I may be a little timid when it comes to politics, but I do understand that the incident that took place at Columbia University on 25th was simply atrocious, childish and un-professional on Mr. Bollinger’s part. I have no say in either country’s politics and am a neutral observer. But yet I feel the over-powering urge to comment on this childish behaviour.
But the way the Iranian President Ahmadinejad was literally insulted in public was simply a disgusting spectacle to watch. A respected and learned man such as Bollinger could have done without such petty word-wars, that too in his inaugural speech before the President had a chance to speak. But i must commend the President for tackling such horrid remarks diplomatically.
Mr. Bollinger should check his facts first. Iran isn’t the one and only country in this world that has ever used a nuclear weapon (no prize for guessing who the award goes to). This inhumane, uncultured act of terrorism killed over 300,000 people and millions are suffering from its repercussions even now. Iran is not currently one of the leading causes of acts of terrorism the world over. Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, various African countries… the list goes on… Or have you conveniently forgotten? Is Iran going to be added to this distinguished list very soon Mr. Bush?
Calling a person holding a doctorate an undereducated, illiterate and ignorant person is totally unwarranted. And when this is directed at the head of a state, it simply upholds the opposite of free-speech, democracy and humanity. It is an insult to a whole nation and its people. When a person makes such strong allegations, he should at the very least do some research. No wonder many countries all over the world are still doubtful about the power of democracy. Is this any way for a self-proclaimed World Leader and its prestigious institutions to act?
You decide – in reality- who really has a fanatical mindset, is ignorant, arrogant, illiterate and under-educated among the two…
You know, Bollinger had to say those things. Otherwise he’ll lose out on donations. Columbia will go to dogs.
But, don’t you think deriding a high-profile ‘guest’ (and in the process a country), is not the best of ways to go about securing donations… Moreover there is the talk that Bollinger was trying to bias the students against Ahmadinejad -> implying that the students can’t be trusted to make a decision for themselves (Freedom of expression?).
I sure do. In fact ideally he should not have such ideas about Ahmadinejad in the first place. Ahmadinejad is not a ‘dictator’, he is an elected representative of the people, he does not hold complete power.
He certainly did not seek Israel’s destruction in his speech, he didn’t even talk about regime change which he has done before, and which was interpreted as ‘call for wiping Israel off the map’. It’s funny how the oppressive Israel can pretend to be the oppressed.
Given all of that, think of Bollinger’s position. He is the president of an university dependent on donations. Already being criticized for letting A in. He had to prove that he is not a renegade, because he lives in a country where deserters are not tolerated, whatever they might say.
Certainly he could use a little eloquence, he went a little too far in order to prove his allegience to the powers that be (neocons) in the US.
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation
Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Earl!