Penn President Poses with "Suicide Bomber"

Democracy Project ^ | 11/2/06

[Brian Mosely]

University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutmann threw her annual Halloween costume party at her home Tuesday night. Among the guests was Saad Saadi, who came dressed as a suicide bomber, complete with plastic dynamite strapped to his chest and a toy automatic rifle. Worse, Gutmann posed with Saadi!

An obvious question: would Gutmann have posed with a guest--or even allowed him into her house--if he'd dressed as Adolf Hitler or a Nazi SS officer? A KKK member?

But in modern liberal circles, posing as a Palestinian suicide bomber (see his kefiya) is just fine. After all, he mainly tries to kill innocent Jews.

[Mo1]

it's still there .. with a disclaimer at the bottom of the page

http://upenn.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2049465&id=602111&l=2fdc8

[Mo1]

Would seem he's just another college kid with no sense or sensibility. Meanwhile universities all over the country try to stifle conservative speech

College kids do stupid things .. But one would think an adult like the President of Penn would know better and tell this kid what he was doing was wrong

This was a party that she gave

[SmoothTalker]

"You are truly an idiot if you don;t see the difference in an IVY LEAGUE PRESIDENT of a UNIVERSITY hosting this stupid party and not telling him and his other co-terrorist to go home and then the assassination pictures you think are OK?? You must be insane."

I understand the meaning of the word "costume." I know that if the university president was photographed with someone wearing a devil costume on Halloween it wouldn't mean she supported Satan. If she was photographed with someone wearing a Ted Bundy costume it doesn't mean she supported what he was up to. Was it a tasteless costume? Sure but a kid wearing a dumb costume isn't worth getting your panties in a wad. I've seen plenty of equally offensive costumes over the years.

[visualops]

Agreed. Those kids aren't exactly getting the best mentoring and leadership examples are they.

[cajungirl]

http://www.saadsaadi.com/

Yall gotta go to the website,,note the visit to Syria.

This guy just might be a real problem.

[Timeout]

bump

[cajungirl]

You don't get it.

How old are you DUde?

The President of a university has a higher standard expected of her than a bunch of kids having a party.

But I still think you don't get it.

[SmoothTalker]

I'm probably old enough to be your father and I don't see whats so worth getting upset about. She wasn't the one wearing the dumb costume. Honestly though doesn't it get tiring having to manufacture outrage over something trivial every day of the week?

[Tamzee]

He grew up in Syria... he has pics from a recent trip back.

http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~ssaadi/saadsaadi/syria.htm

[Mo1]

Sure doesn't look like it

[rantblogger]

Send her a camisole and bumper sticker.

[cajungirl]

You aren't old enough to be my father, believe me.

You don't get it at all.

[Dog Gone]

My opinion regarding this is probably skewed, because a good friend of mine who is a staunch conservative sent me a photo of his Halloween costume this morning by email. He rigged it out of computer parts and stuff to look like a suicide bomber and he wore it at work that day. He had an added prop, a book with a fake book jacket which was "Jihad for Dummies."

It cracked me up, because I know him and I know how much he hates the terrorists. I told him he was lucky he wasn't emailing me from Guantanamo today, but it did amuse me, especially with the book prop.

It was ridicule, not sympathy for the terrorists. Maybe this situation here was slightly different. I don't know. It's normal to hate the terrorists, but it's not always wrong to ridicule them, either.

[Miss Marple]

Well, since Prince Harry was castigated for showing up at a party as an SS Stormtrooper, I think perhaps we should hold the same standard.

Showing up as someone scary from the distant past (Ghegis Khan or Nero) or as someone mythical (vampires or ghosts) is one thing. Showing up as a murdering, anti-Jewish, anti-American murderer is beyond the pale, especially since some of the guests might have relatives who might be targets of suicide bombers.

Personally, I think that this should be publicized far and wide in Pennsylvania, and Ed Rendell should be asked what kind of people he has in his state university system.

[Miss Marple]

Dog Gone, you know I agree with you on most things. However, your friends costume was in poor taste.

Imagine if he had been seen by someone who lost a loved one to a suicide bomber in Iraq or Israel.

Being the political person that I am, I think that an effort should be made to publicize this and hang it around Ed Rendell's neck. Swann could use some help.

[Timeout]

Showing up as a murdering, anti-Jewish, anti-American murderer is beyond the pale, especially......

.....especially given that he's Syrian.
As has been said before, "Have you no decency, sir?!".

[Killborn]

That phrase is uttered by an idiot to defame a patriot and permanently ended one of the most successful counter-intelligence operation against the USSR in Cold War history. The effects of this failure is still evident today by all the liberals and socialists infesting America.

FYI.

[Dog Gone]

Put in that context, Miss Marple, it was in poor taste. Seeing my friend in it, and not considering its potential impact on anyone else, was funny to me because he's the last person who'd be considered a sympathizer.

When my son ships to Iraq next year, it will be far less amusing to me, but I still understand that the motivation was to ridicule.

[Mo1]

My local Philly radio guy started his show off tonight about this story


http://www.thebigtalker1210.com/

[eddie willers]

I can think of worse things to get my knickers in a knot about than a Halloween costume.

I'm with you.

Halloween costumes are supposed to be scary.

Pretty good job, if you ask me.