Free Speech For All?

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

If Columbia University’s president, Lee Bollinger, thinks he was brave for insulting Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in his introduction of his invited guest, he needs to check the definition of that word. It would show more courage to stand up to the radicals who run his university than to take a potshot at a deranged despot.

A far more challenging position would have been for Mr. Bollinger to support the appearance of the founder of the Minuteman Project, James Gilchrist, whose invitation to speak was totaled by the “free speech for liberals only” crowd. What is it that frightens this crowd so much that the idea of a conservative presence triggers mass paranoia and tremors?

Academics are not the only ones who suffer from such cowardice. Barry Manilow, who writes songs that make my stomach turn, was so traumatized by the idea of being on “The View” with the innocuous Elisabeth Hasselbeck that he bowed out of the show. Although he would have been supported by three liberals, the aging entertainer obviously felt intimidated by a pregnant panelist he called “dangerous and offensive.” What is ironic is that Mr. Manilow seems to have forgotten that his biggest fans are probably traditional conservatives with poor musical taste. Last year, these Columbia radicals made news when they shouted the N-word repeatedly at the black director of the Minutemen, Marvin Stewart, then stormed the stage when Mr. Gilchrist came to the podium. The Minutemen Project is a group of volunteers who patrol the border and report illegal immigration activity. There are many Hispanics and blacks concerned with the security of our borders, so it is ridiculous to assign racist motives to this group. Nonetheless it’s become apparent that Columbia has become a sanctuary institution to those still mired in Marxist ideology. “Workers of the world unite” is a ubiquitous poster at protest rallies.

Matt Sanchez, an American studies major at Columbia, is currently a civilian journalist embedded in Iraq. He was hassled on Career Activities Day at Columbia in September 2005 by a group of goons, aka members of the International Socialist Organization. Mr. Sanchez, a Marine reservist, was visiting the Hamilton Society table, which has a military connection; many of its members belong to the ROTC.

The Columbia nimrods demanded the military and Mr. Sanchez be removed from campus, and they shouted to the crowd that the military exploits minorities. Mr. Sanchez, who is Puerto Rican, told them he was a student and also a member of the military. Their response? “You’re too stupid to know you’re being exploited.”

Unsurprisingly, complaints to the university administration went nowhere; nor did Bill O’Reilly succeed in getting a responsible reply. Mr. Sanchez’s appearance on “The O’Reilly Factor” can be viewed on his Web site, www.matt-sanchez.com.

When contacted in Iraq, Mr. Sanchez said of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s Monday visit to the university: “Columbia students called me a baby killer, but remained silent for Ahmadinejad. I’m not sure if that was out of fear for the Iranian president or admiration.”

Reasonable people may not be able to effect any change in Columbia’s faux free speech policy, but maybe Beth Gilinsky can. She is the president of the Jewish Action Alliance and has called for an alumni revolt against the university. A political and press strategist, Ms. Gilinsky is a graduate of Harvard University in political theory and of Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs in Middle East studies. She’s been labeled by a national Jewish newspaper as “the Jewish Joan of Arc.”

In a press release announcing the movement, she writes: “No alumnus should send a penny to any part of Columbia University, which has been disgraced by its president, dean, and the creepy students who applauded Ahmadinejad. Bollinger’s so-called ‘confrontation’ of the Hitler wannabe was so ineffectual and utterly pathetic that the students of Bollinger’s own university applauded the Iranian dictator!”

When I was a student at Hunter College, the racist, anti-Semite head of the American Nazi Party, George Lincoln Rockwell, was invited to speak. Some Jewish students picketed the event, and I smugly passed them by, thinking that in this country we respect the First Amendment.

I was only 17 and stupid, but at least I matured and came to realize that inviting hate speakers to a public forum is not exercising free speech. It is simply promoting hate to a larger audience that will invariably include sympathizers of the speaker. The very invite lends credibility to individuals who should never be allowed to crawl out from under a rock.


The New York Sun

© 2025 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use