Prior to Ahmadinejad's visit, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and possibly other talk show hosts were critical of Columbia University for their plans to allow Ahmadinejad to appear on campus. As it turned out, they were wrong to assume that allowing Ahmadinejad to appear implied an endorsement of his views. Columbia president Lee Bolinger criticized Ahmadinejad during the forum he had been invited to, telling Ahmadinejad that he exhibited, "all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator...When you come to a place like this it makes you simply ridiculous. The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history."

Last night and this morning, I also heard a clip in which Ahmadinejad said, "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like you have here." The audience laughed at and then booed at this remark.

Just shows you that Plush and O'LIEly are full of hot air. Just like their counterparts on the EXTREME LEFT.

I'm not sure who looked the bigger fool, Bolinger or Ahmadinejad.

>>>Just shows you that Plush and O'LIEly are full of hot air."

Just can't resist the juvenile name calling can you.

I imagine a lot would have laughed at Hitler speaches in the mid 1930's, but he shouldn't and wasn't allowed to give speaches here.

Well, there is a difference between name calling among ourselves and toward others!

IMHO, the former should be limited. The latter...

FAIR GAME MAN!

And just to be annoying right now, I don't think either of those two has earned any deference at all. Both of them have earned it, twice over and the damage is not done yet.

Missing, can you give me one example of anything either has said that was incorrect?

DA said>>>
Just can't resist the juvenile name calling can you.

Just like you right???

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297982,00.html (I don't know why it won't copy this as an active link)

Iran Does Far Worse Than Ignore Gays, Critics Say
Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Two Iranian youths accused of homosexual acts and sexually abusing a minor sit in a cell prior to their execution in 2005.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s seemingly ridiculous claim that "we don’t have homosexuals, like in your country" masks the cruel reality that his government does far worse than ignore gays, human rights groups charge.

"There are criminal laws on the books in Iran that allows for people to be killed for being homosexual," said Paula Ettelbrick, executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.

Just how many gays may have been killed — some say the figure is more than 400 — is impossible to determine. But Ahmadinejad’s flip follow-up answer to the question posed to him Monday at Columbia University — "We do not have this phenomenon. I don’t know who has told you that we have" — suggests he won’t take the issue seriously.

Human rights groups have long railed against the Iranian government’s persecution of gays, which Ettelbrick calls "a campaign by the government to draw attention to the risks of people expressing their sexuality." Some believe that repression has only worsened since Ahmadinejad became president.

"When I first heard his comments yesterday, I laughed," said Arsham Parsi, founder of the Toronto-based Iranian Queer Organization.

"But after I thought about it, I realized this is really a very strong statement. By denying we exist, he does not even acknowledge that we have human rights."

Iranian gays who try to operate in these circles do so at great peril. In one case widely covered by Western news agencies, Iran allegedly executed in July, 2005, an 18-year-old man and a minor for the "crime" of homosexuality.

The stories and a series of disturbing pictures of the executions were covered by the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA), and widely distributed on the Internet.

Iranian officials insisted the two were guilty of not just homosexuality, but the forcible rape of an underage boy. Gay rights supporters say those charges are often applied to homosexuals who engage in consensual relations.

Parsi said initial Iranian news reports said the two young men were executed because they were gay. But as reports and pictures of the case became more widely disseminated, Iranian officials only later included information about additional criminal charges.

According to Iranian law, consensual gay sex in any form is punishable by death. Violators are reportedly given a choice of four methods of execution: hanging, stoning, halving by sword — or being dropped from the highest perch.

Ironically, Parsi says the truth is that Iranian officials actually know quite a bit about homosexuals in Iran. Gay men in Iran are allowed medical dispensations from mandatory military service, for example, and the country’s secret police constantly monitor gay activities through Internet chat rooms and other electronic methods.

While I don't believe homosexuality is right, this goes beyond wrong. I hold no animosity towards gay people. It is their behavior and life style choices I don't agree with.

I am glad that Ahmadinejad was given the opportunity to put his foot in his mouth. This is very American! I find it astonishing that Ahmadinejad could even dream of being taken seriously around here--what an ego!!!!

> Two Iranian youths accused of homosexual acts
> and sexually abusing a minor sit in a cell
> prior to their execution in 2005.

I was afraid that this would be the explanation why there are no homosexuals in Ahmadinejad's Iran.

Nwokie writes:
I imagine a lot would have laughed at Hitler speaches in the mid 1930's, but he shouldn't and wasn't allowed to give speaches here.

Then again, Hitler was not unpopular in the US in the mid-30s in some circles. Charles Lindbergh was a noted supporter of Nazi Germany before they invaded Poland in 1939.

Andrew

Thats true, there were even a lot of "Brown Shirts" here, but they didn't do the things brown shirts did in Germany.

As for "A Dinner Jacket" and his speech at Columbia: I think it only helped reveal what a fool and an idiot he is. His ridiculous statement about homosexuality for example certainly did him more harm than good.

