There are many things for which to find fault with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His own people are fairly discontented with his presidency (largely for economic reasons), the treatment of homosexuals, intellectuals and other dissidents offends any person who values human rights (although to be fair, aside from economic issues, perhaps, much of the blame should be laid on the shoulders of the mullahs), and his tendency to do all but taunt Bush to bomb him could fill several heated blogs, to name but a few.

However, like him or not (and I don't), Ahmadinejad IS the head of a foreign state invited here to speak. That's why Columbia's Dean Lee Bollinger's scathing opening statement was so shocking in its rudeness. Can you imagine the outcry if Bush had been invited to give a speech at a foreign university and gotten that kind of reception? Can you imagine how this looks to other countries?

Our buddy Bill W. made this little mash up of Bollinger introducing and Ahmadinejad responding.

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Huff Po, Booman and Rick Perlstein offer some other takes on Bollinger.