Letters to the Editor
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Anonymous
You're like both a dick and a wit at the same time.
Translation: "I can't argue against your reasoning or your facts, but I can manage a lame smear."
Look, neocon, if you can't argue the issues, at least try coming up with some B-grade smear material. You're not even trying.
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Yet another of Columbia's esteemed,guiding lights!
Would it be really far fetched to assume that Lee Bollinger is a Pro Israel Zionist? Huh? But even though Mr.Bollinger had managed to get none of his "written down" facts correct,he did prove that his truculence and vociferousness fit like a kid glove with his black close mindeness! What can anyone say except that Columbia University must feel very fortunate indeed in having such a sophisticated,well balanced and diplomatic man as one of their priceless,guiding lights!
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A map to Walter Map
Italicized quotation.
Clever rejoinder. Perhaps a "translation."
Bull's-eye! Took you down, bee-atch!
High-fives self.
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The only outrageous thing
is that all the GOP chicken-littles and Bill O'Reilly's fail to see what a great moment in U.S. history and affirmation of freedom it is when the President of Iran can speak in front of an audience in this country. And the President of the institution where he is speaking can hold him accountable to his words and deeds.
Open dialogue. For better or worse, sometimes both, it is something I am proud can still manage to raise it's battered head in public.
Thank you, Columbia, for proving that freedom of speech has not been completely obliterated in this country.
Now, let's see if you would be vacationing in Guantanamo if you held Bush to the same standards of critical accountbility in front of an audience.
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I guess Saloniks don't imagine that the President of Iran is a nominally intelligent person
He must be a dimwit or a dog or something to get 'ambushed' by the Evil Jew of Columbia. Well, it's not as if liberal patronizing of tyrants is a new thing. They are all babes and innocents to you people. Completely unaware of who they are, what they say or anyone's plausible reaction to it.
I demand a hearing at the ICC to redress this Zionist trampling of the rights of innocent freedom loving folk who only come to New York to sample Ray's Famous Pizza and see the sights.
Dirqa Dirqa Allahu Porqchop.
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antisemitism
"Fighting antisemitism here is a complete waste of time." - ~~~~~
Well at least you got something right, (maybe because even a broken clock is right once a day?).
Fighting antisemitism here is a complete waste of time because there is no anti-sematism here except in your grand illusions.
And speaking of hate, who do you hate more, Muslims or Christians? While Jews have had a mixed history with both religions, the Christian relationship absent recent modern history was the worse.
Anonymous, congratulations on your second smear attempt. It was better, but still substance free. Try another twinkie with your diet coke.
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ah yes there is no such thing as antisemitism...
I'm reminded of the movie "True Believer" where the main character said "If there was no Holocaust then why was Hitler such a great guy to you people...?" Anyway, it's a complete waste of time, it's teaching algebra to ducks. A holocaust denier being cheered on by a bunch of lefties who don't believe in antisemitism. That's almost arch.
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Quite the host
I learned never to accept an invitation to Bollinger's place.
I see his attacks on Ahmadinejad as posturing. He invites the guy to speak, then realizes there will be a backlash, perhaps in the university's funding (don't they have a $5 billion endowment?), and so he throws the guest of honor under the bus to please the right wing nuts. Nice.
It was funny to see Ahmadinejad as the gentleman, clearly miffed at being dissed so loudly but he kept dancing.
Ahmadinejad is a straw man, a front man for the ayatollahs, and not a very good one either. We are wasting too much time on what he says and thinks.
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I came to post...
But I see that pageiger already said everything I wanted to say, and probably better.
This whole thing was another welcome distraction for the Bush administration. They don't care if it's Larry Craig or Brittney Spears or Ahmadinejad or the new Ken Burns movie...anything to keep their disasters off the front page.
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@walter_map
There is no logic or reason in your responses to me. You do not refute any of my points with any facts or citations. Thus I have nothing to respond to, other than your ad-hominem attacks, which I will refrain from addressing.
And no, you didn't hit a sore spot. You actually made me laugh. What, exactly, did I have coming? Your accusation that I have no friends? You don't even know me, so what do I care about that?
Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I didn't have time to respond last night. I was busy playing dodgeball with my nonexistant friends.
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I think this was handled badly
I'm not exactly sure why Ahmadinejad was invited in the first place. I see it is part of a "World Leaders Forum", but clearly there are plenty of others to choose from.
Given that Ahmadinejad was invited, Bollinger's remarks show exceptionally poor taste. I'm not sure about the "modern" civilized world, but throughout much of history, a great measure of civility was how one treated a guest. If you're not prepared to be courteous to a guest, don't invite them. It's that simple.
I can think of a number of ways to handle this that would have shown more class. The first would have been be to ask why you want someone to speak in front of a hostile audience, and then make the decision to invite somebody else (this is no more censorship than refusing to invite me to Columbia to read excerpts from my Salon comments to an audience of chirping crickets). Another would just be to bite the bullet and accept the now unwanted guest graciously come what may. A third would be to add a polite but firm disclaimer, noting that Columbia does not endorse the comments of the speaker. This could be followed by a more vitriolic speech after the guest has left.
I really think Bollinger took the coward's way out. Clearly, he wanted to deflect attacks by the "Oceania has always been at war with Persia" faction but somehow claim to be a champion of free speech. Maybe he impressed somebody with this self-contradictory approach, but all it says to me is that an invitation to speak at Columbia is not necessarily what it appears to be and Bollinger is not a person I would trust in any situation involving an implied contract.