Posted on 09/25/2007 5:54:36 AM PDT by Tolik
...In his 1933 speech, Ambassador Luther made the case for Hitler's "peaceful intentions" in Europe, ...Millions of Europeans believed this right up to September 1939, just as millions of Americans did right up to December 1941.
...Let's assume, however, that Hitler had used the occasion of his speech not just to dissimulate but to really air his mind, to give vent not just to Germany's historical grievances but his own apocalyptic ambitions. In "Terror and Liberalism" (2003), Columbia alumnus Paul Berman observes ...prewar French socialists--keenly aware and totally opposed to Hitler's platform--nonetheless took the view that Germany had to be accommodated and that the real threat to peace came from their own "warmongers and arms manufacturers." This notion, Mr. Berman writes, rested in turn on a philosophical belief that "even the enemies of reason cannot be the enemies of reason. Even the unreasonable must be, in some fashion, reasonable."
So there is Adolf Hitler on our imagined stage, ranting about the soon-to-be-fulfilled destiny of the Aryan race. And his audience of outstanding Columbia men are mostly appalled, as they should be. But they are also engrossed, and curious, and if it occurs to some of them that the man should be arrested on the spot they don't say it. Nor do they ask, "How will we come to terms with his world?" Instead, they wonder how to make him see "reason," as reasonable people do.
In just a few years, some of these men will be rushing a beach at Normandy or caught in a firefight in the Ardennes. And the fact that their ideas were finer and better than Hitler's will have done nothing to keep them and millions of their countrymen from harm, and nothing to get them out of its way.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
-they don’t have homosexuals in their country......if they find any they kill them.....therefore they have none. It’s logical.
A view that is tempered in the harsh glare of history. It was in fact Chamberlain's "engaging" with Hitler that emboldened him all the more...despite the cheers Chamberlain got when he came home with that worthless paper.
Whatever perceived gains we got yesterday were worthless, because the credibility the madman got will be used against us and will end up having its price measured in American blood.
IMHO, the people protesting loudly yesterday were the ones who already were onboard the train...and they were protesting, justifiably so, because their sensibilites were so assaulted by this spectre.
However, you have the left giving this man space and platform. Students who actually applauded him at time.
Again, all of that aside, the tyrant from Iran will use this to garner much more support back in his part of the world...and he will continue to take advantage of the useful idiots amongst us who are drawn to him, despite their knowledge that he is what he is, because they perceive somehwo that he is their ally against Bush.
Sadly, tragically, and pathetically...you are right. It was a victory for the enemy and the cost will be in more of our sons and daughters blood over there, and a greater potential for it to flow from all of us over here.
I agree.
This entire sickening matter only goes to prove what I think every day of the week, every hour of the day, every minute and second of the day: AMERICA HAS LOST ITS FREAKING MIND!!! America has gone completely and utterly, without a question, stupid.
This from the president of a school who banned ROTC? This from a school that allowed students to shout down Jim Gilmore,rush him and overturn tables in intimidation? He lies as much as I'm-a-Dinner-Jacket.
These people hate Ann Coulter, a columnist who mocks them, MORE than they hate killers.
I agree with Jeff. No need to give the evil a respectable platform. What we are missing is a concerted effort of counter-propaganda to confront all lies - i.e. we are not engaged in the info-war, but they are. What MEMRI does, for example, should have been multiplied thousand times and shown to everybody - the evil in their own words - without giving it any legitimacy by inviting them into our own house.
I saw a clip of Columbia’s president last night. He commented that the dialogue with Ahmadinijad (MA) indicated to him that MA’s intentions are less than sincere; that his attempts to sound reasonable were disingenuous, etc....If such dialogues help the peaceniks to figure out what many people already knew, then it’s worth having them.
It was in fact Chamberlain's "engaging" with Hitler that emboldened him all the more.
