The hypocrisy of Columbia University is simply mind boggling. They oppose the US military for its discrimination against gays. Sure, I can understand that position whether or not I agree with it. But apparently these clowns have not checked out Iran's stance on gays. Or women, or freedom of speech, or freedom of religion, or...
Originally posted by CiviLegg: Yea I heard he was gonna go to Columbia. Cant we arrest him as a supporter of terrorism. Weren't we gonna pursue all those that habor and aid those scumbags? Well their leader just walked on our shores and what is goin on? He's gettin a figgen tour!
Ahmadinahjad
Good point but bush will conveniantly forget about that.
The problem with that is that he is there to speak in front of the UN. If we arrested him what kind of message would that send to any other leaders coming to speak?
That is fine, let him speak at the UN. allow him int NY for that purpose alone and they have him leave after. If he decides to go anywhere else, arrest him
Originally posted by SeaWitch1220: Actually, I believe they shouldn’t have invited him for the same reason…his country’s stance on homosexuality.
This man, (Mamoud Ahmadinejad, pint-size Persian dictator), is fighting a proxy war against our country in Iraq, pursuing nuclear weapons in defiance of the UN, promises to wipe Israel off the map, denies that the Holocaust occured, and is giving several high level members of Al Queda refuge in his country... and you cite his aversion to homosexuals as the main reason that he should not be allowed to propagandize at a major American university?!
I think you're in desperate need of some perspective as to what's truly important here.. Iran's treatment of homosexuals is deplorable, but it's nothing next to all the other evil chit they're engaged in.
Originally posted by SeaWitch1220: Actually, I believe they shouldn’t have invited him for the same reason…his country’s stance on homosexuality.
That's it?
Baby steps. You currently have a very liberal person agreeing with you that an ultra liberal institution has gone too far. Accept that and nurture that fledgling agreement. Don't go for total conversion all at once.
Originally posted by SeaWitch1220: Actually, I believe they shouldn’t have invited him for the same reason…his country’s stance on homosexuality.
That's it?
Baby steps. You currently have a very liberal person agreeing with you that an ultra liberal institution has gone too far. Accept that and nurture that fledgling agreement. Don't go for total conversion all at once.
She's not agreeing because of the same reasons. Homosexuality should be the "least" of reasons why this turd shouldn't be able to speak. Let's just end it here because this thread has the potential to turn gay real fast
Yeah, I think that if Columbia is preventing military organizations access to their campus based upon OUR country’s DADT policy, the least they should do is remain consistent and not have a leader of the country responsible for this and this.
Originally posted by CiviLegg: Yea I heard he was gonna go to Columbia. Cant we arrest him as a supporter of terrorism. Weren't we gonna pursue all those that habor and aid those scumbags? Well their leader just walked on our shores and what is goin on? He's gettin a figgen tour!
Ahmadinahjad
quote:
Well their leader
So I don't know where he [Osama bin Laden] is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you.
* White House press conference, March 13, 2002
Who said that?
wow a quote from 02... still beating that horse???
You are amazing...You regularly bring stuff up from Clinton's tenure....
So, you don't think Osama is worth going after, eh?
"Never try to teach a pig to sing; It wastes your time and annoys the pig." - Heinlein
If they could resarect Hitler to be a guest speaker they probably would as well (no morals), because the actions and words of these type clowns seem to be acceptable to them by their actions (who do they support? NOT AMERICA)!
I guess those who support this as free speech with opened arms, should also be willing to stand up for a guest speaker that is a white supremist leader, guest speaker Leader of anti-gay movement, and whatever else that YOU think should NOT be tolerated because it is considered HATE SPEECH (in this case it is HATE SPEECH against AMERICA, which someone will probably hand him a flag of Old Glory to burn on the stage, it really would not surprise me)!
Originally posted by scoutsout1: If they could resarect Hitler to be a guest speaker they probably would as well (no morals), because the actions and words of these type clowns seem to be acceptable to them by their actions (who do they support? NOT AMERICA)!
I guess those who support this as free speech with opened arms, should also be willing to stand up for a guest speaker that is a white supremist leader, guest speaker Leader of anti-gay movement, and whatever else that YOU think should NOT be tolerated because it is considered HATE SPEECH (in this case it is HATE SPEECH against AMERICA, which someone will probably hand him a flag of Old Glory to burn on the stage, it really would not surprise me)!
