Protest at Columbia over Iranian President

[Rudey]

These guys were there yesterday: http://www.tfp.org/

I swear this was by far the scariest thing on Columbia's campus.

-Rudey

[DSTCHAOS]

The body language analyst on my fav show, The O'Reilly Factor, said that the president of Iran was trying to look powerful and assertive through his hand gestures. But he was rather nervous based on how much he kept licking his lips. So much for sexy LL Cool J.

It is interesting that he received laughter when he talked about gays in Iran but applause when he said something to the effect of "when we invite you to speak in Iran, we form opinions after you have spoken, not beforehand..." Basically attempting to fuel the debate on American free speech. Booooo.

[Sugar08]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

He shouldn't have been invited to speak. Free speech on AMERICAN soil doesn't apply to terrorists and known supporters of terrorism. This goes to how I feel about any noncitizen who comes here, when you're HERE you will be treated as a human being but not necessarily given the same citizenship rights as citizens receive or given a platform to speak.

I generally agree with you on this. BUT I think that because of the power this man wields, and the fact that our current (and probably next) campaign is being fought in the vicinity of Iran (and will probably be fought IN Iran), giving him a platform to speak was not only necessary, it was the right thing to do. He's not just some faceless terrorist you see on Al-Jazeera spitting vitriol.

And anyway, he only confirmed the negative opinions of many of the posters here, and I'd wager, most American citizens.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by Sugar08

I generally agree with you on this. BUT I think that because of the power this man wields, and the fact that our current (and probably next) campaign is being fought in the vicinity of Iran (and will probably be fought IN Iran), giving him a platform to speak was not only necessary, it was the right thing to do. He's not just some faceless terrorist you see on Al-Jazeera spitting vitriol.

And anyway, he only confirmed the negative opinions of many of the posters here, and I'd wager, most American citizens.

See the enemy now before he goes into hiding with Bin Ladin.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by Sugar08

He's not just some faceless terrorist you see on Al-Jazeera spitting vitriol.

Which is why he should not have been invited. We know who Bin Laden is, too, if we could find him should he be invited to the White House for tea? Keep your enemies close to you but don't sit at the dinner table with them.

Giving him the platform wasn't necessary and it wasn't smart. And people are pretending that Columbia Univ did it for some greater cause. They did it to solidify their status as a liberal University, with far left tendencies depending on the issue, and consistent intolerance for Conservatives. All under the guise of intellectual development of the student body.

Hell, the ROTC isn't allowed on campus and The Minute Men were THREATENED and basically chased off campus. Columbia is full of it and I agree with the alum who are withdrawing their financial support.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Hell, the ROTC isn't allowed on campus and The Minute Men were THREATENED and basically chased off campus. Columbia is full of it and I agree with the alum who are withdrawing their financial support.

Incredible. I wasn't aware.

[Sugar08]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

And people are pretending that Columbia Univ did it for some greater cause. They did it to solidify their status as a liberal University, with far left tendencies depending on the issue, and consistent intolerance for Conservatives. All under the guise of intellectual development of the student body.

Hell, the ROTC isn't allowed on campus and The Minute Men were THREATENED and basically chased off campus. Columbia is full of it and I agree with the alum who are withdrawing their financial support.

I agree that Columbia had some ulterior motives. And ultra-liberals are just as bad as ultra-conservatives. But I don't really have a problem with this guy coming to campus and speaking, because I feel like I learned something.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Giving him the platform wasn't necessary and it wasn't smart. And people are pretending that Columbia Univ did it for some greater cause. They did it to solidify their status as a liberal University, with far left tendencies depending on the issue, and consistent intolerance for Conservatives. All under the guise of intellectual development of the student body.

Hell, the ROTC isn't allowed on campus and The Minute Men were THREATENED and basically chased off campus. Columbia is full of it and I agree with the alum who are withdrawing their financial support.

Truer words were never spoken. It was almost like Bollinger got him on the platform to harangue him, getting brownie points from his whiny undergrads and lefty PhD students.

The Minutemen thing EMBARASSED me and I tell that to every kid who calls asking for donations. Bollinger is a Constitutional scholar who allows this nonsense to go on in the name of liberal tyranny. Columbia is so full of it! But I'm thinking about B-school there, so take what I say with a grain of salt...

[jon1856]

The Op-Ed cartoons had a field day with this.
Several very good ones.
http://cagle.com/news/IranPresidentVisit/main.asp

[kstar]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Working for my "daddy's law firm," I'll have FAR more effect on the state of the world than any of those folks ever will.

-- but we all like to feel like we contribute to society I suppose.

Yes, chasing whambulances and getting out of parking tickets.



Nevermind, this has apparently already been addressed.

[squirrely girl]

ha!

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by kstar

Yes, chasing whambulances and getting out of parking tickets.

We don't do very much personal injury at all. I really don't like PI at all. Who hires attorneys for traffic court??

I'll bet you're just upset because I've seen you banging on the bongos at 23rd and Classen

[kstar]

Originally Posted by Kevin

We don't do very much personal injury at all. I really don't like PI at all. Who hires attorneys for traffic court??

I'll bet you're just upset because I've seen you banging on the bongos at 23rd and Classen

No, I prefer to go speak my senators and reps. in person. Plus, I don't play the bongos. Otherwise, yeah.

And since you can't read between the lines, working for your father's firm means jack.

[Kevin]

Well, you don't really know what firm it is and what cases we've tried. You're right in the sense that where I work doesn't really mean anything. It's that I'll have a better than average opportunity to help form the case law in this state. We do a fair amount of appellate work and if past cases are any indication of the future, I'll have plenty of opportunity to do that sort of thing.

But really.. what in the hell does this have to do with anything in this thread? All I know is that I said some stuff about protesters, then people start bringing up my job? Jesus.. if all I do is make a paycheck to take home at the end of the day, I'm doing more than 99% of the folks at the peace rallies -- 1908, you're a one-percenter

[Sugar08]

Did anyone see Ahmadinejad address the U.N. last night? It was on CSpan. He talked a lot, mostly about the U.S., without naming us. A lot of nebulous stuff about world powers who are overstepping their bounds.

Afterward, I was watching AC 360, and there was an analyst on who said that the man basically is a figurehead -- he doesn't control the military and he doesn't make policy decisions. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but I thought it was an interesting point, if it's true.