He's not gay, he just has a "wide stance."

Seriously though, the Army's not welcome on campus because of "don't ask, don't tell" but Ahmadinejad is welcomed and he has a "tell and we stone you death" policy.

Can't you just imagine the discussion over the invite? "They kill homosexuals."
"That's bad."
"They deny the holocaust."
"Very bad."
"They are killing Americans in Iraq."
"Not good."
"He hates George Bush."
"Oh, great, let's invite him speak."

I am glad that they invited him to speak and challenged him to defend his policies. He showed himself to be a fool (if anyone had ever doubted that before the speech). Free speech is a good thing, DMZDave.

I agree, I don't have a problem with the free exchange of ideas, especially when Ahmadinejad had to defend himself and his idiotic policies, and makes statements such as the above which makes him an international laughingstock.

Before we sink into the morass of congratulating Columbia for their sneak attack on this guy by inviting him to speak and then ambushing him, lets recall the facts: Their claim to openess does not extend to ROTC or military recruiters. Nor does it extend to the leader of the Minutemen who was refused a chance to speak at Columbia. Lets also recall that they know full well Iran is killing American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan but invited their dictator anyway. Regardless of how rough they treated him, he should have never been there in the first place and Columbia is just another TV advertising night school stripped of its greatness when all is said and done.

I kind of agree with the Senator on this one. The free exchange of ideas is great, if such an exchange actually exists. There was no free exchange when the Minutemen headman was virtually attacked on stage. There is no "free exchange" when they prohibit ROTC and recruiters.

Should he have been allowed to speak? Sure. But is what Columbia University is offering really a "free exchange"? No. And they should be taken to task for it. No need to ban anything or punish them, but they deserve every bit of bad press they get.

Thank you Senator Douglas. I suspect we have similar views because we both served in the Army during those dreadful Carter years when Iran demonstrated their commitment to free speech and international diplomacy by seizing the American embassy and taking our diplomats hostage.

I don't have a problem talking with evil men. I have spent hundreds of hours in direct conversations with North Koreans at Panmunjom and it was a useful but I would not invite them to any US university as part of a distinguished speaker series and give them that honor. Columbia apparently has one litmus test for speech. If you are anti-Bush, all else can be forgiven. Do they let the CIA recruit on campus? No. The ROTC? No. The Minutemen speak on campus? No. Columbia does not for a minute believe in the free exchange of ideas.

Emboldened from his reception in NY, Ahmadinejad will likely return home and do even more horrible things to his own people and ours and if you are a soldier in Iraq on the receiving end of an IED manufactured in Iran, trust me, that speech wasn't free and it's not a good thing.

Everyone seems to be on the same page here. The Nutcase was not at Columbia for anything but propaganda. And as DMZDave said, the speech was not free.

To the idea I don't have a problem talking with evil men, I can add a few corollaries:

I don't have a problem placing snipers on rooftops.

I don't have a problem downing his private airplane.

I don't have a problem trying him for war crimes.

Whatever or however, a sworn lunatic enemy has no place fouling the air in America - even at bastions of left-wing mind warping. I must believe the "rough treatment" handed out by Columbia's president was solely in response to fear of lost income from alumni, corporations and government sources.

If we refuse to stand firm for principles, or actually believe that "all ideas are worthy of being taken seriously," it proves some people are not worth defending and should be invited to accompany their Iranian friend on that private airplane.

I heard Hannity railing about this on the way home. He said that Ahmadinejad has no right to free speech. As a human, isn't he entitled to that right? Our Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are supposed to protect and advance the concept of natural rights, even speech that may be hate speech or unpopular speech.

The guy does have the right to free speech. Columbia has the right to let him speak. But neither Ahmadinejad nor the people at Columbia have the right to not be ridiculed.

I never said that they didn't, Jace.

Isn't the right to free speech a freedom that we as Americans have? As far as I know, Ahmadinejad isn't an American citizen, thus doesn't have that same right. If a homosexual were to go to Iran, would they not be homosexual anymore? Perhaps, if Hillary is elected we'll have a world Government and our Freedoms will all go down the drain anyway....

GOD HELP US!

As far as I know, Ahmadinejad isn't an American citizen, thus doesn't have that same right.

See my explanation above.

Molly,

If free speech is a right, then it applies to all, not just to Americans. The Constitution does not strictly refer to it as a right (although we have been taught for years that free speech is a right guarenteed by the Constitution).

Actually, what the Constitution says is "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech..." The prohibition is on what Congress can do. To me, this says that the founding fathers thought that freedom of speech is a right that they were not willing to cede to the government.

If this is true, then anybody in the US has a free speech right. The GOVERNMENT can not restrict that. Columbia does not have to provide a forum, and if they do, they can make the forum completely biased, just as they did. It may not be nice, but it is not wrong.

Just because the leftists who run Columbia U are not consistent in applying free speech policy does not mean that free speech is a bad thing or that Columbia should not be allowed to invite someone to speak that Bush hates.

If inconsistency/hypocrisy disqualifies you then all the warmongering Republicans masquerading as conservatives should be thrown out on the street as well.

Columbia is just another TV advertising night school

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Wow.

"Just because the leftists who run Columbia U are not consistent in applying free speech policy does not mean that free speech is a bad thing or that Columbia should not be allowed to invite someone to speak that Bush hates."

"If free speech is a right, then it applies to all, not just to Americans.

"Our Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are supposed to protect and advance the concept of natural rights, even speech that may be hate speech or unpopular speech."

Columbia gave a man who is actively engaged in killing American troops in Iraq a forum in which to speak. In essence, are you saying that our soldiers, in all the wars we have ever fought, died for his right to speak?

It is a question of common decency. America honors freedom of expression by being a refuge for the oppressed, not by giving a soapbox to the oppressors. This is not about free speech, the Iranian dictator can stand on any New York City street corner and say what he wishes, but we do not need to legitimize his hate-filled holocaust-denying diatribes by giving him a platform at a "distinguished" lecturer series at Columbia.