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| The big screen at A-Jad’s speech at Columbia. |
He looks fresh off the pages of the latest GQ magazine and his rock star status allows him to wine and dine with media celebrities like Brian Williams and Christiane Amanpour. If his words weren’t translated, you’d never guess he denied the Holocaust and wished death to Israel and the United States. I’m talking about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
It’s dangerous that millions of Americans still have no idea who Ahmadinejad is. Indeed, I’ve even encountered Penn students who’ve never heard of him (”Ahmadinejah-wha?”). That is, until the media storm that preceded and followed his Monday appearance at Columbia University.
On that Monday, I tuned into CNN with some friends to watch A-Jad speak at Columbia. I’d seen him talk before on 60 Minutes, but most of my friends hadn’t and watched him for their first time. They were shocked. The man they read about in the press was supposed to be a crank, not one for rational discourse. So when they watched how well he dressed, how many times he gave those looks of optimistic smiles, and how mild mannered he acted, they thought differently.
One friend in the room watching with me was College Freshman Eric Dein. After the speech, Dein said, “A-Jad puts on a show in the media to appeal to the American public. It’s scary because he appears so nice, and dresses like a pop culture icon.”
And I’m not surprised to hear that. Because it’s true. On television, A-Jad looks great, consistently sporting that jacket-sans-tie look. He appears not rash but fair tempered. Always calm and well-centered. His trademark jacket even attracted the attention of Newsweek’s “Look of a Leader” feature.
Other Penn students were impressed by his media image. College Sophomore Salmon Kadivar–Iranian-born, Farsi spoken, and Ahmadinejad fan–concedes the point that A-Jad knows the television language of the American people and “makes a careful effort to look spectacular, studious, and hard-working on television, dignified enough to command respect.” He said, “That’s part of his strategy.”
Likewise, Salah Chafik, a College Sophomore and Muslim Student Association board member, remarked that A-Jad knows how to take command of the media. “Consider him at Columbia when he is introduced as an evil tyrant. He shakes it off with a warm and friendly smile, looking professional.”
A question that a few were left with earlier this week after watching Ahmadinejad talk at Columbia probably was: What’s the big deal? Is he really that evil of a guy?
It’s because A-Jad’s image on television is impressive, enthralling and in the end–once you realize what he’s saying–disturbingly diametric to what he really believes.
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