Holy cow.

I've tried really hard to avoid turning this into a political blog. There are a lot of issues I feel very strongly about, and I wouldn't hesitate to share my opinion in casual conversation, but talking politics here is time taken away from knitting, and I also feel pretty strongly about knitting. I'm also concerned that political discussions in a public forum tend to lead to uncivil discourse, and I wouldn't want a safe place to reach out to knitting friends to be marred by the death threats and name-calling from strangers that so often plague female bloggers.

But today is different. Today the biggest balls in the country aren't in anyone's yarn stash; they're in the heart and mind (is this metaphor getting too weird?) of Lee Bollinger, President of Columbia University, who introduced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with these remarks today. So I'm posting it on a knitting blog because I feel compelled to share it.

Many who read this may not know that one of Aaron's cousins was a graduate of Columbia, and was killed at the World Trade Center. While I don't believe Iran had any connection to that attack, nontheless I like to think that he is honored by this speech, by his alma mater's blow against global terrorism and fascist bastards in general. I'll be wearing my Columbia t-shirt tomorrow!