Today he will stop at New York City's Columbia University to give a speech. If it is like most of his other ones it will say absolutely nothing of real substance. If he is smart, he will leave Holocaust denials and other known beliefs at home.
Many people are arriving to hear him speak, ask him questions, and protest and almost zero support him. Not only Jewish groups, but also conservatives, gays, Christians, and others have lined up to see and confront this individual. Can anything in the American body politic produce such a reaction? Absolutely not.
Most groups on the right and left in American politics are much closer to each other than to the brand of hatred practiced by this man. His loathing of Israel and denials of the Holocaust are as well-known as his nuclear ambitions. And now Ahmadinejad seeks to score points by showing up the United States by speaking on our soil. As of right now he plans to defy the New York City Police Department and go to Ground Zero. New York City's hostile reception will likely not make Iran's censored news, and probably not even Al Jazeera. However when he leaves, hopefully he knows full well where America stands when it comes to his hateful brand of diplomacy and politics.
As for unity, it is something often called for by our politicians, but rarely seen. This is not a negative. Iran's people must demonstrate unity or they receive punishment. In America we all have the right to speak freely on our political points of view without fear of reprisals. This diversity of opinion makes us stronger because those that can speak freely in a political system usually feel no need to act violently. Someday the mullahs of Iran will be overthrown and called to account for their crimes against those people.
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