Ah, the excitement never ends. As many of you probably know our distinguised {cough} alma mater, Columbia University, invited the "president" of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to speak on Monday. The local news was all over it, covering the speech and the protests that took place before and after it. Most of the students (the ones whose interviews made it on the news, anyway) touted the virtues of free speech. Don't get me wrong; I believe in free speech. Ahmadinejad can say whatever he wants--frankly, listening to him may be the best proof that he's crazy. But do we really need to provide a platform for him to speak? (Perhaps someone should define free speech for those ivy leaguers...)
Dave posted his feelings about in response to a discussion on this blog. You can read about it here. (He's the "attorney from one of New York's most prestigious firms"). Notice that he takes some of my ideas (which I expressed to him the other night) but does not cite me. Hmmm, should I charge him royalties?
Perhaps the most lame thing about Columbia's involvement is the diatribe by President Bollinger in his introduction to Ahmadinejad, calling him "petty" and "cruel". If you felt that way, then why invite him in the first place? Unless you're realizing your mistake in inviting him and that's how you cover yourself?
Fellow Columbia alums and spouses, what do you think? As for the attorney and I, future contributions and support will go to our favorite alma mater, BYU.
4 comments:
Ditto! I find the whole thing repugnant! Our lines of clarity in right and wrong are becoming so very blurred! It is so very sad.
Ugh! After the boys' graduation LLM speaker, I definitely do NOT look to Columbia to define my moral compass. We too are avid BYU supporters and Columbia will not receive a dime more of our money.
Oh yes, the foreign student who liked New York because the girls were easy and the booze was cheap. (Ugh. What's the emoticon for vomit?) My MIL still talks about how offensive that was.
I'm glad you brought this up. We, too, found it interesting that they would invite him and them slam him. He's got issues, but really, have a little class! I'm still extremely proud of my alma matter and am grateful for the ways it stretched me, but this was an interesting situation.
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