If you had said Stalin you might have had a point. Hitler is the ultimate evil to the left (and just about anybody with a conscience.)
Originally posted by scoutsout1: If they could resarect Hitler to be a guest speaker they probably would as well (no morals), because the actions and words of these type clowns seem to be acceptable to them by their actions (who do they support? NOT AMERICA)!
I guess those who support this as free speech with opened arms, should also be willing to stand up for a guest speaker that is a white supremist leader, guest speaker Leader of anti-gay movement, and whatever else that YOU think should NOT be tolerated because it is considered HATE SPEECH (in this case it is HATE SPEECH against AMERICA, which someone will probably hand him a flag of Old Glory to burn on the stage, it really would not surprise me)!
If you had said Stalin you might have had a point. Hitler is the ultimate evil to the left (and just about anybody with a conscience.)
THey are both mongers of hate and death, that is all that matters!
Originally posted by scoutsout1: If they could resarect Hitler to be a guest speaker they probably would as well (no morals), because the actions and words of these type clowns seem to be acceptable to them by their actions (who do they support? NOT AMERICA)!
I guess those who support this as free speech with opened arms, should also be willing to stand up for a guest speaker that is a white supremist leader, guest speaker Leader of anti-gay movement, and whatever else that YOU think should NOT be tolerated because it is considered HATE SPEECH (in this case it is HATE SPEECH against AMERICA, which someone will probably hand him a flag of Old Glory to burn on the stage, it really would not surprise me)!
If you had said Stalin you might have had a point. Hitler is the ultimate evil to the left (and just about anybody with a conscience.)
THey are both mongers of hate and death, that is all that matters!
But the one who was of the other political extreme is so much worse.
Originally posted by scoutsout1: If they could resarect Hitler to be a guest speaker they probably would as well (no morals), because the actions and words of these type clowns seem to be acceptable to them by their actions (who do they support? NOT AMERICA)!
I guess those who support this as free speech with opened arms, should also be willing to stand up for a guest speaker that is a white supremist leader, guest speaker Leader of anti-gay movement, and whatever else that YOU think should NOT be tolerated because it is considered HATE SPEECH (in this case it is HATE SPEECH against AMERICA, which someone will probably hand him a flag of Old Glory to burn on the stage, it really would not surprise me)!
If you had said Stalin you might have had a point. Hitler is the ultimate evil to the left (and just about anybody with a conscience.)
THey are both mongers of hate and death, that is all that matters!
But the one who was of the other political extreme is so much worse.
Just because you try to put a level of comparison out there when it comes to evil dictators, does not make one evil less than the other. Both preached hate and Death on others of whom they do not like or agree, making them one in the same.
If you like and support the guy that is your deranged business!
I find them both equally evil. I was commenting on political extremeists who seem to feel that the same deed is not as evil if someone on their side of the spectrum does it. Both sides are equally guilty of this, which is why I didn't name parties.
Wow. Not sure if anyone else is watching this, but Columbia's President Bollinger is really sticking it to Ahmadinejad in his opening remarks! Dude is going to have a fatwa on his head once this is over.
If anyone can produce a transcript of this later, that'd be great.
Originally posted by DarbyDub: Wow. Not sure if anyone else is watching this, but Columbia's President Bollinger is really sticking it to Ahmadinejad in his opening remarks! Dude is going to have a fatwa on his head once this is over.
If anyone can produce a transcript of this later, that'd be great.
Here you go:
My questions for President Ahmadinejad
The full text of the speech that Columbia University president Lee Bollinger delivered Monday blasting the Iranian president -- with Ahmadinejad present. video
Sept. 24, 2007 | NEW YORK -- I would like to begin by thanking dean John Coatsworth and professor Richard Bulliet for their work in organizing this event and for their commitment to the role of the School of International and Public Affairs and its role in training future leaders in world affairs. If today proves anything it will be that there is an enormous amount of work ahead for all of us. This is just one of many events on Iran that will run throughout this academic year, all to help us better understand this critical and complex nation in today's geopolitics.
Before speaking directly to the current president of Iran, I have a few critically important points to emphasize.
First, since 2003, the World Leaders Forum has advanced Columbia's long-standing tradition of serving as a major forum for robust debate, especially on global issues. It should never be thought that merely to listen to ideas we deplore in any way implies our endorsement of those ideas, or the weakness of our resolve to resist those ideas or our naiveté about the very real dangers inherent in such ideas. It is a critical premise of freedom of speech that we do not honor the dishonorable when we open the public forum to their voices. To hold otherwise would make vigorous debate impossible.
