The Bollinger Backlash

From today's New York Sun:

A backlash against the president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, who on Monday delivered a harsh rebuke to President Ahmadinejad, is coming from faculty members and students who said he struck an "insulting tone" and that his remarks amounted to "schoolyard taunts." The fierceness of Mr. Bollinger's critique bought the Iranian some sympathy on campus that he didn't deserve, the critics said, and amounted to a squandered opportunity to provide a lesson in diplomacy.

Of course, it's not just critics of the invitation who are put off by Bollinger's unexpectedly sharp remarks. After all, it's one thing to challenge Ahmadinejad on the issues--another to call him "a petty and cruel dictator":

Students said they interpreted the severity of Mr. Bollinger's opening, in which he called Mr. Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust "brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated," as a cowing to political and financial pressure from elected officials who in the days leading up to the event criticized Columbia for providing a platform for Mr. Ahmadinejad and said they would consider reducing capital aid to the university.

In the end, Bollinger's comments lose all credibility--as has Bollinger, to an extent. It's not as if people will assume that what Bollinger said about Ahmadinejad is true, but Bollinger got carried away:

A professor of history, Eric Foner, said faculty members objected more to the content than the form of Mr. Bollinger's remarks. "He accepts as true claims that are being made about Iran's role in Iraq, which are being put forward by people whose credibility on weapons in the Middle East has not always been 100% reliable," Mr. Foner said.

Sure, let's believe Ahmadinejad--who claims there are no homosexuals in Iran and denies the Holocaust happened, while simultaneously blaming it for the emigration of Jews to Israel and the reestablishment of Israel.

Bollinger had the opportunity to take advantage of a teachable moment, and blew it because of his excess.

[Hat tip: Powerline]

Technorati Tag: Ahmadinejad and Bollinger and Columbia University.