One crucial difference is that Chamberlain was a head of state. His consorting with Hitler gave the official STATE imprimatur to the Nazis, adding a cachet of legitimacy that a mere university president, no matter how misguided, cannot claim.
This was a victory for the America-haters, yes. But it also showed the fence-sitters what we're up against, and -- hopefully -- galvanized support for the pro-America team. I fear that all it did was to drive a wedge even further into our society, which, I believe, was the ultimate goal of the invitation.
It is not a pretty picture. But it is real, as history shows. And, those who ignore such reality will get millions of us killed, if they get control of the US government.
Congressman Billybob
I understand that angle, but my take was that the lefties at Columbia didn’t seem to mind anything about ImaNutJob except for the homosexual issue.
“None of this engendered much student ire - BUT - deny that you have homosexuals in your country and they throw you under the bus.”
My thoughts exactly! All I can say is, thank God for gays in this country because if it weren’t for their existence the liberals here wouldn’t be able to find a single reason to oppose Nutjob.
It doesn’t say much for your college elite does it?
It doesn’t say much for,
but it does say much ABOUT.
Ditto.
This whackjob will spin the head of state angle as well amongst his own people and other nations. He has been given a platform, and the paperwork to do so.
We should never have allowed him to set foot on these shores IMHO...or arrested him the moment he stepped off the plane. He has our sons and daughters blood on his hands.
I am a product of the Ivy League. I would, however, oppose any of my grandchildren going into that intellectual cesspool. They would learn more, and be more honest, if they spent four years slinging hash in a diner in Des Moines, than to spend four years being corrupted by the professors in New Haven.
That's a sad commentary. But it's true.
Congressman Billybob
But you are utter fools who will be the cause of millions of innocent people dying if you have your way.
A comparison of Ahmadinejad and Hitler is appropriate because both tyrants were/are extreme racial bigots who believe Jews are the cause of all the world's problems and are determined to exterminate them by any means possible. Add to that fanatical racism Ahmadinejad's often expressed desire for Islamic martyrdom and his imminent control of nuclear armed long range missiles and you have a threat far more deadly than Hitler posed in the late 1930s when his most feared weapon was a Stuka dive bomber carrying conventional bombs.
Hitler could have been stopped without bloodshed when he sent his troops into Sudetenland, but the cowardly European democracies were so paralyzed by fear of another war that they shut their eyes and pretended it wasn't happening. People like the fools at Columbia are the Chamberlains and Daladiers of this age, and if they have their way Ahminadinejad will be Hitler's stand-in at the next global bloodbath.
I understand the copyright rules, but i don’t have to like them. In case of the small guys, to generate traffic to their websites, is one thing - I gladly do that. But for the big guys...
300 words limit maybe enough sometimes when the best thing in the article is in the punchline, but with clinical analysis like this one with a logical step by step - I struggled to fit that in.
“It is not a pretty picture. But it is real, as history shows. And, those who ignore such reality will get millions of us killed, if they get control of the US government” - Right On!
There's no denying that, for better or worse, he IS a head of state. That certainly doesn't mean we had to grant him a visa, you're right. And frankly, I think we should have strongly considered denying him one. But there are other considerations.
... and address a body (the UN) that we have an ambassador to. The meeting at Columbia was only one part of it.
Exactly. It is complicated to deny a head of state the right to enter this country so that he can address an international body (the UN) that happens to be located here. Once here, if he elects to speak before a private university to which he has been invited, I'm not sure there's much we can do OFFICIALLY. But you'll note that NO ONE with official standing received him. He was, in diplomatic parlance, persona non grata in official circles. So while his appearance was brazen and offensive, he can't legitimately claim any state sponsorship or approval. That doesn't mean he won't TRY.
We should never have allowed him to set foot on these shores.
I agree completely. Frankly, I think this argues more strongly for getting the UN out of America. As long as that festering cesspool of vipers occupies American soil, other vermin will come to visit, and pollute our shores when they do.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.