Ahmadinejad? Not a fan, frankly. He strikes me as a crank and a fraud, the kind of leader who will say anything to gin up support from his mouth-frothing religious base, regardless of the anxiety and outrage his behavior elicits from moderates at home and the sane abroad.
That's okay, I'm used to leaders like that. I'm not happy with them, but I understand that, as heads of state, they are to be accorded all the courtesies and outward signs of respect that national leaders expect.
We go through it here in New Orleans pretty regularly. We grit our teeth, shell out the gumbo and count the hours until we can get rid of the twerp and get back to our lives.
I trust New Yorkers can handle it. They're used to it.
Like it or not, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the elected president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. I don't like it, but thanks, in part, to the intemperate remarks of George Bush, he represents the people of that country. As such, he should be shown the same respect we display to any leader we don't like but must live with.
Leaders like Nikita Kruschev who, even though he vowed to "bury" us at the UN, was still hosted at Blair House by President Eisenhower (though Walt Disney did deny him access to the Magic Kingdom).
When Fidel Castro came to the UN Millenium Summit in 2000, he was invited to speak at Riverside Church. His hosts didn't refer to him as a dictator, but merely heard him out.
Arguments that Iran's quest for nuclear technologies trumps the requirements of hospitality make little sense in light of Chinese premier Zhu Rongji's visit in 1999. China had just been caught stealing nuclear secrets from our national laboratory at Los Alamos, but Zhu still enjoyed a cordial reception.
Such is the hospitality we show our enemies and competitors. Our allies, of course, get the E ticket, whether it's burgers and dogs for Sarkozy or a private, unannounced fireworks show for Vicente Fox that had the DC police in lockdown mode in those halcyon, pre-911 days.
It's hard to say where Iran should fall on that scale. I mean, they are charter members of the Axis of Evil and all, but, as AHiddenSaint reminds us, Iran's government not only expressed its condolences for our loss, but condemned those who attacked us. Something little discussed these days.
And even less discussed is the fact that the government of Iran was instrumental in our successful partnership with the Northern Alliance, which toppled the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Got that? Iran paved our way into Afghanistan, essentially led us to bin Laden, which is a hell of a lot more than our "ally" Musharraf has done. Oh, yeah, you remember Musharraf, the guy invited to march in a candlelight procession to Battery Park on Sept. 11, 2002?
Of course, the fact that the Iranians were prepared to give us such assistance even before the terror attacks of 2001 is never brought up in polite company.
Polite company. Quaint phrase, that. Brings up images of simpler times, when you received company with polite words and a courteous demeanor, even if you didn't particularly cotton to them. A time when visitors were afforded the basic hospitality and feigned respect that makes dialog, and resolution to conflicts, possible.
This is a great time to recall those lessons, and the real progress that can come from artificial comity and simple decent manners.
You don't have to love Ahmadinejad. You don't even have to like him. Hell, I don't.
But you have to treat him politely. You have to let him speak where he's been invited to speak. You have to offer him tea and ask after his family. And if you let Osama bin Laden's landlord march to Battery Park on the anniversary of his tenant's murder of 3,000 Americans, you damn well have to let the president of the nation that tried to help us avenge that murder lay his stupid wreath at the scene of the crime.
Remember how your momma raised you. Keep a civil tongue in your head. Make a fucking cup of tea.
Take a lesson from New Orleans. If we can politely host a strutting, strident little martinet year after year,
you can put up with Ahmadinejad for a few days.
This rant is entirely the opinion of Crashing Vor and does not represent the views of DailyKos, its owner, contributors, Internet Service Providers or any other entity. Got a beef? I'm yer boy.