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I'll wrap up everything in one sentence, then go on my rant: This man, at a forum for college students, discussed physics, mathematics and the advancement of knowledge in addition to discussions for peace in a manner that is more powerful, more refreshing, and more intelligent than what our president has (or ever will) exhibit in his lifetime.
If you go on youtube and watch the his speech at columbia, it's very apparent (at least to me) that this man is passionate about knowledge. Whether or not we choose to believe him or not, he never once spoon fed us any information. He invited us to examine ourselves, our condition, the war overseas, and the history behind "terrorism." He talks about being willing and open to peace talks. About the advancement of his nation, about the historical indignities that they had to endure.
And soon something became clear to me. I admit I'm not a huge buff on politics, but for once it made sense to me that while our president was worried about terrorists, homeland security, troops in iraq, etc etc etc. Where was the effort re-examine the purpose of this nation in the world? Now, I might think Dr. Ahmad was crazy when he presented his views on the holocaust, but at least he presented them with an intention to spark our own curiosities. To examine history for ourselves and not to be fed through the biases of others. I applaud him for that, because after doing a bit of reading myself, the war in Iraq is far more complicated than what we know. It's roots are historical.
In the speech if you focus on the positives, Dr. Ahmad clearly talks about peace. When was the last time our president ever said anything about peace or resolving a problem through discourse? When were we ever encouraged to think for ourselves and continue our own research on history? If this nation is founded on free speech, then let's say something that hasn't been said before. Something that revolves around hope and a progression towards peace.
It made me angry to see the president of Columbia start out with attacks and disrespectful remarks, calling him petty and stupid... on the grounds that he is a professor, well gee wiz Dr. Bollinger, is that how you treat your colleagues? The mood he set was clearly confrontational, but never did Dr. Ahmad retaliate except by saying that it is customary to respect your guests. So that's how fucked up I think it all is - this was supposed to be an intelligent dialogue. But it ended up in a puff of smoke when Dr. Ahmad said there were no homosexuals in his country. What an awesome distraction that was from everything else that was valid from his answers. Let's focus on that and then start some protests to top it off!
Even though a few things threw me off completely, I was compelled to call Dr. Ahmadinejad either a delirious despot, or a hopeful dictator who's completely self absorbed. In either case, I thought that most of his comments were intelligent. At least as intelligent as a president's comments should be.
Your thoughts?
If you go on youtube and watch the his speech at columbia, it's very apparent (at least to me) that this man is passionate about knowledge. Whether or not we choose to believe him or not, he never once spoon fed us any information. He invited us to examine ourselves, our condition, the war overseas, and the history behind "terrorism." He talks about being willing and open to peace talks. About the advancement of his nation, about the historical indignities that they had to endure.
And soon something became clear to me. I admit I'm not a huge buff on politics, but for once it made sense to me that while our president was worried about terrorists, homeland security, troops in iraq, etc etc etc. Where was the effort re-examine the purpose of this nation in the world? Now, I might think Dr. Ahmad was crazy when he presented his views on the holocaust, but at least he presented them with an intention to spark our own curiosities. To examine history for ourselves and not to be fed through the biases of others. I applaud him for that, because after doing a bit of reading myself, the war in Iraq is far more complicated than what we know. It's roots are historical.
In the speech if you focus on the positives, Dr. Ahmad clearly talks about peace. When was the last time our president ever said anything about peace or resolving a problem through discourse? When were we ever encouraged to think for ourselves and continue our own research on history? If this nation is founded on free speech, then let's say something that hasn't been said before. Something that revolves around hope and a progression towards peace.
It made me angry to see the president of Columbia start out with attacks and disrespectful remarks, calling him petty and stupid... on the grounds that he is a professor, well gee wiz Dr. Bollinger, is that how you treat your colleagues? The mood he set was clearly confrontational, but never did Dr. Ahmad retaliate except by saying that it is customary to respect your guests. So that's how fucked up I think it all is - this was supposed to be an intelligent dialogue. But it ended up in a puff of smoke when Dr. Ahmad said there were no homosexuals in his country. What an awesome distraction that was from everything else that was valid from his answers. Let's focus on that and then start some protests to top it off!
Even though a few things threw me off completely, I was compelled to call Dr. Ahmadinejad either a delirious despot, or a hopeful dictator who's completely self absorbed. In either case, I thought that most of his comments were intelligent. At least as intelligent as a president's comments should be.
Your thoughts?
(you can read all about this in your favorite encyclopedias)
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