As noted HERE, HERE and HERE, other writers seem to have noticed what rude, boorish slobs America has been to the visiting Iranian head of state.
It wasn’t about the Iranian President. The way that he was treated is seen in Iran as the way WE have decided to treat ALL Iranians. You disrespect the country’s leader, you disrespect the country. The USA has, collectively told Persia (Iran): Yo momma, fools!
Imagine for a moment if even Bush went to, say, Thailand, and he was treated by the Thais the way that we treated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?
What do you suppose the US reaction would be? Even those who despise Bush would be up in arms, because the Thais would have insulted the OFFICE of the President of the United States, and they would have insulted … US. Do you think the Persians feel any differently about their president? (A fellow who actually DID serve HIS country in time of war … the invasion of Iran by Iraq by Saddam Hussein, which WE backed. He was elected fair and square, by the by.)
Yup: he (and his country) believe some pretty unenlightened stuff about the Holocaust, Israel and gays. But 20 years ago, you could have found a thousand US politicians who would have said equally insane crap. And where is it written that we have to agree with everything other countries believe? (I know that it was popular to diss France back when the Bushies thought the war would be a “cakewalk.” But how well has that all turned out for us? Seems like France was RIGHT! And who knows? We might actually be WRONG about something again. Maybe a little politeness would get us what rudeness won’t.)
The issue isn’t whether he ‘deserved’ it. The issue is why we show respect and courtesy for other nations: because showing discourtesy will translate into the dead sons and daughters of your friends and neighbors. Is it worth the life of ONE American kid for Scott Pelley to chivvy, for the dumbass president of Columbia University to call a democratically elected president a “petty dictator” or various idiots to be as consistently rude and classless as we’ve been?
Worse, Scott Pelley, in his 60 Minutes interview READ what George W. Bush told Pelley he’d say to Ahmadinejad. I haven’t read anything on it, but do you realize that CBS is now playing catspaw for the Administration? That’s stepping over all journalistic boundaries. It’s shameful, and Pelley should be fired faster than Imus, and slandered worse than Rather for it. You can’t wear both those hats and be any good at either. Can’t be done. Utterly corrupt journalism.
Are we really this pathetic? America as a country so uninterested in peace that we loll around in our soiled overalls, our love handles oozing through the cracks, chewing on a plug of terbaccy, fondling our Wal-Mart 9 mm pistol, drinkin’ beer, farting and laughing “They hain’t gots no gays, Ma!”
Hyuck. Hyuck. Hyuck.
Good ghod.
And just imagine how we look to the REST of the world with our clueless and crapulous performance. Not that we care a fig for what the world thinks of us, right?
(Tehran Times: Iranian universities, MPs denounce Columbia U. president; Arab News (Saudi Arabia) ‘President Ahmadinejad and the Distortions of Politics‘)
And here’s the disgusting opportunist slimy headline of the day from the Hindu Times:
Invitation to Ahmadinejad speaks of US greatness: Bush
Washington, Sept. 26 (AP): US President George W Bush Tuesday said that the speaking appearance of Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at a US university “speaks volumes about really the greatness of America.”
He said if the president of Columbia University President, Lee Bollinger, considers Ahmadinejad’s visit an educational experience for Columbia students, “I guess it’s OK with me.”
Bush spoke about the mercurial Iranian’s appearance at the prestigious university in New York City in an interview with Fox News Channel.
Well, we sure as hell showed some kind of “greatness” THIS week. That’s fer damn sure. (Hand me a SlimJim™ would’ja Rufus?)
Let’s just get rid of diplomacy and diplomats altogether. Hell, we don’t need no steeenking manners! We can be rude and dumbass, ‘cuz we’re always right about everything. Right?
(Faux Nooz reports: Ahmadinejad Columbia Visit an Insult to American Military Families, AS IF they knew what rudeness actually WAS! Right Jethro? Town Hall blogs: Columbia: Same Idiots, Useful as Ever proving that there’s MORE than enough hate to go around. Wouldn’t want a shortage of HATE in the USA. Nosiree bob. Marketwatch says ‘A smirking Ahmadinejad suckers the US media‘; the Detroit Free Press says, ‘Iran’s voice of absurdity speaks,’ etcetera)
Persia has been civilized for 6,000 years. The USA (according to appearances) is still a little uneasy with this wild new fad. Over the past couple of days, it seems like it fits us like a $50 suit with too much starch on a hot, muggy day in August.
Personally, I don’t know how the guy kept his cool. But he did, and that’s even more impressive than the tsunami of concentrated rude buffrontery that we presented him with.
Courage.
5 Comments
28 September 2007 at 4:07 am
My first reaction to Lee Bollinger’s handling of this event was that the invitation to Ahmadinejad was all about him and his university. He promised a vigorous exchange of ideas. He talked about the importance of freedom of speech. But there is no way that a university president and students could aggressively question Ahmadinejad without being seen as impolite. Therefore, I believe that a question-and-answer session at a university with someone like Ahmadinejad was a really bad idea. Better to keep all those polite, dishonest poses in a diplomatic setting than to pretend that you are likely to get to some profound truth during a campaign opportunity for Ahmadinejad at a university. It was clear from Bollinger’s introduction that he was aware of Ahmadinejad’s propensity for making journalists look stupid by dodging and re-directing their questions. I can’t see how he could have expected anything else in the format which was set up for the speech.
