Welcome To Columbia University, You Jerk

He is speaking at the UN today, but the big news was of course his speech at Columbia University yesterday. I am of course talking about that zany Islamic zealot, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinnerjacket (Thanks Jamie).

I was relatively disappointed in the entire event. I was hoping that ol’ Mahmoud would go on a tirade and blast America over our producing such horrid TV shows such as “The O’Reilly Factor” or rake us over the coals for succumbing to the temptation of Satan by ingesting BLTs and Johnsonville Brats. Did I get any of that emotional outburst? No, damn it.

The Persian Prez said what I expected him to say, and he avoided directly answering questions that I expected him to side-step. In a sense, he was much like an American politician. He did drop a bombshell (so to speak) when he informed the audience and the world that there are no homosexuals in Iran. True or not, what he failed to mention is that incidences of goat rape are out of control. Unlike here in America, I guess the Iranians screw it first and then eat it…Odd, but I digress.

Many have talked about the opening comments of Columbia University President Lee Bollinger interjecting himself into the event by attempting to verbally castrate Ahmadinnerjacket during his introduction of the guest speaker. I thought Bollinger’s remarks were at the least odd, and at the most, incredibly stupid.

Yes, I know Mahmoud isn’t the most diplomatic fellow in the world but he was invited to speak and in a sense, show to the world that our country is the bastion of democracy and free speech. Bollinger, however, truncated those ideals when he pre-empted the President by calling him a petty, uneducated dictator prior to his speech.

Instead of allowing Ahmadinnerjacket to state how inhospitable his views are towards the peace and stability of the Middle East and beyond, Bollinger trumped him by showing that kowtowing to the pressure of donors, media, and personal lack of courage far outweigh open and unfettered debate and the sharing of ideas, be they right or wrong. Mr. Bollinger, you should stay after class and write the phrase, “dumb ass” 500 times.

On a personal level, I found the Bollinger's remarks to be quite strange. It was like he invited someone to a dinner party and before seating him at the table he introduced him to the other guests by saying, “Friends, may I present to you, our honored guest and biggest fucking asshole in the world, Mahmoud…Enjoy the pork chops.”

That would be like me inviting President Bush to the Bagwine digs and when he arrived I would say, “Sit down dickhead, quit invading countries, and keep your hands off of my booze…Enjoy the Head Cheese." Although, that would be fun, even I wouldn’t do that.

Enjoy your day folks and remember, if you stay informed, think for yourself, and question the “facts”, free speech is something that should be never be feared, and more importantly never be silenced.

Cheers!!