Thursday, September 14, 2006
Iranian Oppressor Speaks At Harvard
-By Warner Todd Huston
In his ill advised visit to the USA, former Iranian "president" (I put that word in quote marks as we all know that the clerics run the state, "presidents" are usually just figureheads there) Mohammad Khatami was received by a polite and appreciative crowd.
According to the Harvard Crimson...
Yeah. Visitors like David Horowitz and Ann Coulter are treated like the worst criminals ever witnessed by mankind by the oh, so upper-class denizens of Harvard, but an oppressor who has ACTUALLY sent people to their deaths is received politely!
Not only is Khatami responsible for sending people to their deaths, but he has done it for reasons that any well-heeled and socially conscious Harvard student would generally claim to stand against! Khatami has killed Iranians for not being the right religion, for not being heterosexual, and for not supporting the right government rulers. Wouldn't one imagine that any student well trained in the freedoms and liberties that we enjoy in a western democracy would find these oppressions somewhat distasteful? Distasteful enough to maybe find a visit from such a person as Khatami the least bit controversial and something they might want to oppose?
Yet, Khatami's talk was not interrupted and he was applauded politely by the soooo caring leftists at Harvard. This is in contrast to the talks given by American conservatives that are disrupted by student protests, both during and outside the talk, and by question and answer periods that often erupt into expressions of hatred if not into near violence.
This shows the left's general disconnect from reality as well as the radicalized environment in which we are sending our young people to University.
Even a comment by Khatami about the "crime" of being gay, an outrage that would generally send our politically correct student audiences into conniption fits, had "The audience" respond "with silence to his remark".
Can anyone imagine that had an American conservative said anything even remotely like what Khatami said abut gays the audience would have responded with silence? It would be expected, rather, that the place would go up for grabs and police would have to be called to restore order!
The students even allowed Khatami's dissembling to pass by unchallenged where it concerns Israel.
Ah, but no one brought up Khatami's continued support of Hizbullah and past support of Arafat's PLO, both organizations which are built on the utter destruction of Israel. How can Khatami claim not to support the destruction if Israel when he strongly supports groups that do?
Curiously, this question did not seem to come to the minds of the smarter-than-thou members of the Harvard student body!
The only good thing that came from this whole episode is that Mass. Governor, Mitt Romney, showed some real sand when he refused to allow state resources to be used fund any part of this murderer's visit to his state.
Until this point, I was not necessarily a big supporter of Romny's possible run for president. But he showed some backbone here that will make me look closer at his candidacy should he announce a run for the presidency, I have to say.
this visit was a disgrace and should have been harshly opposed by freedom loving Americans. Sadly, it isn't surprising that Harvard received Kahtami politely, is it?
In his ill advised visit to the USA, former Iranian "president" (I put that word in quote marks as we all know that the clerics run the state, "presidents" are usually just figureheads there) Mohammad Khatami was received by a polite and appreciative crowd.
According to the Harvard Crimson...
... inside the forum, Khatami faced a relatively polite audience, a marked contrast to previous controversial visitors.
Yeah. Visitors like David Horowitz and Ann Coulter are treated like the worst criminals ever witnessed by mankind by the oh, so upper-class denizens of Harvard, but an oppressor who has ACTUALLY sent people to their deaths is received politely!
Not only is Khatami responsible for sending people to their deaths, but he has done it for reasons that any well-heeled and socially conscious Harvard student would generally claim to stand against! Khatami has killed Iranians for not being the right religion, for not being heterosexual, and for not supporting the right government rulers. Wouldn't one imagine that any student well trained in the freedoms and liberties that we enjoy in a western democracy would find these oppressions somewhat distasteful? Distasteful enough to maybe find a visit from such a person as Khatami the least bit controversial and something they might want to oppose?
Yet, Khatami's talk was not interrupted and he was applauded politely by the soooo caring leftists at Harvard. This is in contrast to the talks given by American conservatives that are disrupted by student protests, both during and outside the talk, and by question and answer periods that often erupt into expressions of hatred if not into near violence.
This shows the left's general disconnect from reality as well as the radicalized environment in which we are sending our young people to University.
Even a comment by Khatami about the "crime" of being gay, an outrage that would generally send our politically correct student audiences into conniption fits, had "The audience" respond "with silence to his remark".
“Homosexuality is a crime in Islam and crimes are punishable,” Khatami said. “And the fact that a crime could be punished by execution is debatable.”
Can anyone imagine that had an American conservative said anything even remotely like what Khatami said abut gays the audience would have responded with silence? It would be expected, rather, that the place would go up for grabs and police would have to be called to restore order!
The students even allowed Khatami's dissembling to pass by unchallenged where it concerns Israel.
"Responding to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reported comments that Israel should be 'wiped out from the map,' Khatami said that he has 'never wanted the elimination of a person or nation from the international sphere.'"
Ah, but no one brought up Khatami's continued support of Hizbullah and past support of Arafat's PLO, both organizations which are built on the utter destruction of Israel. How can Khatami claim not to support the destruction if Israel when he strongly supports groups that do?
Curiously, this question did not seem to come to the minds of the smarter-than-thou members of the Harvard student body!
The only good thing that came from this whole episode is that Mass. Governor, Mitt Romney, showed some real sand when he refused to allow state resources to be used fund any part of this murderer's visit to his state.
Massachusetts Governor W. Mitt Romney called Harvard’s invitation of Khatami “a disgrace to the memory of all Americans who have lost their lives at the hands of extremists” and said state taxpayers should not fund any part of his visit.
Romney announced on Tuesday that he would not allow any state agencies--including state police--to provide support for the event. Yesterday’s event was secured by Harvard and Cambridge police as well as the US State Department.
Until this point, I was not necessarily a big supporter of Romny's possible run for president. But he showed some backbone here that will make me look closer at his candidacy should he announce a run for the presidency, I have to say.
this visit was a disgrace and should have been harshly opposed by freedom loving Americans. Sadly, it isn't surprising that Harvard received Kahtami politely, is it?
# posted by Publius @ 9/14/2006 11:32:00 AM 
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