COMensarations
Monday, September 24, 2007
Free Speech and Ahmadinejad
Free speech is fine, as long as you allow everyone to exercise it.
There’s a lot of protests over Columbia University inviting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak as part of its World Leaders Forum.
I’m not sure that the problem is allowing Ahmadinejad to speak. I think the problem is that too many universities would not allow Condoleeza Rice to speak, or Vice President Cheney, or Donald Rumsfeld. If, by chance they are allowed to speak, university officials do nothing when audience members disrupt and interrupt the speaker. No one explains that courteous audience members listen, and if they weren’t interested in listening, perhaps they shouldn’t have come. No one hustles these folks out of the hall, or “tazes” them.
They are more than willing to invite communists, dictators, other non-democratic, non-free market types to speak, but anyone who views free market republicanism as the best of all available systems is persona non grata.
I agree with Columbia’s president in that a lot of us would like see someone like the Iranian president in person, to make our own assessments of his character and motives. But denying the floor to others of alternative points of view gives the impression of endorsing the nutjobs. Unfortunately, these universities are so liberal, they see nothing wrong with that.
For those of you who don’t understand what I’m talking about, click here.