If Columbia University's president, Lee Bollinger, thinks he
was brave for insulting Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in
his introduction of his invited guest, he needs to check the
definition of that word. It would show more courage to stand up
to the radicals who run his university than to take a potshot at
a deranged despot.
A far more challenging position would have been for Mr. Bollinger
to support the appearance of the founder of the Minuteman
Project, James Gilchrist, whose invitation to speak was totaled
by the "free speech for liberals only" crowd. What is
it that frightens this crowd so much that the idea of a
conservative presence triggers mass paranoia and tremors?
Academics are not the only ones who suffer from such cowardice.
Barry Manilow, who writes songs that make my stomach turn, was so
traumatized by the idea of being on "The View" with the
innocuous Elisabeth Hasselbeck that he bowed out of the show.
Although he would have been supported by three liberals, the
aging entertainer obviously felt intimidated by a pregnant
panelist he called "dangerous and offensive." What is
ironic is that Mr. Manilow seems to have forgotten that his
biggest fans are probably traditional conservatives with poor
musical taste. Last year, these Columbia radicals made news when
they shouted the N-word repeatedly at the black director of the
Minutemen, Marvin Stewart, then stormed the stage when Mr.
Gilchrist came to the podium. The Minutemen Project is a group of
volunteers who patrol the border and report illegal immigration
activity. There are many Hispanics and blacks concerned with the
security of our borders, so it is ridiculous to assign racist
motives to this group. Nonetheless it's become apparent that
Columbia has become a sanctuary institution to those still mired
in Marxist ideology. "Workers of the world unite" is a
ubiquitous poster at protest rallies.
Matt Sanchez, an American studies major at Columbia, is currently
a civilian journalist embedded in Iraq. He was hassled on Career
Activities Day at Columbia in September 2005 by a group of goons,
aka members of the International Socialist Organization. Mr.
Sanchez, a Marine reservist, was visiting the Hamilton Society
table, which has a military connection; many of its members
belong to the ROTC.
The Columbia nimrods demanded the military and Mr. Sanchez be
removed from campus, and they shouted to the crowd that the
military exploits minorities. Mr. Sanchez, who is Puerto Rican,
told them he was a student and also a member of the military.
Their response? "You're too stupid to know you're being
exploited."
Unsurprisingly, complaints to the university administration went
nowhere; nor did Bill O'Reilly succeed in getting a responsible
reply. Mr. Sanchez's appearance on "The O'Reilly
Factor" can be viewed on his Web site, www.matt-sanchez.com.
When contacted in Iraq, Mr. Sanchez said of Mr. Ahmadinejad's
Monday visit to the university: "Columbia students called me
a baby killer, but remained silent for Ahmadinejad. I'm not sure
if that was out of fear for the Iranian president or
admiration."
Reasonable people may not be able to effect any change in
Columbia's faux free speech policy, but maybe Beth Gilinsky can.
She is the president of the Jewish Action Alliance and has called
for an alumni revolt against the university. A political and
press strategist, Ms. Gilinsky is a graduate of Harvard
University in political theory and of Columbia's School of
International and Public Affairs in Middle East studies. She's
been labeled by a national Jewish newspaper as "the Jewish
Joan of Arc."
In a press release announcing the movement, she writes: "No
alumnus should send a penny to any part of Columbia University,
which has been disgraced by its president, dean, and the creepy
students who applauded Ahmadinejad. Bollinger's so-called
'confrontation' of the Hitler wannabe was so ineffectual and
utterly pathetic that the students of Bollinger's own university
applauded the Iranian dictator!"
When I was a student at Hunter College, the racist, anti-Semite
head of the American Nazi Party, George Lincoln Rockwell, was
invited to speak. Some Jewish students picketed the event, and I
smugly passed them by, thinking that in this country we respect
the First Amendment.
I was only 17 and stupid, but at least I matured and came to
realize that inviting hate speakers to a public forum is not
exercising free speech. It is simply promoting hate to a larger
audience that will invariably include sympathizers of the
speaker. The very invite lends credibility to individuals who
should never be allowed to crawl out from under a rock.