NY lawmakers threaten to punish Columbia over speech.
State and city lawmakers in New York are threatening to punish Columbia University for hosting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who spoke at the Ivy League university earlier this afternoon, by potentially “withholding public funds from the school“:
“[Columbia President Lee] Bollinger made a big mistake, and there should be consequences for him for making that decision,” the chairman of the New York City Council’s Finance Committee, David Weprin, said in an interview. “We should look at everything involving Columbia, whether it be capital projects, city and state, or other related things that we do in the city for them,” he said. […]
“It’s not going to go away just because this episode ends. Columbia University has to know … that they will be penalized,” an assemblyman of Brooklyn, Dov Hikind, who also attended the rally, said.
“Is there anyone who fails to see how dangerous and improper this is — not to mention unconstitutional — that government officials threaten and punish universities for hosting speakers whom the officials dislike?,” comments Glenn Greenwald.
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Uh… yeah…
September 24th, 2007 at 3:26 pmWhy doesn’t this surprise me at all?
September 24th, 2007 at 3:26 pmGODDAMN A BUNCH OF FREE SPEECH!
will bush go to iran and talk to a college there?
YEAH, fu*king right.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:27 pmAnd we have the balls to call this a democracy?
September 24th, 2007 at 3:27 pmSure, Bushitco doesn’t want americans to learn the truth that he’s expressed interest in dialogue - something which will corrupt Bush’s wet dream of nuke-ing them. It’s great that his thoughts are being aired. I just listened to the translation and, other than him saying that Iran had no homosexuals, it was all quite logical and made the case of peaceful negotiations. I also found the part regarding how the US is in it’s 5th generation of nuclear missle production and testing (against the treaties ourselves) but feel like we have to be the police of the world and tell them that they cannot use their natural resources for peaceful means. He fell short of mentioning that the United States is the only country who has ever used the nuclear bomb to wipe out an entire population of human beings. He certainly could have if he wanted to deal some realistic blows but he clearly was very congenial toward the united states.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:31 pmIf Nutty Yahoo (Netanyahu) can speak here and have weight why cant this nutjob? How many deaths has Benji caused, how much hatred has he heaped upon this earth, how much vitriol has he spewed, and not a peep form the so-called liberal media ooh I give up.
RIP
September 24th, 2007 at 3:32 pmSGT Stephen R. Sherman
C CO 1-5 IN (STRYKER)
KIA 3 Feb 2005
Mosul, Iraq
Just posted this link on a previous thread, it doesn’t look like Columbia University was that awed by the speech. Bollinger challenged Ahmadinejad. Not a very friendly forum.
http://news.yahoo.com/ s/ ap/ 20070924/ ap_on_re_us/ iran_us
September 24th, 2007 at 3:32 pmGreat. More political grandstanding from the reactionary right. So productive, those guys.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:33 pmUm, what Krazny said. The president of Columbia introduced the Iranian President with some pretty strong words. And most of them weren’t meant to show how much he respects and admires the man.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:33 pmLiberal hypocrisy on parade yet again!!!!
Comment by ron — September 24, 2007 @ 3:31 pm
But no where near as rabid as right wing “eliminationist” hypocrisy, huh, Ron?
September 24th, 2007 at 3:36 pmLet me guess… anyone that disagrees that Columbia should be punished (violating the Constitution along the way) is a …. lets all say it…. anti-semite!
September 24th, 2007 at 3:38 pmRon
Liberal hypocrisy on parade yet again!!!!
Here’s a little CNN for you:
“Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator,” Bollinger said to applause from many of the 600 people in the room for a speech from the Iranian leader.
Bollinger cited the Iranian government’s “brutal crackdown” on dissidents, public executions, executions of minors and other actions.
And he assailed Ahmadinejad’s “denying” of the Holocaust as “ridiculous” and “dangerous propaganda.” He called the Iranian leader either brazenly provocative “or astonishingly uneducated.”
“The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history,” he said.
He said he doubted Ahmadinejad would show the intellectual courage to answer the questions before him.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:38 pmThe third visit to New York by the bombastic Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is producing predictable howls of protest. But largely lost in the build-up of the Ahmadinejad-Bush confrontation are the striking - and disturbing - similarities between the two men and their respective followers.
For the details, see:
September 24th, 2007 at 3:41 pm“Ahmadinejad and Bush: Parallels and Second Comings.”
but… but…
I thought that Freedom of Speech was the cornerstone of democracy!!!
