NASHUA — For 186 graduates of this small school best known for its intensive aeronautical program, the 41st commencement at Daniel Webster College was held, appropriately, under a pilot-friendly blue sky that was symbolic of the seemingly boundless optimism and good humor that ruled the day.

"Maybe this isn't advice, maybe it's more of an observation," said guest speaker P.J. O'Rourke, the nationally acclaimed author and political satirist, "but I think it's an observation that you don't hear often and certainly don't hear often enough. Life is sweet, life is better than it used to be. And right now, at the beginning of the third millennium, is the best moment of all time, so far. And right here in the United States is the best place to be at the moment. ... America in 2007 is a great place to live."

The problem is, O'Rourke said, "you can spend a long time reading newspapers and watching TV and surfing the Internet, and not see this (sweetness of life) mentioned."

For this, he blames the politicians of the world, whom he described as "professional Chicken Littles" with an agenda of becoming more powerful.

"My advice is not to be a professional Chicken Little. They don't need any more down in Washington, DC. Come on up, grab that diploma, get out of here and enjoy yourself."

Before he was finished, O'Rourke couldn't help taking a swipe at a couple of graduation speakers who will jointly deliver the commencement address at the University of New Hampshire in Durham next week.

"There's the more usual kind of commencement speaker. I call this the reassuring or confidence-building speaker," said O'Rourke.

"This is a middle-aged man or woman who has achieved some measure of renown or respect in his or her field and comes to your school and gives commencement speech advice that is so full of deadly platitudinous baloney that you think to yourself, 'Yes! If that's how they think out there in Success-Land, then I can kick butt!'

"Next weekend the University of New Hampshire commencement speech is going to be given by both former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. UNH graduates are going to come out of that pumped up!"

Keeping the optimism was Valedictorian Chris Hilbert, who told his fellow graduates, "We all shared one form of difficulty during our fours years, that of balancing what I like to call 'the two perfectly opposed halves of college.' One half is the academic pursuit of training and the other being the basic human pursuit of a really good time. You've all obviously overcome that challenge. Take this time today to bask in your achievement."