Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia

[phata$$]

We don't have homosexuals in TW.

[Mantra-Slider]

what?

[Da1andonly]

BEEP! Wrong answer.

?squad Displaced
Squad: Disoblige

[ZeUs!!]

BEEP! Wrong answer.

?squad Displaced
Squad: Disoblige

However we do have tired, laboured, inside and unfunny, stereotypical, faux-ironic jokes

[Epinephrine]

Ahmadinejad is actually quite brilliant. He was consistently first in his class, valedictorian and so on and so on. But the problem is just because you're intelligent, doesn't mean your political views are good. It reminds me of every time I see Dick Cheney in an interview. You get the sense that he's an intensely intelligent man, but the thing is he views are pretty crackpot.

As for Ahmadinejad, his power is based on the poor of the country. Certainly, most of the richer and more educated people in Iran did not support him (they supported the liberals, not the hard line conservatives of which Ahmadinejad is part of), nor do the ruling mullahs particularly like him, but because he has a vaulted position within certain Iranian militias, he had a huge powerbase from which to gain power, and thus the mullahs tolerate his presence and haven't yet forced him out. But there are already rumblings that they are becoming unhappy.

The biggest difference between him and the president of the United States though is that he really has very limited power. Sure he is nominally the president, but the REAL power in Iran has been in the hands of the mullahs since the revolution in 1979. The government has limited power to actually shape policy.

Ahmadinejad can make as many speeches as he wants, deny the holocaust as much as he wants and threaten Israel as much as he wants, but in the end he really cannot control any of that. Many of you might not know, but even in Iran right now, one of the top TV shows currently airing is a show about an Iranian diplomat who saved 200 Jews in Paris during the Nazi occupation, and based on a true story. The fact that such shows are on state controlled television when it so obviously contradicts the open views of the president shows his limited power.

In the end he's a politician. I don't really think he actually seriously thinks about wiping America off the face of the planet, or actually logically believes the holocaust never happened but he knows that such talk can gain him support among his powerbase at home, just as how Dick Cheney's daughter is a lesbian (and was a central person for her father's campaign in the 2004 elections) yet he is politically very against homosexuality.

[Bioture]

Go figure that you're a devout Christian, Bio.

It's not like you've been paying attention, really.

Everyone else, chill the fuck out. It's just a rant.

[genocidal]

Did you convert to Islam?

[Cops]

Did you convert to Islam?

There's such a thing as level headed Christians, just like there's such a thing as level headed Muslims.

[404 Not Found]

"In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country...
In Iran we do not have this phenomenon, I don't know who has told you that we have it"

Intelligent indeed.

Simple answer to this is that it's against the law to be gay as well as announce this for all to publicly know in Iran. This would get you the death penalty! So of course there is no gay phenomenon in Iran as they would already be killed or are just hiding in order not to be killed by this law.

[Jerome Scuggs]

This man is fucking brilliant. Guess how the rest of the world must perceive it? To them, the president of Iran going to America when we're gearing up for war with Iran, and he goes to speak at a university and the speaker opens up with a hostile message. he's going to look like a martyr, which is going to generate sympathy for him and a bad image for us.

given this thread, looks like he did a pretty good job

[genocidal]

There's such a thing as level headed Christians, just like there's such a thing as level headed Muslims.

And that has nothing to do with what I posted or what I implied. Please don't reply to my posts if you don't know what I mean.

[Kolar]

The opening "hostile" message was well deserved and needed. He might have been invited and allowed to speak because freedom of speech is well respected in the US and a forum outside of the UN was a good idea, but that doesn't mean he should get fair or civil treatment by anyone or a free pass on ducking questions. He might be a well educated, intelligent man but he is still an asshole politician, a terrible dictator and a wacko religious nut.

[Bioture]

He might be a well educated, intelligent man but he is still an asshole politician, a terrible dictator and a wacko religious nut.

Well... SHIT what does that make G Dub?

[GuruMeditation]

Well... SHIT what does that make G Dub?

[Cops]

And that has nothing to do with what I posted or what I implied. Please don't reply to my posts if you don't know what I mean.

I meant to reply to your post where you said 'go figure that you're a devout Christian bio'. What exactly did you imply from this statement? It's an open ended statement and before I want to make assumptions on what you meant I'll wait for you to reply and give you the chance to actually explain what you meant.