Comments on Ahmadinejad on the Gays

There's room for improvement but he's doing better than Jesse Helms...

And, please please please, let gay people have 'phenomenon' status. The insult of it is so outweighed by the awesomeness of being a phenomenon.

well, yah know, exterminating them does get rid of them. at least he's being honest ...

Are we sure this isn't actually Borat?

His "praise" for women reduces them to subservient nursemaids, just like right-wing Xtian rhetoric in the USA. He may not know it, but that shit doesn't fucking fly here.
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Hmm, his position isn't that different from any of the Republican presidential candidates, and they are desperately casting about for a more appealing candidate.

He's probably too liberal for the Republican base though.

Regarding the Boos...This is why he should be allowed to speak... It is a reminder that in this country, we can boo & hiss at anyone!

It won't change anything in Iran, but it is damn satisfying to let him have it when we have the chance.

@4 Clearly it does fly here, to an alarming degree.

Teh Gayz are only on American Intarnets.

And asian girls eating poo, also.

@7, I 'spose. I can't bring myself to watch stuff like this. Did he get cheers for that shit or something?
Guess I should say: In sane circles, that shit don't fly here. Among the insane, there's that black conservative pundit lady who says we shouldn't have a female president (women are too weak, y'know?).
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It's good to hear he's getting some crap flung at him, anyway. I was afraid that his audience would be the kind of idiots who would reflexively support him simply because of anti-Bush sentiment, which would make for a very depressing affair indeed.

And politicians are upset this idiot was speaking at Columbia University? Shit, what the hell are they scared of? The guy is a nut job! Let him speak at every college campus and keep making himself look like the fundamentalist asshole that he is.

And he should tour with George Bush. That pairing would be more entertaining then "Lonestar Love"

It's also worth noting that he's deeply unpopular in Iran for a variety of reasons, both social and economic.

He's like George W Bush with Farsi subtitles.

Hmm, sounds like he's qualified for an appointment as a US ambassador or other political appointment by the WH ...

They're both delusional.

Why are we even paying attention to this guy? Simple: 1) Iran is now the regional power in the Middle East, because we took out the one guy who was holding Iran back: Saddam Hussein, and 2) the same neoconservatives who responded to Al-Qaida’s attack on us by invading Iraq are now going all get-out to bomb Iran by waging a hate campaign on this bumbler as the face of evil.

So go ahead and spew. Pile on the hate. You’re playing right into the hands of the Bomb Iran crowd.

Exhibit A: Charles Krauthammer’s editorial in today’s Seattle Times. He’s the mouthpiece for the neoconservatives. His message: the Iranians must carry out an internal regime change, or we’ll bomb them to smithereens.

What is so frustrating about all of this is that Iran actually has some strong democratic traditions and women in Iran are more likely to have careers than anywhere else in the Middle East. There are glimmers of hope for a Western-style democracy in Iran, but only if the neo-cons don't eff it up by you know ... bombing the Iranians and pissing them off.

Is anybody going to give him some double-penetration porn?

That he said this abominable thing and got booed and it ended up being a headline on CNN actually gives me hope for this dear old land of ours. It presents Americans with a stark choice: do you want to be led by someone more or less like this nutjob? Do you want to define this country as something like what this guy is advocating?

By denying homosexuality exists in front of a Columbia U audience while also dragging around all the rest of his baggage, he comes off as an alien from another planet. Maybe, just maybe, we could decide to celebrate our secular democracy without bombing Iran to smithereens.

@14 - What's most appalling about Iran's policies is their treatment of women, homosexuals, and political dissidents. I'd like to see the neo-cons line up for that as a justification for war.

#1 - "better than jesse helms"??? if you really believe this, please just keep it to yourself. not only do you make liberals sound unbelievably ignorant, you're dragging down the curve for the whole country.

the reason they "don't have homosexuals" is because they kill them. why are we legitimizing this douche by allowing him to speak here?

@18

Soooo… What is the Liberal plan to compel Iran to stop executing gays? (Like they really care either…)

"It’s not a crime to be a woman. Women are the best creatures created by God. They represent the kindness, the beauty that God instills in them."

Sicne when has Mudede been running Iran?

@21
Wow. I think you may be right...

To people who say Jesse Helms = Ahmadinejad, and that liberals don't care for gay rights any more than Republicans: you whining makes me ashamed that I'm the same species as you.

Really. Our parents generation did more to improve gay, black, womens, and civl rights than any generation in history. *Their* parents defeated Hitler and Hirohito. All you have to do is sit back and shut the fuck up and become educated and have opinions and vote. But you sit and bitch about how horrible the world is and how horrible all your choices are and how the system is so corrupt. And you don't yell it at your enemies, you whine on and on at your fellow liberals/progressives here on the slog, where it has no hope of changing anything.

