"Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator," Bollinger told Ahmadinejad from a podium across the stage. He said that the Iranian's denial of the Holocaust might fool "the illiterate and ignorant," but that "when you come to a place like this, it makes you quite simply ridiculous." Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust suggested he was either "brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated," Bollinger said.
The university president's caustic comments were met with cheers and sustained applause from the roughly 700 people in the audience, most of them students.
So if he's so ridiculous, why did you invite him? These comments make the whole thing seem like a stunt.
And, of course, Ahmadinejad's remarks -- and the laughter that ensued in his denial of the existence of Gay Iranians -- only helped prove how ridiculous he is.
Free speech has a way of doing that.
3 comments:
A stunt for sure. But it's good that people laughed at him and ridiculed him. He doesn't get enough of that at home...
I wonder why he accepted the invitation in the first place?
I agree and I am afraid that the stunt will cause an even greater wedge between the Muslim world and the West. Ahmadinejad obviously wasn't answering questions or making statements to pander to Americans or try to convince Americans in any way. Almost all of the analysts are pointing out that his target audience is the Muslim world and the people of Iran. He deserved the laughter for sure & he is ridiculous, but sadly he will ultimately be unaffected negatively where it matters most - in the Middle East.
Despots around the world seem to always say "we just hate the politicians... not the people" therefore for him to see that no, in this case.. we really all do think you're nuts is a good thing. Typically though, they will say.. oh they are all Jews. I'm glad he was able to speak and be questioned. I'm also equally glad he was not allowed to visit ground zero and use it for propaganda purposes back home.. possibly there to honor the "martyrs" or some other silly recognition of the hijackers.
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