Spring Break
Let the cream rise and the rest will perish
Kevin Rand
Issue date: 9/26/07 Section: Opinion
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This was the scene at Columbia University in Manhattan on Monday.
As if a hologram of the man who is often said to be one of the most dangerous in the world was in the auditorium.
Only it wasn't a hologram. It really was Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, unshaken, despite the scathing preamble Columbia University President Lee Bollinger spoke toward him before the Middle East leader approached the podium.
Dressed in a grey suit jacket and a tie-less collared shirt, Ahmadinejad may as well have come from a sales office, appearing nothing like the more sharply adorned leaders of the Western world.
But he is accused of being an anti-Semite, a murderer of people who pose a threat to his politics. A holocaust denier and a torturer.
Who is this man?
To most of us, he is the subject of front-page stories in the New York Times or on CNN.com.
And he is now also accused of fighting against the U.S. by proxy with Iranian support of insurgents in Iraq.
For all intents and purposes, he is the enemy.
But on Monday, he was given a voice. He spoke candidly and unnerved, adhering to his own agenda in the face of railroading questions from the speech moderator.
Perhaps it is an American custom to demand "yes's" and "no's" when asking questions, so Ahmadinejad continued on his tangents.
Even if those were not unfair expectations, he admonished the moderator for telling him how he should answer questions.
He was incorrigible and unashamed of it.
And the audience, who bought-out the ticket office 90 minutes after the auditorium seats were put up for sale, laughed and applauded in varying displays of approval and disapproval.
This is freedom of speech. As vile, as disturbing - even as hateful - as his words were, he spoke freely.
And we listened.
To those who say some do not deserve a voice in such a forum, you might be right. But it should not be about what somebody deserves.
The speech was not a billboard, placed in the unavoidable path of the public eye. He spoke and people sat, listened and tuned in.
Yes, every major media outlet reported on Ahmadinejad's appearance, but simply knowing about it was as far as the public was forced to go.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Ted Rudow III,MA
posted 9/26/07 @ 10:23 AM PST
One can call Ahmadinejad many things, but a dictator he is by no means. He can't even -- he doesn't even have the power to appoint his own cabinet ministers. (Continued…)
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