 "Photo: Alexandra Stewart | Daily Trojan")
Last week, the far left-wing of the Democratic Party celebrated the arrival of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in America. Columbia University provided a stage and microphone for the deranged dictator to spout his predictable rhetoric - denying the Holocaust, claiming gays don't exist in Iran and dismissing widespread criticism that his regime oppresses women.
On Oct. 24, the USC College Republicans and USC Objectivist Club plan to sponsor a speech by far right-wing columnist and author Ann Coulter on the USC campus, as part of conservative author David Horowitz's National Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week. Coulter's visit is pending approval from the Young America's Foundation, which helps schedule her speeches for conservative college organizations.
Predictably, however, plans are already in the works to protest Coulter's speech.
While nearly everyone agrees that Coulter should be allowed to express her opinion, she certainly doesn't deserve the same type of hateful backlash that welcomed Ahmadinejad last month. Those who protested Ahmadinejad but support Coulter's appearance are easily justified through a quick comparison of the two.
One of the most notorious anti-American political figures in the Middle East, Ahmadinejad rules with an iron fist. He reportedly shuts down dissenting student organizations, censors the Internet within Iran and defies the United Nations Security Council, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Moreover, evidence provided by Brig. Gen. Michael Barbero, Maj. Gen. Richard Zahner and other U.S. military officials demonstrates official Iranian support of insurgents killing our troops in Iraq.
Contrast these actions with the potential harm caused by a columnist whose worst crimes are usually cynicism and name-calling, and it's evident that such comparisons could only survive within a skewed view of reality.
"[Coulter] spreads her opinion, but not through terrorism," said Cheyenne Steel, chairwoman of USC College Republicans. "That's the main difference between her and Ahmadinejad."
Privately, many conservatives (myself included) dislike Coulter's brash, polarizing style and dogmatically partisan rhetoric. Her strategy of electric one-liners, childish attacks and exaggerations of Republican positions sell millions of books and make her a high-profile pundit but simultaneously isolate many moderates.
And yet, the way she so easily irritates and confounds liberals is incredibly satisfying, and it's hard to pass up an opportunity to see that in person - never mind that it's free speech, anyway.
"We have invited Ann Coulter to speak at USC, not necessarily because our club's members agree with her but because she represents the views of many Americans, and therefore she should be heard," Kip Payne, vice chairman of USC College Republicans, wrote in an e-mail.
Predictably, there are those who are already planning to protest her words.
"I would definitely support [a protest against Coulter]," said Gary Yeritsian, a senior majoring in history. Yeritsian is also co-director of USC Students for Justice in Palestine, but declined to comment on behalf of the organization.
"For all of the problems of his right-wing politics … Ahmadinejad has not been responsible for anything like the scale of injustice and bloodshed carried out by the United States and enthusiastically supported by such ideologues as Coulter," he added.
Planning for the protests has begun through group-wide e-mails circulated to members of SJP through its Yahoo! Groups message board. Yeritsian confirmed the messages' authenticity but said none of the authors held leadership positions in the organization.
"Can we all meet and make plans to [protest Coulter's appearance]?" writes one member, attaching a link to the USA Revolutionary Communist Party's website.
"Contact the ACLU," another writes.
Another internal group e-mail is signed by an unlikely source - Teresa Cheng, a junior majoring in political science who also serves president of the purportedly non-partisan Political Student Assembly.
"I know a lot of professors are mobilizing around this," she wrote to other group members, naming an English professor to contact. It is "pretty crazy" that the College Republicans are sponsoring the event, she writes.
Asked to explain the disparity between her views in that group message and the non-partisan stance she took two days earlier in a Daily Trojan e-mail interview, Cheng said she has "many different capabilities" as a student at this university.
It would seem obvious that few capabilities conflict with each other so sharply. Exhibition of a personal bias against an event sponsored by organizations that Cheng's group funds calls into question the integrity of the process.
For his part, the brain behind National Islamo-Fascism Week said he welcomes opposing points of view.
"This is about making people aware of the issues, not ramming down their throats politically correct conclusions … Let's have a discussion," Horowitz said.
Still, Vincent Vigil, director of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center, predicts that many gay students would unite in rallying against Coulter.
"We know what [Coulter is] going to say," he said.
Indeed, Coulter will surely use the same tactics that have worked so marvelously for her in the past. Protesting and empowering a fringe columnist like Ann Coulter doesn't make any sense, however, particularly when contrasted with a defense of the invitation to one of America's greatest enemies.
Ahmadinejad was undeservedly handed a microphone to amplify his hateful speech in front of the American public, enhancing his credibility among America's enemies.
Coulter's appearance, on the other hand, isn't going to embolden any of America's enemies or validate a violent world leader. At the most, it might help book sales.
So at the very least, dissenters should ignore Coulter and not add to her aura. If the temptation to attend is too great, dissenters could sit quietly in the audience and actually hear her out before airing personal attacks and negative opinions.
While protests can be valuable in America, attacking Coulter in this case won't promote anything productive. I challenge the left-wing critics to either listen objectively or just stay home.
After all, it's a position they should be familiar with - they were promoting it just last month.
- Joshua Sharp is a junior majoring in communication. His column, "Fresh Perspective," runs Tuesdays.
