Groundhog Day at Columbia University
By Repair Man Jack Posted in History — Comments (17) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
“Hegel remarks somewhere that all great, world-historical facts and personages occur, as it were, twice. He has forgotten to add: the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.” – Louis Bonaparte (1852).
Columbia will not set any precedents with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech on their campus. This won’t be the first time a fanatical dictator has received a warm and felicitous welcome in the halls of American Ivy. This won’t even be the first time this hideously elegant rebuke to civil decency has been administered by Columbia University.
In 1933, Columbia University went out of their way to welcome the German Ambassador, Hans Luther to the United States representing the newly minted Nazi government in Berlin. Columbia University President William Murray Butler hosted a reception in his honor and criticized demonstrators who protested the presence of a genuine, card-carrying Nazi Party Member speaking on their campus. The Ivy League tradition of tolerance at the expense of good, long preceded the tumultuous 1960’s.
In 1936, Columbia University Professor Arthur Remy would later comment favorably on a German Academic reception hosted by Joseph Goebbels. The Nazis had apparently shown the good taste not to toss any of Remy’s scholarly works on their bonfires of banned media items. Besides, everyone in the 1930’s knew Adolf Hitler didn’t actually mean those crazy things he wrote in Mien Kampf.
Of course, Hitler was far more reliable and consistent in his evil than he was intelligent or wise in his actions. Hitler really did attempt to do everything he promised in his demented screed and with the help of Neville Chamberlain and Josef Stalin, he got off to a sprinting head start, before his poorly-executed siege of Stalingrad.
This was even after he had written down what he intended to do to the rest of the world and had it published. Really smart people like Dr. Remy could have read all about it; if they hadn’t been too busy breaking out the wine and cheese with Goebbels.
Columbia University now opens the forum to another distinguished foreign dignitary. Like Hitler and the Nazis, he has distinguished himself, thus far, in ways that Dr. Remy, no doubt would describe as somewhat troubling, but worth another grant for further study.
Amil Amani offers us a peek at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s curriculum vitae to date.
He literally believes in the imminent emergence of the Mahdi - the Shiites' promised one who is expected to appear to set aright a decadent and wretched world.
He views himself as the vassal of Mahdi, working for him and being accountable to him.
His main task is to prepare the world so to hasten the Mahdi's coming. If this preparation requires much destruction and bloodshed, so be it.
As a former mayor of Tehran, he developed elaborate detailed plans preparing the city for the arrival of the Mahdi.
He allocated generous sums for extensive road improvement to a mosque at Jamkaaraan near the city of Qum where it is believed the promised Mahdi is hiding in a well since the age of nine, over 1100 years ago.
He reportedly visits the well frequently and drops his written supplications into the well for the hidden Mahdi to act upon them.
He has said in private that it was he who asked the Mahdi to inflict the massive stroke on Ariel Sharon.
He sees the Jews as the sworn enemies of Islam. The hostility dates back to the time of Muhammad's own treatment of the Jews in Medina. At first, expediently, Muhammad called the Jews "people of the book," and accorded them a measure of tolerance until he gained enough power to unleash his devastating wrath on them.
He says that the Holocaust is a myth. He is, in this respect, in good company with a number of other revisionist fanatics.
He wants Israel to be wiped out of the map or transferred to Europe.
In his speech at the UN general assembly, he implored the Mahdi to come and save the world. He claimed that during his speech of some twenty odd minutes, a powerful light enveloped him and all participants were held transfixed, unable to move their eyes.
He believes that the earth is Allah's and all people must either become believers of his brand of Islam or must perish as infidels najis (unclean) who by their very presence defile Allah's earth.
He believes that this earthly life is passing and worthless in comparison to the afterlife awaiting a devoted and faithful believer. Hence, he holds to the old belief that if a faithful kills an infidel, he goes to Allah's paradise; and, if the faithful gets killed in the process of serving the faith, again he goes to Allah's paradise. Hence, it is a win-win proposition for the faithful.
I almost hope that Ahmadinejad tells the faculty and students of Columbia that they are infidels defiling Allah’s planet. Afterwards, he could then demand full payment of his honorarium. If President Bollinger pays up; history will have just repeated itself as a farce.
Ahmadinejad will probably give us all a merry song and dance about his love and respect for the Israeli nation. All he has to do to win over the pacifists in American academia is to tell the lie to their faces just once. I think he’ll be able to conceal his bile long enough to trot out The Prophet’s old disingenuous propaganda line about Jews being People of the Book. I’m sure he’ll offer the same Potemkin consideration to the new generation of inspiring Dr. Remys teaching at Columbia University today.
Groundhog Day proved a funny and entertaining movie, when I watched it at the theatre. I’m thinking it won’t be quite so boffo, as the same comedy of errors that preceded WW II repeats itself of the campus of Columbia University.
Ahmadinejad will go crazy call for Jihad right then and there we all must realize what Ahmadinejad is and that is a sociopath. He will manipulate this situation like he manipulates every situation, to his advantage.
