Columbia Got Played

Once again, the intellectual elite in America got played like an out-of-tune Stradavarius. In extending an invitation to the Iranian President, Columbia University found itself in the unique position of playing right into the hand of the Neocons in the White House and the radical moslems in Tehran and throughout the world.

Nobody seemed to pay much attention to how little the Bush Administration objected to Ahmadinejad's appearance. Sure, they made enough noise to make it look good, but in the warped world of the Neocons, they couldn't have asked for anything better. Knowing full well that Ahmadinejad was going to make comments sure to enflame, anger, and scare most of the American public, there was no way the White House was going to work to shut down this very public event. Letting Ahmadinejad have his say will make it a lot easier to sell gullible Americans on the coming military action against Iran. Best of all, there's no political fallout for the Neocons on this at all. Columbia is taking the brunt of the criticism for inviting him in the first place.

As far as Ahmadinejad is concerned, he has to be ecstatic. Bollinger did exactly what the Iranian President figured he would do- he went after the devoutly-held religious beliefs of radical moslems all over the planet. Using words like "illiterate and ignorant" to describe those who follow Ahmadinejad, and calling him a "petty and cruel dictator" really wasn't a very bright thing for the President of an Ivy League University to do. Ahmadinejad can now return to Iran and point out how rudely he was treated in the land of free speech, and how intolerant the Americans are to the religious beliefs on moslems- which he began to do as soon as he opened his mouth on the platform, calling Bollinger's remarks "insulting" and unfriendly. Bollinger, in trying to play tough in front of the cameras, played the perfect fool in Ahmadinejad's scheme.

Bush got what he wanted, Ahmadinejad got what he wanted, and Columbia ended up looking ridiculous. One of the most prestigious institutes in the Country- a bastion of the intellectual elite- got played by arguably the worst President in American history and a "cruel and petty dictator."