Ahmadinejad to speak at Columbia

[theapportioner]

In my opinion, the forum was more about our country than Iran's (sorry Canadians). I'm sure Ahmadinejad's appearance has already been heavily censored/spun, and it won't make much of a difference there, except to those who are able to break through media censorship.

This was, perhaps more importantly, a test of the values that this country supposedly holds dear. The comments by buffoons like Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver (who should be excoriated for what he did to Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan, and now drawn and quartered for his threats to cut off state funding for the school), and clowns like Christine Quinn and Andrew Weiner, both of whom have open mayoral ambitions (and who can only hope to be 1/4 the mayor Bloomberg currently is), are alarming and dangerous. Basically extorting the school for exercising the 1st Amendment. Bollinger was far more tactful about it than I would be.

As for the Minuteman thing, well Columbia did invite them, and punished the students who interfered. They cancelled a 2nd invitation, but I don't know if they ever revealed why. There were problems with how they handled the whole thing, but charges that they were biased in how they interpret free speech don't hold up.