Oh wait… I get it. Because they hate us for our freedoms, we give them up so we can be safe little sheep…..
September 24th, 2007 at 3:43 pmWhat a mystifying few days it’s been. Free speech is free speech. I don’t care if the Iranian president wants to visit Ground Zero. Our democracy ought to be able to withstand debating world leaders we don’t agree with. Didn’t Patrick Henry say something about not agreeing with someone but fighting to death for their right to say it?
September 24th, 2007 at 3:45 pmWhat’s the big deal here? The guy can sit down with 60 Minutes for a piece with a “News Reporter” interviewing him, he can visit the east side of Manhattan to go to the UN, but he can’t talk to student at Columbia?
Were the same people going to protest him at the UN that did for Columbia? Or do we only care where he is if he is on the West side of central park?
September 24th, 2007 at 3:47 pmFreedom of Speech…..unless the message/messenger is not wanted.
Force democracy abroad at the point of a gun, stamp it out at home.
sarcasm OFF!
September 24th, 2007 at 3:48 pmColumbia is courageous. The anti-free speech hordes are well, hordes.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:49 pmDemocracy wins.
For almost 23 years I served in the Army, defending the right to free speech, even of those whose speech I found extremely offensive.
We must all do our utmost to preserve and strengthen free speech in the face of continuous assaults by fascists warmongers whether they are neocons, or religious right fanatics.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:50 pmPetty and cruel sums up Bush and his gangster regime to a “T.” Bush wants to be a dictator: he has expressed this wish several times in public.
Impeach, Try, Convict and Remove from Office.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:50 pmThe big deal is, much like condemning MoveOn for the Petraus ad, the attack dogs want something they can sink their teeth into, and make the liberals in this country appear to be cozying up to a fruitcake like Ahmadinejad.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:51 pmwas this thing scheduled just last week?
September 24th, 2007 at 3:52 pmwas it new news to these people?
do they undertand irony?
…
From Tasering of a Florida College student to the punishment of Universities for encouraging Free Speech ( no matter how disgusting a person — no one is forcing anyone to listen to the idiot) where did our first amendment rights go?
Free Speech doesn’t mean you have to agree with the speech. Just the right for anyone to say it.
I say we reinstitute public forums where people can stand on their soap boxes and say whatever they want. That’s the American way.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:52 pmP.S. Ahmedinijad is a nut from a country where no one is gay. Kinda like what the right wing would like here in the good ole USA.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:53 pmAny lawmaker who took an oath to uphold the Constitution, should be recalled, forced to resign, or taken to the woodshed the next election, if they try to trample free speech rights.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:55 pmFourteen Defining Characteristics of Fascism
#11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts. Intellectuals and the inherent freedom of ideas and expression associated with them were anathema to these regimes. Intellectual and academic freedom were considered subversive to national security and the patriotic ideal. Universities were tightly controlled; politically unreliable faculty harassed or eliminated. Unorthodox ideas or expressions of dissent were strongly attacked, silenced, or crushed. To these regimes, art and literature should serve the national interest or they had no right to exist.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:57 pmHere is the full report that CNN International did leading up to his visit earlier today:
VIDEO
September 24th, 2007 at 3:57 pmhttp://beta.redlasso.com/ Community/ ClipPlayer.aspx?i=c7a56cb7-7fae-4919-8b26-652c34290246
let Ahmadinejad speak.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:07 pmWhat are they afraid of?
That he will bump Bush out of the stupidest President ever slot?
Ahmadinejad is close to being there, but no worries, we will always hold that spot for Bush……
What about 60 minutes?
September 24th, 2007 at 4:12 pmUh oh, people using free speech at a university, somebody’s going to get tazered.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:15 pmWhat nobody, include Greenwald, dares to say is that all this fuss is in fear of the Jewish vote. All this posturing by New York Democrats including Hillary is to “prove” to the Jewish voter in New York that they “stand behind them.” Instead of standing behind the Constitution. This is just a knee-jerk reaction by some Jews and Jewish sycophants against Ahmedinijad. IF they stopped to think about it for awhile they might realize that by reacting this way they are becoming what they hate (or say they hate) the most. Nazis.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:16 pmWere was your outrage when his free speech rights were violated in ways that students were forbiden today?
That said, the opening remarks of the President of Columbia College were incredibly truthful and hard hitting. God Bless him.
