Stormy Monday

So the Iranian President came to speak on campus. Some say we shouldn't have invited him but others say why not. In the end, I am sure we all still disagree on some aspects of this event, but I hope that at least we can all agree that Ahmadinejad is after all a rambling populist who is not irrational but a calculated politician who likes to manipulate the feelings of his own people and those of the world for his own good. I hope we have seen through his antics and all came out of Monday feeling a little better about the ability of Americans to think critically and to not fall prey to extreme rhetorics.

I also went to hear Alan Leong speak. Leong is a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council and ran again Donald Tsang for chief executive. Why enter a race whose result was all but decided? He believes the inspirational role HK can play in encouraging political, economic, and social reforms in the mainland. He shows us that even if a process or government is flawed, by engaging it and showing how it should be done is in and of itself a worthwhile task.