Monday, September 24, 2007
Columbia
I have to again express my absolute disgust at Columbia's invitation for ahmadinejad to speak today. I think this quote from the Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver sums it up best:
"What makes it more outrageous is the fact that some dean yesterday said he would have invited Adolf Hitler. It's totally outrageous. This is not a matter of academic freedom. This is a matter of legitimizing people, one who was the perpetrator of the Holocaust and one who denies its existence," Mr. Silver said.
To invite someone to speak who is responsible for countless deaths of US soldiers in Iraq is disgusting, and I couldn't agree with Silver more: it is not a matter of academic freedom or freedom of speech (which lest Columbia forgets only applies to US citizens); it is a matter of the inappropriateness of giving this animal a large forum for presentation and in so doing legitimizing his opinions.
I was at least particularly pleased to see NY deny his request to visit Ground Zero.
"What makes it more outrageous is the fact that some dean yesterday said he would have invited Adolf Hitler. It's totally outrageous. This is not a matter of academic freedom. This is a matter of legitimizing people, one who was the perpetrator of the Holocaust and one who denies its existence," Mr. Silver said.
To invite someone to speak who is responsible for countless deaths of US soldiers in Iraq is disgusting, and I couldn't agree with Silver more: it is not a matter of academic freedom or freedom of speech (which lest Columbia forgets only applies to US citizens); it is a matter of the inappropriateness of giving this animal a large forum for presentation and in so doing legitimizing his opinions.
I was at least particularly pleased to see NY deny his request to visit Ground Zero.
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7 comments:
This may be the first and last time I'm glad to see a ShelSilver quote on this blog.
Haha, good point..
Having watched Bollinger's "quetions" and the first 10 minutes of Ahmanidejad's speech, this was a complete PR victory for Iran and a colossal blunder on the part of Columbia.
By beginning with a litany of charges, and alotting M.A. with uninterrupted rebuttal time, Bollinger ensured that M.A. would not answer his questions and merely slap him down as a liar.
That the crowd applauded for M.A. is a disgraceful failure, that epitomizes the narcissism of the American Left. That moment will be broadcast time and again in the Arabic world as "proof" that the "logic" of the Islamic world can win over the West despite our "lies." It will be fodder for those who kill our countrymen, and these leftists are proud of themselves for their idealism.
It boils down to this: you can't win in an "exchange of ideas," as Bollinger would have it, when you are bound by truth and your opponent is not.
The Dean wrapped up the press conference with this doozy (and I paraphrase, no transcript yet)
"I think we can all agree that this forum exemplified our core values and respect for a free exchange of information."
What's really scary about this statement is that the person making it is the Dean at a prestigious School of International Relations.
Is he really that naive? Does he honestly believe this discussion was about Columbia and Columbia's value system? Can he be that self-absorbed?
M.A. seemed to think it was more of an opportunity to propagandize, and show himself standing up for the Palestinian people and the Islamic faith, "in the belly of the beast," as it were. He wasn't looking for a discourse with Western academics--he was looking to have his words replayed for his political base on Al Jazeera.
That Columbia's Dean failed to recognize M.A.'s goals, and the impact that his invitation would have, is a real indictment of the quality of their international relations program. I wouldn't spend 25 cents on that degree, nevermind the $300 grand it probably requires.
I haven't seen the debate or transcript, but Fredo's account is exactly what one would have imagined before this fiasco took place. This was a stupid and unnecessary granting of an extremely large and visible stage for M.A., that he will surely use to his advantage for recruiting terrorists on Al Jazeera.
Did the Columbia president or any of the students take him to task on streaming weapons and soldiers into Iraq to fight US forces? He is contributing in no small part to the continued attacks and disruption of our attempts to move forward in rebuilding the country.
SHK,
Yes, Bollinger and the Dean both questioned M.A. on fighting a proxy war against the U.S. in Iraq. Neither one was given an answer. Instead, Bollinger was lectured, and told by M.A. that an Iran university has a community that thinks for itself, and is not spoon-fed propapganda as M.A. accused Bollinger of doing in his introductory remarks. The whole stage was inappropriate. Asking tough questions is meaningless when M.A. can merely refuse to answer, and then imply that American foreign policy more supportive of terrorism than Iran's.
Further proof that M.A. will treat the Columbia "debate" as a massive PR victory back home: the Iranian papers are already writing it up as such (Drudge link):
http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-24/0709252616013529.htm