Anne Applebaum called Ahmadinejad “a man whose regime locks up academics for the ‘crime’ of organizing academic conferences and regularly arrests the Iranian equivalent of the students who listened to him speak Monday.” He might have asked to speak at Columbia as a distraction from the closings of universities in Iran on his watch.
Once the mistake of accepting Ahmadinejad’s request to speak was made, I wonder if anyone considered one of Applebaum’s ideas for strengthening the cause of free speech: “If the president and dean of Columbia truly believed in an open exchange of ideas, they should have presented Ahmadinejad with an Iranian dissident or human-rights activist to debate—someone from his own culture who could argue with him in his own language”. But while this option would have given a voice to someone who had less access to media than does Ahmadinejad, it would still not fulfill international expectations for diplomatic politeness toward world leaders. The purpose of a university is not diplomatic outreach.
http://www.slate.com/id/2174602/nav/tap2/
As the event turned out, Bollinger got to look like he was bravely “speaking Truth to Power”. Back in the Middle East, Ahmadinejad got to spin the rudeness toward him to make himself look brave for entering the “lion’s den”, defending “scientific freedom” (holocaust denial), etc. The losers from this sorry event appear to include America, Lebanon and Israel, as well as more moderate voices in the current Iranian government. Not to mention Iranian dissidents.
On the other hand, there are rumors that Ahmadinejad’s speech was a condition for the release of Haleh Esfandiari from solitary confinement in Evin Prison in Iran. Maybe the Columbia administration had some motives which weren’t entirely selfish.
http://pajamasmedia.com/2007/09/mahmouds_manhattan_moment.php
You said, “Are we really this pathetic? America as a country so uninterested in peace that we loll around in our soiled overalls, our love handles oozing through the cracks, chewing on a plug of terbaccy, fondling our Wal-Mart 9 mm pistol, drinkin’ beer, farting and laughing “They hain’t gots no gays, Ma!” But the most prominent images of discourtesy on the modern campus in the last few decades have been those of angry, self-righteous, PC protestors. Be honest: Didn’t Bollinger and his audience sound more like haughty, agree-with-me-or-else intellectuals than the stereotypical ignorant, gun-from-Walmart hayseed you depict in your post, even with Bollinger’s uncharacteristic and somewhat inaccurate “petty dictator” charge against Ahmadinejad? Not that conservatives and libertarians can’t be disrespectful:
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2004/01/a_taxonomic_the.html
Back to speaking Truth to Power: You said, “Yup: he (and his country) believe some pretty unenlightened stuff about the Holocaust, Israel and gays. But 20 years ago, you could have found a thousand US politicians who would have said equally insane crap.” I cannot think of a single politician in 1987 who did something like organizing a conference for holocaust deniers and who was also given a polite hearing at a university like Columbia. Or one who said something as stupid as “there are no gays in our country” with full knowledge that his regime hangs gays and who was also given a polite hearing at a university like Columbia. On the other hand, hundreds of conservatives, moderates or errant liberals have been denied the opportunity to speak on university campuses during the last 20 years for trying to express much less extreme positions, or have been shouted down when they tried to speak.
Concerning the demonization of Larry Summers as a symbol of bigotry and the decision to “disinvite” him from a UC California dinner speech, Cassandra said: “As I noted during the Larry Summers brouhaha at Harvard, contrary to the spin put upon his words, Summers never insulted women then. The true insult, were gender feminists only smart enough to realize it, came when he broke down and apologized to them. . . ”
http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/archives/2007/09/duhversity_tole_1.html
A conservative/libertarian backlash against the type of rude, exclusionary behavior exhibited toward Summers seems to have started recently. Maybe more respectful treatment of others in our universities should include Americans as well as foreigners.
http://instapundit.com/archives2/009333.php#009333
As for Ahmadinejad, I think that the best way for Americans to show true respect for him would be to take seriously what he says to audiences in the Middle East, where his claim that he cannot tell a lie because he is Muslim has some applicability, at least in theory, because he is not speaking to an infidel audience. The best way to support those in Iran who are disaffected with him is to listen to them, too. They are the ones who really need courage.
28 September 2007 at 6:14 am
I never pretended to be “reviewing” Ahminidinejad’s appearance or performance.
I was merely pointing out that courtesy has tangible political benefits, and that not one American life was worth the incalculable rudeness we showed, and the imbecility we showed the world.
Your comments, while thoughtful, don’t have a damned thing to do with what I wrote about.
So I don’t know what to say, except that, since you reject the idea that politeness is any sort of virtue, then I should, to be courteous, speak to you in the language that you insist is most appropriate in this case:
God what a dumbass you are! Next time, try READING before shooting your big mouth off.
There. I hope that was sufficiently rude to make you feel at home. That was your stated wish, yes?
28 September 2007 at 8:05 am
You’re priceless. Don’t ever change.
28 September 2007 at 6:18 pm
Whatever it takes to make YOU happy, Pam. That’s our motto here.
19 October 2007 at 8:14 pm
[...] I make up words, it’s at least funny. Like “buffrontery” which, obviously, means to be insulted by a buffoon. Or, simply, listening to three hours of [...]
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