Almost a year ago to date, something very shameful happened at Columbia University. A group of volunteers from the Minuteman Project who'd been invited to speak were instead shouted down, physically assaulted, and ultimately silenced by a mob of "activists." Their actions were caught on video, and internet surfers were rightfully exposed to the hypocritical thuggery which passes for open-mindedness on modern campuses.
But then Columbia University invited Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak. And in that gesture, they invited free speech back onto their campus.
Most of us know who Ahmadinejad is and, more importantly, what he represents.
His politics? He wants Israel "wiped off the map."
His interpretation of history? He claimed the Holocaust is a myth, and he hosted KKK leaders in Tehran to set the record straight.
His commitment to peace? He presides over the world's biggest sponsor of terrorism.
His domestic record? Since his ascension, the Iranian regime has increasingly cracked down on student groups, women's rights and independent media.
His faith? He believes he has personally been sent to pave the way, via nuclear apocalypse, for the coming of the Hidden Imam (Ahmadinejad's colleagues allege he physically glowed during a recent U.N. speech).
But Ahmadinejad is more than your average cookie cutout psychopathic dictator ? he does improv as well. He got a good laugh from his Columbia audience when he denied the existence of homosexuals in Iran. This seems a rather strange absurdity, considering the approximate 400 known Iranians who have been executed for homosexuality.
So when this degenerate lunatic took the stage at Columbia, the audience did the right thing. They didn't shout him down, rush the stage, or silence him. They let him make a complete fool out of himself. And, with flying colors, he did exactly that.
University president Lee Bollinger kicked off the night with a point-by-point denunciation of Ahmadinejad, his policies and the primitive mindset he represents. Such frank and open dissent from a non-ayatollah was foreign to Ahmadinejad, probably as foreign as all those unscarved females, sitting without male babysitters in the audience. He responded by avoiding the points Bollinger made, and went on to assure the doubting crowd that he really, really, really likes Jews. Really.
Some commentators have criticized Bollinger for being rude. He was rude, but so what? There is no sacred right to not be offended. If there were, free speech as we know it would be destroyed.
Get some thicker skin, Ahmadinejad. You want to co-sponsor nuclear Armageddon, yet you can't take one mean little diatribe without squeezing tears of victimization for your state-controlled lackey press?
Look past Bollinger's alleged rudeness and you have a series of reasonable and logical points, to none of which Ahmadinejad could respond. I, for one, applaud Columbia's decision to give that freak a microphone. The Columbia audience simultaneously respected free speech and easily won the debate.
Having said all that, Columbia recently retracted an invitation for the Minutemen Project to come speak again. I don't get what they're so afraid of. If the majority of Columbia's students oppose the Minutemen, why not prepare a point-by-point denunciation as Bollinger did, and allow the Minutemen to respond as they choose?
The tactics of intimidation (i.e. shouting down speakers, mobbing the stage) only prove that the aggressors have no arguments that can be implemented through reason or anything besides vulgar force. If a foreign dictator and terrorist can speak freely, why not taxpaying American citizens protected under our Bill of Rights? Columbia University has come a long way from last year in restoring free speech on campus, but it still has more work to do.
Be the first to comment on this article!