Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
I was suprised at his intro speech of Squinty eyes as well. I was impressed with his points and I am glad he “insulted” the “guest”.
The whole episode was strange. The Iranian terrorist speaking in riddles and tangents by stating we need more research into the Holocaust while refusing to answer the Destruction of Isreal Questions. He wasn’t pressed on any particular and was allowed to ramble.. So much for free speech… any cost I suppose. No doubt the MSM will give a pass to any of his points. It will be a commentary on the graciousness of Columbia.. .I hope the alumni have the final word…
He wasn’t pressed because questions were submitted in advance, and chosen later. Supposedly randomly. Like anyone believes that.
Bollinger harrowed him lest he lose city, state, and federal funding. no honor in that.
I’m with you, Major. I think that from his seat in a pleasant ivory tower, he had no idea of the kind of anger that would boil up from normal Americans when he issued his invitation. I doubt if he had at first planned such a pointed introduction or q-and-a period.
I remember Bollinger from when he ran U of MI in Ann Arbor. I didn’t agree with everything he did at UM, but I he’s not stupid and I think he understood the ramifications of having OBE (Ol’ Beady Eyes) take the stand.
Heard a review of the whole thing on NPR this morning. Aside from stating that there are no homosexuals in Iran, which got a good laugh from the audience, OBE answered question after question with another question, clearly frustrating the audience.
Best of all, OBE said that Iran’s positions on Israel and the holocaust are based on facts and that history is “evolving” and all things are open to discussion and/or debate (heavily paraphrasing here). The NPR commentator noted with irony that OBE’s statement about issues being open for debate would not be applicable to those living Iran – it’s his way or the highway, no ifs ands or buts.
Watching that for the first time gave me a strange impression. Bollinger raced through his listed ‘questions’ as if he was reading someone else’s shopping list. His timing was hurried, he repeatedly had to correct his own misreadings, he didn’t put added stress or pause for effect at the phrasing of each question. He could have brought the house down with those words, if only delivered directly with conviction.
Simply put, he didn’t seem comfortable or familiar with the text of his remarks, until the very conclusion, where I felt some gravity and sincerity in his voice.
Maybe he felt intimidated by the situation. Any normal human certainly would have, but still he seemed strangely uninvested in his own words.
Best regards, Peter W.
I thought he came across as nervous.
Which seemed a little strange to me.