Columbia University's Disgrace

By Hugh Hewitt

Columbia University's invitation to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at the prestigious university was a disgrace. Not only is Ahmadinejad a denier of the Holocaust and an inciter of genocide against the people of Israel, the nation he helps lead is actively engaged in the supply, training and direction of insurgents who are killing and wounding American soldiers and Marines. This abhorrent fanatic should be shunned by civilization, not welcomed and given a stage and microphone by a great institution that thus bestows on him prestige and legitimacy.

Opposition to the invitation from Columbia has been fierce but the arrogance of elite academia is such that not even near universal disgust has shaken the university's resolve to welcome Ahmadinejad--and not one trustee has voiced objection. Alumni and donors should remember from September 24 forward that a donation to Columbia is a gift to Holocaust deniers and anti-Semitic, anti-American killers in Iran.

Well, I have to say I agree. What was to be gained by this? I was surprised, shocked you might say, by the negative introduction given to ImaNutJob. If anyone deserves an introduction like this, it's this scumbag. I was expecting it to be a love-fest. However, I again ask the question, "What was the point?"

Not only does he advocate the annihilation of Israel, but that of the United States as well. At the the top of this blog, to serve as a constant reminder, I have one of ImaNutJob's quote's: "€œGod willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world without the United States and Zionism."€

His appearance was disgusting, and needless.

RELATED:

1. Of Free Speech And Academic "Progressives" (By Bill Murchison)

So, in the end, Monday the Iranian wild man Mahmoud Ahmadinejad got a dressing down from the man who had invited him -- in the name of free speech, you understand -- to speak at Columbia University.

Likely, by time for the speech, Columbia President Lee Bollinger had no choice other than to perfume himself against the stench from a statesman who proposes to exterminate Israel, presides over one of the world's least free regimes and may, to boot, have a secret nuclear weapons program going. READ MORE.

2. Columbia University's Selective First Amendment Affinity (By David Limbaugh)

Over an avalanche of protests, New York's Columbia University invited Iran's Holocaust denying dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak on campus. That any American institution would furnish a propaganda platform for this murderous thug is symptomatic of staggering ignorance about our enemies in this global war on terror.

Self-congratulatory liberals, like Columbia's President Lee Bollinger, actually see the university's hosting of Ahmadinejad as a cause to celebrate -- advancing free speech and diverse viewpoints -- as opposed to something that must be reluctantly tolerated. READ MORE.