I saw an interesting picture on foxnews.com (sorry my tech abilities are not good enough to link) and in it he is wearing glasses. This is not an accident. The evil tryrant now looks like a studious diplomat, and that is what he wants.
Columbia, and their well meaning but naive administration, played right into his hands. The evil tyrant will come off as a peace loving, misunderstood, diplomat because that is what he needs this forum to provide him.
Iran is being isolated and he needs to find his way into the world community. He will be jovial, understanding, and calm, and most people will probably walk away impressed by him, and now suddenly they will all wonder why the U.S. is threatening war against him. This is a counter productive exercise in futility. You cannot engage a sociopath. That is not the way they are dealt with, they only respond to isolation and threats.
Here is how I saw it...
http://proprietornation.blogspot.com/2007/09/mahmouds-whirlwind-tour-of-...
"The nine most dangerous words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help'"
Ronald Reagan
Ahmadinejad is playing to both his audiences like a master propagandist. Is anyone keeping score of the leftpoints he's hitting? He just hit wiretapping a few seconds ago. Left wingers are morons if they buy it.
absentee
Blending worship of Allah and Science to play to both his audiences, left and Islam. Attacking capitalism and making claims of privacy violations and suppression of speech coming from IRAN. And I guarantee the left is eating it up.
absentee
Now he's bringing up the holocaust and trying to mitigate his position with an appeal to science and academia. This speech is so despicable it's nearly brilliant. Nearly, but not quite.
absentee
His answer: dissembles and then says Palestinians should be able to determine their own fate through a free referendum and no one should interfere in the affairs of the Palestinian nation. No one should spend tens of billions of dollars arming one "group" in the palestinian nation.
Columbia requests clarification, please give a yes or no.
He answers: Is the palestinian issue an issue of prominence please tell me yes or no.
He won't answer because he is playing the game that Israel is merely a disputed area of palestine.
absentee
His answer: The Iranian nation is a victim of terrorism. Twenty six years ago, close to where I work, in a terrorist operatin the elected President and Prime minister of Iran lost their lives in a bomb explosion, they turned into ashes. A month later in another terrorist operation 72 members of our parliament (and others) were shattered to pieces due to terrorism. All of this carried out by the hand of one terrorist group. Regretfully that same terrorist group is working freely under your administration and their camps in Iraq are secured by the US government. Our nation was the first to object to terrorism and the first to uphold the need to fight terrorism. We need to address the root causes of terrorism and eliminate them. In the middle east it is quite clear who funds terrorism and we know them. Iran is a cultured country that does not need to resort to terrorism. It is regrettable that nations claim to fight terrorism and then point support that terrorism and then point to us.
Of course, I can't type fast enough to quote directly.
absentee
that this little appearance has scored him a huge public relations coup thanks to Columbia University. While most of our press can hopefully see through this nonsense, how exactly will these answers play on Al Jazeera. The naivete of such supposedly intelligent individuals is really absurd and disturbing. Being used as pawns by sociopaths is no fun and hopefully they will all learn from it.
"The nine most dangerous words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help'"
Ronald Reagan
Why did you choose to speak here?
I was invited as a guest by the university, but in Iran guests are treated with respect.
What would you have said at Ground Zero?
I wanted to pay my respects. This is my way of showing respect. Thinking like that how do you expect to manage affairs. Don't you think that a lot of problems in the world come from this level of self-absorption? We must show respect to each other to move toward peace. September 11th was a tragic event that led to other tragic events. Afghanistan was occupied, Iraq was occupied. If the root causes of 9/11 are examined, what caused it, who was truly involved, who was really involved, and put it all together to find answers and to fix the crisis in Iraq.
Whatever that means.
Let's see. Give peace a chance. America asked for it. Innocent Iraq is occupied. America asked for it, and really, might they not be responsible for it? Leftwing top 40 hits getting some play today, huh?
absentee
no respect I tell ya.
Now there's no more oak oppression,
For they passed a noble law,
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw.
equivacating, spinning, and rationalizing. What exactly did anyone expect to happen? Did anyone expect him to either admit he was wrong or stand up there and look like a monster. Again, he is a sociopath and he is too smart for that. Just because he is evil doesn't mean that he doesn't know how the political game is played. Of course, he can spin any and every answer to make it look as though America is the bad country. Is anyone really surprised? I don't think that most American media, most not all, will buy it, but when this is played in the Arab press this will be a huge Public Relations score for him. Thank you Mr. Bollinger.
"The nine most dangerous words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help'"
Ronald Reagan
...when they see me they'll say, "There goes Loren Wallace,
the greatest thing to ever climb into a race car."
Duncan Hunter is now saying he will recommend that all public funds be cut from Columbia Universtiy.
I almost hope that Ahmadinejad tells the faculty and students of Columbia that they are infidels defiling Allah’s planet.
Like the Count of Monte Cristo, I think momentary flashes of agreement with the enemy are counterproductive.