HUMOR IS SADISTIC TO BE LUDICROUS

Misplaced humor often elicits the frustrated comment "I don't know whether to laugh or to cry". Also humor is generally "sadistic" - in classic terms, someone slips on th eproverbial banana peel, crashed painfully to the ground and we (theoretically) laugh our heads off.

To many, Ahmadi-Nejad's Columbia visit was a sad joke but like reality in humor there was an underlying "sadistic crash" behind it.

1. Islamic Iran reportedly makes substantial donations to this university and Bollinger was faced with the choice of doing the right thing and rejecting Ahmadi-Nejad's presence and risk losing this income - or protecting his cash flow - even from a "sane lunatic" from a terrorist state.

2. Again, reports from inside Iran indicate that a deal was brokered that would ensure the release of one of the Americans imprisoned by the clerics - a Columbia alumni - if Ahmadi-Nejad were permitted to speak at Columbia.

Bollinger accepted both conditions but had a last bite at a man he clearly does not respect in his derogatory opening remarks.