The Rs don't whine- they mobilize. They show up at primaries and caucuses and give money and call into talk radio because they know ACTIVISM MAKES A DIFFERENCE and that HISTORY IS WRITTEN BY THE PEOPLE WHO SHOW UP.

Maybe this is pointless. If you think that the US=Iran and Dems=Rs you may be too far gone, and our generation may fail the ones that came before us. But the rest of us should keep fighting, and hope that before long you pull your heads out of your collective asses and join us on the barricades.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend - until he wants to marry another man."

@17. It doesn't surprise me that he was booed for his comments. He was speaking in New York. At Columbia, no less.

I wonder what would have happened if he'd been speaking in stereotypical small town Middle America. Would they have booed the "A-rab" [sic] or cheered his anti-gay position?

Jesus, facetiousness people. No, Ahmadinejad is not better than Jesse Helms. But I'm also not writing a frikkin' paper on it. What does it say about people's terror of liberals that they think comments like that are serious?

What is interesting here is the president of Columbia U's comments. As in, his completely twatish mis-information. Ahmadinejad is not a dictator, he was elected by popular vote. To call him one makes the whole of America's academia look incredibly stupid now, that one of their representatives doesn't even have this basic information. We probably should've tried harder to seem less like ignorant pigs.

@21 - I knew that quote sounded oddly familiar.

@26, he’s the elected president, yes, but that position has very little power in Iran. Real power is reserved for the religious Supreme Leader, who gets to veto, well, anything.

@25:

The stereotypical American small town exists only in your imagination. It's easy to sit in Seattle and wave your hand eastward and talk about it as a monolith, it's another to make repeated visits to your little Kansas hometown with your boyfriend on your arm (uh, I'm also a man, if that wasn't clear).

You know, I still wouldn't want to live there. But it's not the same place it was, and I'm consistently impressed with how attitudes evolve and how (relatively) open we can be when we're there. And that's why I'm heartened that Ahmahdinejad looks ridiculous on national media outlets for denying the existence of homosexuality. We've talked about it enough that, even in that exotic land called Middle America, the denial just doesn't work anymore.

The Atlantic had an article a few issues back about the gay life in Saudi Arabia, of all places(!?) The analysis was that since all sexual activity is in the closet in SA, gays (presumably used to this situation) fare pretty well. The Stranger, having a large gay readership, could do a public service here by finding and giving voice to Iranian exiles or world travellers who can refute Ahmadinejad's assertion with personal experience (anonymized so no one loses their head).

JW - I grew up in a town of

With that being said, I was actually making a joke. Do slack-jawed yokels hate the towel-heads or the faggots more (with, of course, the added humor that Iranians are not Arab)? Ha Ha. Ha. No?

Um. Not sure why that cut off my comment. But, it said:

I grew up in a town of less than 10,000 in rural Illinois. Parents still live there. Totally agree that "Middle America" is beyond denying that homosexuality exists (and so, of course, is better than Ahmadinejad). But I think the predominant mentality is "it exists, it is bad" (otherwise why all the anti-gay marriage amendments, gay bashing, etc?).

Damn, I am screwing this up all over the place. That was me @32. The "Learn to let go" sign off was not meant for JW.

@20 - If by "Liberal" you actually mean "Democrat", then I agree they won't do anything. In fact, they would probably grant "most-favored nation" trade status to Iran if it meant an end to their nuclear program and cheap oil for the US.

#26 - perhaps if your comment were funny, it might rate as a joke. but considering such sentiments are pretty typical knee-jerk liberal fare, and are often siezed upon by conservatives as "proof" that all liberals are ignorant, whiny brats, keeping us in a permanent state of defensiveness, i uphold my request for you to please keep it to yourself.

@34

I do, and I agree. (Just don't let anyone around here hear you think it.)

Islam and Christianity create idiots. Only Judaism is a religion of justice and intellect. In Israel the goyim can marry men, women or their pet goat if they want. Jews of course are obligated to follow halaka.

These Islamic and Christians should be forced to abandon their religion. The sooner they admit Judaism is the only real belief, the sooner peace will come to our world.

@37 - Schpedoinkle!

Issur is the split personality of ecce homo- Instead of trawling for insults with generically contrary positions, he does it with bizarre fake religious views, probably contrived to make jews look like insano crackpots from planet X. Problem is, his posts are so weird no one usually deigns to comment on them.

Jews don't all have to think alike, it's part of our religion. Many America Jews, even hip young Jews are becoming more observant and are moving Israel deeper into their hearts. If that sounds bizarre to you, perhaps you need to get to shul more often.

christopher @ 49: people don't reply to him because they don't want to feed a troll. i made the mistake recently, and was (rightfully) chastised for it.

Speaking of "Trolls" if Iran was plagued by a Mark Mom Finley like we are, I could condone his view on Queers... Perhaps we could all pitch in and by "mom" (snicker, snicker) a one way ticket there? Oh yes, lets!