He's so respectful of the U.S.!

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- playing with his missiles at a parade in Tehran today, above -- said he wanted to lay a wreath at ground zero to pay his respects to the victims of 9-11. So now he's spending his last day before flying to the United Nations at a parade festooned with "Down with the U.S." and "Down with Israel" signs, and generally spewing the same sort of rhetoric that would make Osama bin Laden's buttons burst with pride.

Unfortunately, some Americans still think it's cool to give this Holocaust-denier guy who wants to wipe out Israel a platform from which to bloviate on his trip to the U.S. Also unfortunately, such a tendency to give a platform to the worst of the worst is usually found in academia. And Ahmadinejad will be welcomed with open arms -- and, thankfully, by throngs of protesters -- Monday at Columbia University, where I suspect his speech will be titled "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb."

Said one student of the visit:

"He's a leader of a large nation, and what he says is important, even if it's wrong."

Makes me wonder what kind of reception Adolf Hitler would truly receive if he were alive today. Would he get a platform because he's the leader of a large nation, and would his wrong wrong wrong views still be considered important?