Then again, I have known several Iranian guys over the years. In general, they are extremely passionate. This guy A Dinner Jacket reminds me of them in a way, prone to a bit of exaggeration. In particular he reminds me of the type who says outrageous things just to get attention. Sometimes he is his own worst enemy. We should probably give him more opportunities to make a fool out of himself.

Andrew

"Then again, I have known several Iranian guys over the years. In general, they are extremely passionate."

Maz Jobrani describes the Iranian character:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIPJeLN16NI

"I am glad that Ahmadinejad was given the opportunity to put his foot in his mouth."

Yes. I completely agree, Alfredo. And the laughter he got about the homsexual comment has to have an effect on him. It may have infuriated him. I don't care. It was GREAT to let him know that we aren't always blind to truth or cannot recognize absurdity.

It could not have gone better.

What he should have said, "Is we have no open homosexuals". Sort of like the militaries, don't ask don't tell.

Given the chance, he made an utter fool of himself. His people do not like him much either. Columbia University was involved in the development of the atomic bomb, so it was an appropriate setting to rebuff the latest nation enamored with such a weapon.

Curious about what the event was like for the students?
http://www.bwog.net/

Until I hit the Wikipedia, I did not know that...

"Columbia is home to two pioneers in undergraduate student broadcasting, WKCR-FM and CTV.

WKCR, the student run radio station broadcasts to the Tri-State area and claims to be the oldest FM radio station in the world, owing to the University's affiliation with Major Edwin Armstrong. The station currently has its studios on the second floor of Alfred Lerner Hall on the Morningside campus with its main transmitter tower at 4 Times Square in Midtown Manhattan.

Columbia Television (CTV) is the nation's second oldest student television station and home of CTV News, a weekly live news program produced by undergraduate students. CTV transmits a cablecast and webcast from its studio in Alfred Lerner Hall."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University

Nice!!

Just the kind of thing I would expect from a nation where we've got our share of free thinkers, and the freedom of expression to apply it.

Bet this guy just can't wait to get tucked back into the dogma.

I'll bet it has a pretty big effect! He got none of the contrived deference he is used to.

Nwokie said - "What he should have said, "Is we have no open homosexuals". Sort of like the militaries, don't ask don't tell."

Yes. If that's what he meant to say, he would have said it. But he didn't mean that. So he didn't.

But WHY should he have said that, Nwokie? How do you think the crowd would have reacted to that phrasing? Do you think it would have made him look like " Hey, look at us, we are just like you!"?

Please expound as to why he should have said that when he didn't mean that.

I meant it just like I said it, any openly gay is arrested, therefore there are no openly gays.
They laughed at him, because his statement was absurd.

But he wasn't talking about his military. Does that make any difference to you?

I still think he would get laughed at, and that statement would be far closer to the reality than the one he made too!

Having no openly gay people means a nation filled with people ruled by dogma. To an American, this is laughable, stated with precision and accuracy or not.

I agree, but to even smack of tempering it with a correction or excuse seemed questionable to me. I mean, to restate it in a context that would seem less offensive or excusable seemed silly to me.

Totally. I grokked your point right away.

I don't think nwokie meant it that way. He will often post a clarification just because.

What I meant, was his statement would have been technically correct, if he had phrased it the way I said.

But what a lot of people are missing, is this is a very dangerous man. He's a lot like Hitler, says things the home crowd love, but outsiders either don't understand or think is funny.

If you think some one is a joke, its very hard to take them serious.

Comparing this guy to Hitler is a Faux News scare tactic. Personally, after listening to him speak, I feel Iran is much less of a threat than what the Bush Administration is claiming. I thought he came off as a clown and a BS artist and wouldn't be surprised to find out that they are no where near buidling anything nuclear. I also question how much pull this guy really has within Iran's leadership, and how many Iranians actually support the guy.

And that was probably his mission, to convience the average American, he's not a threat, he's a nice guy. We don't ahve to worry about him.

You do know there is always something to be afraid of right?

Think hard enough and this guy can be as scary as you want him to be.

I didn't say he's a nice guy. And I don't think anybody walked away liking the guy more. And I certainly don't think we shouldn't worry about him. I just question how dangerous and powerful he really is, I question his popularity within Iran, and I question whether their nuclear program is viable enough to pose a threat to anybody.

> In particular he [Ahmadinejad] reminds me of
> the type who says outrageous things just to
> get attention.

I'm curious how Ahmadinejad's comments would be viewed in the context of Iranian culture. In other words, are his exaggerated comments a form of macho posturing that Iranians would expect out of a man in a position of power?

>>>"And I certainly don't think we shouldn't worry about him. I just question how dangerous and powerful he really is, I question his popularity within Iran, and I question whether their nuclear program is viable enough to pose a threat to anybody."


Here, let me grab a shovel and help you dig a deeper hole in the sand for your head.

The TERROR threat is real and it could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.

CONdi Rice
DUHbya Bush
DICKster Cheney
Deep COLON Powell

Deane, ever hear about the boy that cried wolf?