Assorted Afflatuses

America has pulled the welcome mat out from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad feet. It seems that everyone from editorial directors to randomly selected interviewees on the street have nothing nice to say about Iran's sixth president. And I share their belief that Mr. Ahmadinejad ought not to receive any kind of special treatment if he wishes to visit "ground-zero," as the pundits would call it. But I have a difficult time believing that all of these people who claim to so vehemently detest the Iranian president actually have a foundation for their beliefs. Nor do I see why allowing him the same access granted to any tourist or American citizen should create such a kerfuffle.

From what I have seen on television, and read on print and online, most people struggle to pronounce the man's name, let alone produce any shred of evidence to support their position. One bedraggled New Yorker interviewed on CNN said that Mr. Ahmadinejad ought to be denied access to New York, "because he probably had something to do with the terrorist attack." An argument supported like a castle built on a stack of invisible toothpicks.

Granted, Mr. Ahmadinejad would not be at the top of my list of potential dinner guests. His strange views on the Holocaust and his actions to suppress women's rights — so severe in some cases that even the ultra-conservative Iranian governing counsel asked him to ratchet back the discrimination — do little to engender him support, at least from me and the rest of the Western world. But it cannot be denied that he has done at least a little good. His actions to fight poverty, while relatively facile, have still stood to benefit Iran. And one cannot help but wonder whether Mr. Ahmadinejad is merely playing the role of insane Middle Eastern dictator to rouse more support on his home turf by adopting the persona ascribed to him by dear Mr. Bush.

Denying the Iranian president normal access to the lower Manhattan site where the World Trade Center once stood, also seems unfounded and, quite frankly, un-American. How can we call our society tolerant if we deny normal access to a man simply because of his position and the radical views that he holds? And what evidence demonstrates that Mr. Ahmadinejad would do something dangerous if he were to visit the site? He has never actively participated in acts of violence or brutality and there is no reason to believe that he will suddenly take up the hobby upon arriving in the United States.

I have no problem with anyone who dislikes the Iranian president. But it bothers me to think that people want to strip him of his rights or disparage him based on hearsay or nothing at all. It does nothing but paint America as an intolerant society and further inflame people who already dislike us quite a bit. Next time America, know your Ahmadinejad.