Well, you knew it couldn't last - me being quiet about what's going on in the news. I try. I swear, I really try. But, the world keeps presenting me with nutburgers I can't resist talking about.
Nutburger of the Week is... drumroll, please... Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
There are no gays in Iran? Well, of course not. The ones who could afford to have already left, and you've killed the rest or shamed them into being hidden. It's amazing how ignorant a person can be and still be running a whole country. And, no, I'm not going to make a George Bush joke here - there's "I didn't really excel at my ivy league school and I'm not too smart" and there's "I'm a bigot who's too stupid to even know I'm a bigot." Very different kinds of ignorant.
The debate has raged about Columbia University giving him a platform. Maybe I'm just a complete idiot myself, but I'm glad he spoke there. I think far more people heard what he has to say than they would have if he had only spoken at the UN. Would he have said there are no gays in Iran at the UN? No. Well, I don't think so, anyway. But, of course, I can't imagine anyone would say something so ignorant anywhere. But, I digress. OK... back to the topic at hand. I think the fact that he spoke at Columbia brought his message to a larger audience so more people can see what a fool he is.
I've heard the argument that apparently Columbia would have hosted Hitler. Well, you know what, if they had he probably wouldn't have gone unchecked for so long. And speaking of Hitler, how many people got upset when Ahma-nutburger-jad denied the holocaust a couple of years ago? Admittedly, there was "international outrage," but it was talked about less than this has been and I think the reason is that Columbia offered a way for more people to hear what he has to say. It's easier to just blow nutburgers off in "official" contexts than when they're doing it just because it's who they are.
Oh yeah, and lets not forget that part of our identity as a country is free speech. So, you'd think the president of another country would be extended the opportunity to speak. If he happens to be a nutburger and doesn't bother to hide that fact - as they never do because they see themselves as completely reasonable - it clues the rest of the world in. And someone we really need to be hearing are nutburgers in positions of power - like presidents of countries with nuclear power who think other countries should be "relocated," for example.
OK, I know... he speaks lots of places. Well, I don't know about you, but I've seen far more of him and his general nutburger-y-ness from the Columbia speech than any other. I think it's good for people to see that and I don't think they're likely to catch the latest C-Span installment from the UN. OK, I don't even know if C-Span does the UN or only congress, but it sounds good as a comparison.
So, there you go... Nutburger of the week is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Bill O'Reilly and his fumbling buffonery about Sylvia's restaurant and its patrons is spared being the Nutburger of the Week. At least this week.
(And yes, Nutburger is my word. I don't know where it came from. It just popped into my brain and out my mouth and I've been using it ever since to describe people who are so far removed from anything resembling reality that they can't even get a grasp on it.)
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