IvyGate’s Last Coverage of Iran… For Now?
Ed: No, but seriously, enough with this schlemiel. To conclude our coverage of Ahmadinejad's visit to Columbia, here's Columbia miscreant J.D. Porter again with a roundup of the reactions in the news and on campus. Hopefully Lee Bollinger won't take offense at one of J.D.'s statements and yell at him, but that's his problem.
Of all the media covering the Ahmadinejad speech, Fox News was the most impressive. After a week decrying Columbia as maniacal liberals supporting a dictator, a weaker network might not have known how to report on an orderly hour spent ridiculing him. In classic form, however, Fox simply elected to report on their own fictional version of the event.
More of J.D.'s trenchant commentary and edgy photography after the jump.
Under the headline "Our cameras witness clashes between students," Hannity and Colmes showed footage of people screaming at each other. Of course, all of the footage came from outside the campus gates, meaning that probably no one they shot was a student. This explains why most of the shouters appeared to be in their mid-fifties. Hannity, meanwhile, was enraged that Ahmadinejad would "propagandize for his own political benefit."
On some other Fox program with an angry wealthy white male pundit, the host interviewed Columbia's conservative sophomore. When the kid didn't seem all that upset, the host reached into the ether and pulled out our ban on ROTC recruiting again. The kid was forced to admit that it "sticks very deeply in my craw."
In contrast to Fox, the New York Post took the route of ignoring everything it had been saying so far, running a picture of Ahmadinejad with the headline: "'YOU'RE A PETTY, CRUEL DICTATOR': WHO ME?" Strictly speaking, no one ever said that (Bollinger's quote was "you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator"), but that's pretty close by Post standards.
The Bollinger speech got a lot of coverage, with Keith Olbermann calling it "what might have been the most brutal introduction of all time." The New York Times claimed that students were critical of Bollinger's remarks, but I mainly noticed thousands of people cheering. Watching him speak the truth to that asshole from ten feet away was extremely satisfying.
In general the Times had pretty good coverage. I was a little confused by their estimate that "70 percent" of the crowd was anti-Ahmadinejad, but I was more confused that they ran the exact same article under two different headlines. Meanwhile, they gave Spec alum Leora Falk '07 a reporting credit, which is cool.
Spec and the Bwog have maintained good Ahmadinejad coverage, or in Spec's case, nothing but Ahmadinejad coverage. Bwog actually has a pretty good rundown of the media not covered here.
One interesting story that's not gotten enough attention: Iranian detainee and Columbia alumnus (Ph.D. '93) Kian Tajbakhsh was freed at about the time Columbia announced Ahmadinejad was coming. During his speech Bollinger said that, although Tajbakhsh is still unable to leave Tehran, he has a job waiting for him at Columbia when he gets here. I'm surprised the story hasn't gotten more play, but I have to admit I'd have gone for the "no gays in Iran" angle too.
--J.D. PORTER
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September 25th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
I see at least 4 girls in these pictures who would be publicly killed if they were in Iran.
September 25th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Dude, those are not girls, they are dudes! And yeah, of course they would be killed in they were in Iran
September 25th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
I used to respect Lee Bollinger, but now it’s obvious that he’s sold out as just another liberal apologist for imperialist war. His demagogic repetition of Bush administration propaganda and implicit attempt to bring well-meaning students who rightly despise the Iranian regime over to the side of militarist aggression — or more frankly, another war for oil — should be seen in the context of the fully developed plans by the US military to attack Iran. If our government carries through on these plans and murders hundreds of thousands or more than a million Iranians, as it has done in Iraq, President Bollinger will have blood on his hands, incomparably more than Ahmadinejad. He has done a nasty thing to ingratiate himself with the powerful.
This article is well worth reading:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/sep2007/iran-s25.shtml
… (excerpt)
Bollinger then listed a number of the reactionary aspects of the Iranian regime, including its crackdown on student activists and Ahmadinejad’s penchant for questioning the Holocaust.
These statements were conflated with a repetition of the justifications being developed by the US government for a war against Iran. He denounced what he called Iran’s “proxy war against the United States troops in Iraq.” Many Columbia students and alumni are in the military, he said, and “they rightly see your government as the enemy.” He then asked, referring to Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program, “Why does your country continue to refuse to adhere to international standards?”
Bollinger concluded by denouncing Ahmadinejad’s “fanatical mindset,” saying that the “modern civilized world [is] yearning to express the revulsion at what you stand for.”
It is not necessary to support the Iranian government—a right-wing bourgeois nationalist regime that is constantly on the lookout for a deal with American imperialism—to recognize the utter cowardice and hypocrisy in Bollinger’s statements.
It can be said without a doubt that such an introduction would never be given to the leader of a US ally—the representative of the government of Saudi Arabia or Pakistan, for example—no matter how dictatorial that government might be. And of course if President Bush were to speak at Columbia, one would hear no mention from Bollinger of the attack on democratic rights in the US, or the enormous atrocities committed by the US military in the Middle East.
…
September 25th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
girls? We do not have this phenomenon.
September 26th, 2007 at 10:21 am
Shut the Hell up. Bollinger saved your sorry-ass school from being humiliated more than it already is. If terrorists trained in Iran ever kill you family, I hope you remember how fucking stupid your comment made you look.
September 26th, 2007 at 10:24 am
He/she/it actually quoted from the “Wold Socialist Web Site”!!!! AAAhahaha. What a loser, probably from Columbia’s Chinese Communist group.
September 27th, 2007 at 12:13 am
as a columbia student who saw the speech live, the aforementioned views in no way reflect the reactions of the crowd in the auditorium, on the lawn, or even Ahmadinejad’s entourage for that matter. (they chuckled when A-unit said that there were no gays in his country…a “that’s clearly a ridiculous statement” chuckle versus a “gays, haha” chuckle.
September 27th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
I also saw the speech live. “chuckle” is an understatement. it was roaring laughter followed by boos. great moment.