster was educated in the town's schools and went on to success in a demanding profession. This incident represents the worst side -- equating the avoidance of controversy with the attainment of respectability, and sacrificing principle for appearance's sake.