Comment by Vendetta — September 24, 2007 @ 4:08 pm
the leader of the minutemen is not president of a foreign country. he is just a white-trash nobody that was roundly booed and ignored, as it should be.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:19 pmHmmm, maybe the Reich-wingers are afraid that he too, wil sniff the air and smell brimstone and sulfur like Hugo Chavez(who was right BTW).
September 24th, 2007 at 4:20 pmWhat’s the big deal here? The guy can sit down with 60 Minutes for a piece with a “News Reporter†interviewing him, he can visit the east side of Manhattan to go to the UN, but he can’t talk to student at Columbia?
Comment by elliot — September 24, 2007 @ 3:47
Well CBS fired Dan Rather to shut him up so Bushco isn’t going to complain about his being on 60 Minutes. It’s okay when the rich are making more money of Amadinejad and the whole country can watch him. But speaking to some students, that’s an insult.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:21 pmthe leader of the minutemen is not president of a foreign country. he is just a white-trash nobody that was roundly booed and ignored, as it should be.
Comment by Lefty Patriot — September 24, 2007 @ 4:19 pm
Bullsh!t. Free speech is free speech, regardless of whether you think the people speaking are white trash. Comments like this are no different than screeches from Ann Coulter are liberal “traitors.”
Ignoring a speaker is one thing, but disrupting his speech is childish, counter-productive and (dare I say it?) unAmerican.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:23 pmMake you wonder how many countries there are that would protest if Bush said he was coming to talk to their students. They should be afraid, he’d lead them to believe that getting Cs in college is good enough.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:24 pmThe largest supporter of state sponsered terrorism can speak but not to ROTC. HAHA
September 24th, 2007 at 4:26 pmThis will probably work out as bad for columbia as it has for Move on who has had it’s best days for fund raising ever !
September 24th, 2007 at 4:28 pmLong live free speach and the American constitution !
Why do our elected representitives hate the US constitution ?
September 24th, 2007 at 4:29 pmBan the troll in 43.
Speaking without facts.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:32 pmThe largest supporter of state sponsered terrorism can speak but not to ROTC. HAHA
Comment by Roger_Roger — September 24, 2007 @ 4:26 pm
Sober up before trying to blog next time….
September 24th, 2007 at 4:36 pmBan the troll in 43.
Speaking without facts.
Comment by Juan C. — September 24, 2007 @ 4:32 pm
Speaking without facts? Roger can’t even form a complete sentence because he gets so excited making stuff up.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:37 pmSober up before trying to blog next time….
Comment by Wayne — September 24, 2007 @ 4:36 pm
It won’t help. Ever since KKKarl left town Roger hasn’t had one coherent thought.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:38 pmAhmadinejad wouldn’t be my choice for a guest speaker anywhere, but if Columbia University wanted him, they should have him without harrassment.
As far as I know, we are not at war with Iran, Ahmadinejad isn’t wanted by the law, and he is able to enter the United States legally. I can only assume then, that the state and local lawmakers in New York feel that financing the university entitles them to decide who gets to speak there. This sets a rather scary precedent.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:38 pmAmenjihad obviously cant come into America without an ID or passport of some type and Im pretty durn sure Columbia doesn’t issue them.
And as for RrOoGgEeRr and (R) support of questionable characters: In 2001, Al-Arian was invited to the White House for a meeting with Bush adviser Karl Rove. http://www.castorfacts.com/ -
September 24th, 2007 at 4:38 pmWhy do our elected representitives hate the US constitution ?
Comment by freeman — September 24, 2007 @ 4:29 pm
How are they supposed to make money off the Constitutions, yeesh?
September 24th, 2007 at 4:38 pmJuan C.
Ban the troll in 43.
Speaking without facts.
Woah, that gets us banned now? Man I’m in trouble.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:45 pmThere is absolutely no reason why the University should be penalized for anything. Freedom of Speech. Expression of ideas. Aren’t these reasons why we go to University in the first place?
September 24th, 2007 at 4:48 pmSo what law was broken exactly?
September 24th, 2007 at 4:49 pmNY lawmakers sound pretty vindictive.
Squegee, I was being a little “1984″.
But, yeah, you watch your ass. Heh.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:58 pmThe LAW that was broken is THOU SHALT NOT ALLOW ANYONE ISRAEL DISAGREES WITH TO SPEAK IN NEW YORK. Get it thru your heads. This is not about anything but protecting the Jewish vote. If he had been speaking in, say, Atlanta, nothing would have been said except maybe by the Dixie Chicks.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:59 pmSquegee, I was being a little “1984″.
But, yeah, you watch your ass. Heh.
