I feel a high degree of disorientation, if not a full hangover, in the aftermath of yesterday's protests over President Ahmadinejad's lecture at Columbia. All points of view had a right to be communicated at this forum.
The Iranian president was berated by his hosts and then put down at every turn before he addressed a mostly hostile audience.
I keep asking myself, what was the point of this event?
Was this event just an exercise in First Amendment rights? Was it theater? Publicity?
How many times did I overhear protesters comment to each other that they needed to "find the media" or that they needed to put more "spin" on their sound bites. It was nothing more than one big spectacle and all the parties, in one way or another, benefited from it, but perhaps, for Ahmadinejad. I still can't figure out what he got out of it. Did he accept the invitation to speak at Columbia as a way to thumb his nose at the Bush administration?
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