Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Visits Columbia
The President of Iran went to Columbia University today. The event was a tragedy of democracy. A left-wing, radical university gave voice to a madman, allowing him to spew anti-Semitic and homophobic filth across the national airwaves. President Lee Bollinger has granted the head of a state-sponsor of terror a platform from which to legitimize himself while attacking the West.
Well, not quite. For one, as much as the country is blaming Columbia for allowing Ahmadinejad to speak, it was the national networks that gave him voice by airing his speech live in its entirety. Nevertheless, our media has humiliated us in the name of the 1st Amendment. Only a few sane voices prevailed, like Rep. Duncan Hunter, who is calling for a withdrawal of federal funding from the school (albeit by torturing a law that allows the government to remove funding if schools do not allow military recruitment on campus).
Except, Columbia is the only party who doesn’t appear foolish. Ahmadinejad surely does; his incoherent rambling was punctuated only by soundbites like: “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals like in your country.” And the pundits and politicians look no less silly; they placed themselves in the position of defending both claims that Mahmoud is a fool and that letting him speak somehow empowers his inanity.
In reality, Ahmdinejad’s appearance represents the most damage caused to his reputation since his entrance on the world stage. Americans have been told of this mad foreigner–half idiot, half tyrannical genius–but they have never experienced him. But at Columbia, they finally saw first hand the face of evil. And I must say, Satan is surely embarrassed.
Finally, and most importantly, Bollinger did today what no public official has had the courage to do. Lee shared the stage with a madman, and he told Ahmadinejad to his face that he was a horrible man and leader who did not deserve a position of powership. And he did so without worrying that telling someone off would somehow weaken his position, rather than strengthen it. Today, the world saw a tyrant called ridiculous to his face before he was laughed at by an auditorium of twenty-year-olds. I would be hard pressed to find something the current administration has done that has been more damaging to the man’s credibility.
I too am puzzled as to why Lee Bollinger would sponsor Mahmoud Ahmdinejad. However, it did have the benefit of publically conveying the idealogy of Iran’s leadership to the American public. I hope that his public declarations of anti-semitism and homophobia will allow Americans citizens to understand the philosophy of our enemies. Perhaps it will strengthen our collective resolve to stand up against those who would oppress others. It is hard to have conviction about an enemy we know nothing about. This strengthens those convictions.
Comment by Henry | August 1, 2008