A Perversion Of Academic Freedom
The New York Daily News unloads on Columbia University dean John Coatsworth, the man who infamously has defended inviting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak by saying he'd extend the same courtesy to Adolph Hitler.
Coatsworth's efforts to justify his remarks further showed he is absolutely ill-equipped for his post. He told the Daily News yesterday he meant "in 1939, [when Hitler] had not started the war and the Holocaust hadn't begun." Oh. So six years after Dachau, four years after the anti-Jewish Nuremberg Laws and a year after Kristallnacht, when Hitler's intentions were known to all, he'd be a fine speaker for Columbia?
The Iranian president denies the Holocaust and has declared that he would like to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth. His regime is a leading exporter of terror, provided munitions that are killing U.S. troops in Iraq and is openly trying to go nuclear. He is repressing his own people with radical Islamic law and would similarly repress everyone else if given a chance.
He's his own Hitler - for now without the resources. Despite the established record - right down to Ahmadinejad's "Death to America" rallies over the weekend - Coatsworth is determined to bring the Iranian to Columbia. And Columbia President Lee Bollinger foolishly agreed to legitimize Coatsworth's circus by playing Ahmadinejad's foil. Bollinger will challenge the madman, yes he will. As if Ahmadinejad will give a hoot to what any of Columbia's academics think - although he'll take full advantage of their forum. As if anyone will learn anything that isn't well-known from the record of Ahmadinejad's actions.
I know that there are some people, like Jason Steck, who are rationally arguing that it is not a bad thing to confront Ahmadinejad in a public forum. I disagree. There are some standards of human decency that cannot be violated. This man calls for the erasure of a country and a people. His government hangs gays. There is a real evil here. That evil has no place in decent society.
Iran, The Ivory Tower | Gaius Monday, 24 September , 2007
By TC@LeatherPenguin, Monday, 24 September , 2007 @ 8:36 am
The notion that these idiots at Columbia are going to engage Ahmanutjob in a “frank and open discussion” is patently ridiculous; just a glance at last night’s 60 Minutes interview (and his “Death to America” sendoff rally before boarding his plane) shows he has no interest in anything other than his own PR agenda. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks except for the folks back home, who he’ll tell how omnipotent he is (remember the “halo” crap last time he dropped in at the UN?).
One good thing will come out of this: Bollinger has made an enemy of the King of Albany, Shelly Silver.
By David M, Monday, 24 September , 2007 @ 9:23 am
Trackbacked by The Thunder Run - Web Reconnaissance for 09/24/2007
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.