Comment by Juan C. — September 24, 2007 @ 4:58 pm
Everyone knows facts have a liberal bias…
September 24th, 2007 at 5:02 pmCan you imagine Bush going to speak at an Iranian university?
September 24th, 2007 at 5:16 pmNY lawmakers: ‘Not to mention unconstitutional’
What? And since when in the past 7 years has the constitution meant anything?
I am sick to death of the war monger’s hiding the truth in order to continue the drum beat to war. It is appalling we are not allowed discussion, must settle for lies and therefore continue to watch the ruination of our country and world.
September 24th, 2007 at 5:18 pmWith hold salaries from these idiot legislators!
September 24th, 2007 at 5:21 pmIf we can’t have free discussion at an institution of learning, we are in one sorry, sorry state.
September 24th, 2007 at 5:30 pmIt makes no matter who the speaker, despot, leader is - we cannot operate in a bubble where we don’t engage people with whom we disagree.
This knee-jerk reaction is ignorance on display.
If we forbade ignoramuses and dictators from giving speeches in America, we’d have to prevent Bush from giving another state of the union address.
Marie
If we can’t have free discussion at an institution of learning, we are in one sorry, sorry state.
I think they were in NY, not NJ. So I guess I’m a little confused about your point.
September 24th, 2007 at 5:35 pmNot funny, squeegeeboo.
September 24th, 2007 at 5:39 pmThe liberal college isnt about freedom of ideas, its about freedom of ideas only if they meet their own ideology.
Comment by ron — September 24, 2007 @ 5:41 pm
Yeah, just like Free Republic…
September 24th, 2007 at 7:48 pmComment by ron — September 24, 2007 @ 5:41 pm
You sort of missed the point of the comment you were replying to: As far as I know, no lawmaker has threatened to punish a college or university that invites Horowitz to speak.
September 24th, 2007 at 9:30 pmMy point was to show you that the iranian nutjob was met with open arms, any conservative is protested and attempts at violence towards them.
Comment by ron — September 24, 2007 @ 10:39 pm
Er, there were protests outside the university.
And Iran has already been threatened with violence, where were you when Pres Bush said that “all options are on the table”?
so why did the minutemen not get a chance?
I would expect security to be heightened when a foreign dignitary is on campus.
or why does this website want to shut down rt wing radio? is that free speech
I have no idea what in the world you are talking about. When has ThinkProgress stated they want to shut down any radio station?
September 24th, 2007 at 11:34 pmREPORT: The Right Wing Domination Of Talk Radio And How To End It
Comment by ron — September 25, 2007 @ 12:43 am
Are you having reading comprehension issues tonight?
That report is about how to end the almost total control right-wing talk radio, not about shutting them down. The point is to offer more view points than we currently have.
So, in your head, right-wing radio must have total domination or nothing, and there cannot be a healthy balance? What a weird world you live in…
September 25th, 2007 at 1:13 amThere invitation was rescinded where too many liberal activist got involved- fact
Comment by ron — September 25, 2007 @ 12:44 am
No government official got involved to threaten retaliation against the colleges that invited the Minutemen.
And the co-founder of the Minutemen has been invited to talk, and was able to deliver his message at the MSU. Fact.
September 25th, 2007 at 1:23 amterrific! only the students will suffer…
September 25th, 2007 at 9:17 amIs it me or does anyone else not think that the Iranian President doesn’t sound so crazy, or at least no crazier than our home-grown, usually right-wing, crazies? Ahmadinejad may be questioning the Holocaust (weird, for sure) but we’ve got at least three prominent politicians aspiring to be the Republican candidate for POTUS who deny the veracity of Evolution, for God’s sake! Iran persecutes its gay citizens while our military simply denies they exist. We, along with our client state Israel, have a gazillion nuclear weapons and we’re screeching about Iran possibly getting one. Why are Americans so stunningly hypocritical?? When we do it, it’s good/wonderful/virtuous; when someone we don’t like, or is an adversary, does it, it’s evil/horrible/sick. Let’s try to get back to judging people, even ourselves, by our actions, not by what political party we belong to, or what country we were born in.
September 25th, 2007 at 8:18 pmSo how many would let Osama Bin Laden speak at Columbia?
Comment by ron — September 24, 2007 @ 5:37 pm
I certainly would let him speak at Columbia, we’d have a better chance of detaining him and bringing him to justice under campus police jurisdiction.
Ask Bushie if his good friend OBL is available for a booking.
September 26th, 2007 at 9:41 am