Second, to those who believe that this event never should have happened, that it is inappropriate for the university to conduct such an event, I want to say that I understand your perspective and respect it as reasonable. The scope of free speech and academic freedom should itself always be open to further debate. As one of the more famous quotations about free speech goes, it is "an experiment, as all life is an experiment." I want to say, however, as forcefully as I can, that this is the right thing to do and, indeed, it is required by existing norms of free speech, the American university and Columbia itself.
Third, to those among us who experience hurt and pain as a result of this day, I say on behalf of all of us we are sorry and wish to do what we can to alleviate it.
Fourth, to be clear on another matter -- this event has nothing whatsoever to do with any "rights" of the speaker but only with our rights to listen and speak. We do it for ourselves.
We do it in the great tradition of openness that has defined this nation for many decades now. We need to understand the world we live in, neither neglecting its glories nor shrinking from its threats and dangers. It is consistent with the idea that one should know thine enemies, to have the intellectual and emotional courage to confront the mind of evil and to prepare ourselves to act with the right temperament. In the moment, the arguments for free speech will never seem to match the power of the arguments against, but what we must remember is that this is precisely because free speech asks us to exercise extraordinary self-restraint against the very natural but often counterproductive impulses that lead us to retreat from engagement with ideas we dislike and fear. In this lies the genius of the American idea of free speech.
Lastly, in universities, we have a deep and almost single-minded commitment to pursue the truth. We do not have access to the levers of power. We cannot make war or peace. We can only make minds. And to do this we must have the most full freedom of inquiry.
Let me now turn to Mr. Ahmadinejad.
THE BRUTAL CRACKDOWN ON SCHOLARS, JOURNALISTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES
Over the last two weeks, your government has released Dr. Haleh Esfandiari and Parnaz Axima; and just two days ago Kian Tajbakhsh, a graduate of Columbia with a Ph.D. in urban planning. While our community is relieved to learn of his release on bail, Dr. Tajbakhsh remains in Teheran, under house arrest, and he still does not know whether he will be charged with a crime or allowed to leave the country. Let me say this for the record, I call on the president today to ensure that Kian Tajbaksh will be free to travel out of Iran as he wishes. Let me also report today that we are extending an offer to Dr. Tajbaksh to join our faculty as a visiting professor in urban planning here at his alma mater, in our Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. And we hope he will be able to join us next semester.
The arrest and imprisonment of these Iranian Americans for no good reason is not only unjustified, it runs completely counter to the very values that allow today's speaker to even appear on this campus.
But at least they are alive.
According to Amnesty International, 210 people have been executed in Iran so far this year -- 21 of them on the morning of Sept. 5 alone. This annual total includes at least two children -- further proof, as Human Rights Watch puts it, that Iran leads the world in executing minors.
There is more.
Iran hanged up to 30 people this past July and August during a widely reported suppression of efforts to establish a more open, democratic society in Iran. Many of these executions were carried out in public view, a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party.
These executions and others have coincided with a wider crackdown on student activists and academics accused of trying to foment a so-called "soft revolution." This has included jailing and forced retirements of scholars. As Dr. Esfandiari said in a broadcast interview since her release, she was held in solitary confinement for 105 days because the government "believes that the United States ... is planning a Velvet Revolution" in Iran.
In this very room last year we learned something about Velvet Revolutions from Vaclav Havel. And we will likely hear the same from our World Leaders Forum speaker this evening -- President Michelle Bachelet Jeria of Chile. Both of their extraordinary stories remind us that there are not enough prisons to prevent an entire society that wants its freedom from achieving it.
We at this university have not been shy to protest and challenge the failures of our own government to live by these values; and we won't be shy in criticizing yours.
Let's, then, be clear at the beginning, Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator.
And so I ask you:
Why have women, members of the Baha'i faith, homosexuals and so many of our academic colleagues become targets of persecution in your country?
Why in a letter last week to the secretary general of the U.N. did Akbar Gangi, Iran's leading political dissident, and over 300 public intellectuals, writers and Nobel Laureates express such grave concern that your inflamed dispute with the West is distracting the world's attention from the intolerable conditions your regime has created within Iran? In particular, the use of the Press Law to ban writers for criticizing the ruling system.
Why are you so afraid of Iranian citizens expressing their opinion
