Welcome to the U.S., Mahmoud. Now Go Away.

By the time you read this, one of the most catastrophic blunders in the history of US diplomacy and homeland security will have taken place. Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, the Iranian president who for years has been one of the most outspoken and vitriolic enemies of the United States, will have been allowed to enter American soil to address the United Nations General Assembly. And while the UN is technically not considered American sovereign territory, I’m sure Mr. Ahmedinejad will go for a stroll through the streets of New York City to grab a bite to eat at some of their world-renowned delis, while being guarded by dozens of Secret Service agents — paid for by the graces and auspices of American taxpayers to provide security for a man who hates this country with every breath he can muster.

To add insult to injury, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has been invited by Columbia University in New York to deliver a speech as part of their World Leaders Forum, addressing faculty and students alike. The university, under the guise of academic integrity and freedom, thumbs their nose at America in a despicable elitist demonstration of disrespect that boggles the mind and defies logic. In a town with such a large Jewish community such as New York, the man who claims that the holocaust was “a myth” and wishes Israel was “wiped off the map” is received with open arms by the intellectual pseudo-elites of that magnificent brick-and-mortar monument to moral relativism.

It may sound strange to some of you, but I actually defend Columbia’s decision to allow Ahmedinejad to speak. No – defend is perhaps too strong a word. It implies that I have a vested commitment in some level to their decision, which I do not. My position is more of indifference than support, of ‘un-amusement’ than outrage. The fact of the matter is, the overwhelming barrage of leftist rhetoric that oozes from academia nowadays demonstrates their complete and utter disregard for the morals and worldview of the majority of Middle-America, which they despise for their lack of finesse and acculturation. To somehow demand that they uphold our national interest in a higher degree would be an exercise in futility. So the outcry is that Columbia University should cancel Ahmedinejad’s appearance and listen to the voice of common sense on the issue. My reply is, they have yet to behave in such a way, so why start now?

But not all ears are shut to the voices of reason: the NYPD Chief of Police has warned Ahmedinejad that he is not welcome to pay a visit to Ground Zero, which the Iranian president had planned to do. Even more defiantly ironic was Ahmedinejad’s plan to lay a wreath of flowers at the site. I believe I am not alone in saying this, but the world will be a better place when a wreath of flowers lays over Ahmedinejad’s grave.

Ed Lima