Iran's Evasive Ahmadinejad Dissembles, Columbia's Boorish Bollineger Panders
Ahmadinejad's performance today at Columbia University was true to form. A former professor, he also acted the politician and made several evasive answers, especially about the holocaust. He avoided most potentially embarrassing issues. He did make one clearly truthful answer: when Saddam Hussein used chemical and biological weapons against his country's troops, the West, especially the United States under Reagan was at best silent.
I did learn something new from him: that they have a don't ask, don't tell, (and don't tap?) policy regarding sexual preference in theocratic Iran, which is in line with the rest of the region. I suspect that one was a whopper.
What gave Ahmadinejad his advantage was the poor performance o Mr. Bollinger of Columbia. His introduction was ungracious and longer the the speech itself, a sure mark of a boor. His performance was no profile in courage: it was shooting rabbits in a cage. He was so eager to pander to his vocal critics that he made a mockery of the notion that Columbia was a neutral academic venue where the little Iranian can answer, and occasionally evade, members of academia. Normally you give the man a chance to speak before dumping on him: and you don't call a president who was elected, can run for one more term only, and may lose the next election, a petty dictator.
BTW: does anyone know who is Mr. Bollinger's barber???
Cheers
Mohammed
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