It's kind of fascinating to watch the "daily hate," (who is next?) that is being directed at the President of Iran. I mean, the guy might be a buffoon, and a holocaust denier, but it seems to me Iran isn't the only country headed up by a buffoon who has a slim grip on reality. There's another country I'm thinking of, it's starts with a U. and ends with an S., that has caused a world full of mischief all by itself.
Anyway, I'm sure there are big problems in Iran, and well, it's not a place I'd like to live, and I wouldn't vote for the guy that runs it, but I wouldn't vote for the guy that runs our country now either.
The event at Columbia seemed to go quite well. Everyone got to have their say. I wonder how Bush would do in a room with Iranian students?
The mad, foaming at the mouth hysteria that has risen up against the Iranian President seems almost manufactured.
And no, nukes or no nukes, I don't think it's a good idea to start bombing another country any time soon. If we are thinking that Iran is a "rogue nation," I guess I'd say a little self-reflection is in order.
UPDATE: Hey here's some additional insight from Professer Juan Cole regarding the Iranian President. I think it's safe to say Cole really knows his shit:
"Instead, the U.S. State Department denounced Ahmadinejad as himself little more than a terrorist. Critics have also cited his statements about the Holocaust or his hopes that the Israeli state will collapse. He has been depicted as a Hitler figure intent on killing Israeli Jews, even though he is not commander in chief of the Iranian armed forces, has never invaded any other country, denies he is an anti-Semite, has never called for any Israeli civilians to be killed, and allows Iran's 20,000 Jews to have representation in Parliament.
The real reason his visit is controversial is that the American right has decided the United States needs to go to war against Iran. Ahmadinejad is therefore being configured as an enemy head of state. "