Senate Foreign Relations Chair Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) scheduled hearings for April 7 on the confirmation of John Bolton as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Lugar signaled that he is less than ecstatic over the nomination, telling the Washington Post that he was “going to reserve any comments about the appropriateness or not of the president’s choice.” (In 1999,… return to article
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Reader Comments (20)Page 1 of 1 pagesAmazing.Just when you think the Re-party has ruined everything,they find something else.However,having watched the Re-party’s Bizarro World foreign policy over the past four years,this really should come as no surprise.
Not only do Re-partisans follow W.,so do many Democrats...out of morbid curiosity.I’m just waiting for January 20th,2009,when W.turns the country over to his hopefully Democratic successor.At that point he will grab his chin and pull off the rubber mask to reveal...Andy Kaufman.
Posted by wwoods on Mar 18, 2005 at 1:27 PM Given the UN’s (and Kofi’s) utter failure to respond to the genocide in Rwanda and now Sudan, it is hard to imagine it is really a useful organization (other than for pilfering money as they did in pre-war Iraq).
But we do need at least one world body. Perhaps we should establish an alternative that could be effective? One that distinguishes regimes such as North Korea (ruthless dictatorship) vs the civilized democracies of the world. It is foolish and unproductive to give dictatorships the same representation as democracies.
Just my opinion. I would love to hear other peoples thoughts!
Posted by Stephanie on Mar 18, 2005 at 1:42 PM It’s just all so perfectly poetic at this point. Isn’t it though?
Posted by Winston on Mar 18, 2005 at 2:59 PM <It is foolish and unproductive to give dictatorships the same representation as democracies.>
what about ‘democracies’ that support dictatorships whenever it suits their personal interests?
Do you remember who supported Saddam when he was fighting
Iran? What about what is happening in South America?If the U.N. is supposed to be democratic then you have to have EVERYONE siiting down at the table to negotiate. That is what it’s all about, is a forum for nations to work out their differences other than on the battlefield, and to step in where it is absolutely necessary.
You can’t forget that the US has undermined many U.N. resolutions, as mentioned in the article.
Posted by Northman on Mar 18, 2005 at 3:31 PM I think it is outrageous that a paid shill for the UN is allowed to publish his views here, without disclosing his commercial relationship with the UN. A bunch of piece have come out on this “payola pundit” of late, most recently:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17373
Posted by Rand Gromma on Mar 18, 2005 at 6:07 PM Can’t figure out if Rand is just trying to be ironic here or what. Or maybe he inadvertantly wrote the word “piece” instead of “crap”. I just looked at his link and that’s all I found.
On another note, take a look at the picture. I think Bolton is really Dr. Evil with a bad hairpiece and a mustache.
Posted by Matt Harris on Mar 18, 2005 at 8:27 PM That’s a Vonnegut who made all the wrong choices in life. ;) Like an alternate reality Vonnegut.
Posted by Ryan Conover on Mar 19, 2005 at 12:22 AM Rand,
You said, “I think it is outrageous that a paid shill for the UN is allowed to publish his views here, without disclosing his commercial relationship with the UN.”Your URL leads only to FrontPage Magazine not to any specific articles. Where do I find the proof that someone is a paid shill. Are you referring to Ian Williams or one of the posters here? Your post is a bit confusing to me. I’m glad you have the facts on another underhanded scheme like the ones the Bushies have been caught doing lately. You know, Gannon/Guckert, Armstrong etc. to name a couple. I eagerly await what articles you are referring to on this wonderful, fact filled (without bias) magazine. I know I can trust the Bushington Times, Horowitz, Ann Coulter and Weyrich to name just a few of the folks whose articles they are showcasing, to give me the straight skinny.
Posted by Merlin on Mar 19, 2005 at 1:46 AM I didn`t see all of the backlash from the media and many of yhe posters here on the fact of many of the foolish appointments made by the U.N. such as the human rights commision. the U.N. is a useless organization that tries to inforce international law on a world that routinely ignores the edicts from the organization. it is never a big deal for the other countries in the U.N. to ignore resolutions or policies but if the U.S.A. does so it is a global injustice. why is this the case. drop out of the U.N.
Posted by bachhead2004 on Mar 20, 2005 at 11:14 AM While there is plenty of blame to go around for the ineffectiveness of the UN, the US probably has more influence over the organization than any country in the world. Given that, and the fact that I am a US citizen, it is the US’s role that I am most critical of. In other words, I vote here, not in France or Germany.
As for your “solution”, isn’t there a famous saying that goes something like this, “When the going gets tough, the tough drop out”?
Nah, I’m pretty sure that’s not it.
Posted by Matt Harris on Mar 20, 2005 at 11:44 AM I don’t ‘believe in’ the United Nations. I’m sure some of it’s agencies do good. I know that Stephen Lewis (Canadian), who is working under it’s auspices, is making a great effort to get the world to help deal with the AIDs crisis in Africa for example.
The question isn’t ‘Does America support the United Nations?’ The question is ‘Is America’s ruling class interested in a world in which there is law and order that benefits everyone?’
In my opinion it isn’t. There is no court on ‘earth’ that can call the America ruling class, and it’s extensions, to account. But all is not lost.
Posted by Arby on Mar 20, 2005 at 11:28 PM Bush never passes up an opportunity to prove what an ass hole he is.
Posted by Lefty on Mar 21, 2005 at 8:01 AM Stephanie said:
“But we do need at least one world body. Perhaps we should establish an alternative that could be effective? One that distinguishes regimes such as North Korea (ruthless dictatorship) vs the civilized democracies of the world. It is foolish and unproductive to give dictatorships the same representation as democracies.”
Agreed. The UN should distinguish between the Bush Administration and the fascist GOP and the civilized democracies of the world.
Posted by Lefty on Mar 21, 2005 at 8:07 AM Kafka would have loved this. The Bush worldview is more and more surrealistic each day. Bolton almost makes Negroponte look good. There must be something comforting about the consistency of the madness.
Here’s a summary of Bush’s Blurred Vision for America. For a good read…
Posted by Reg on Mar 21, 2005 at 9:26 AM You folks that are down on the UN are both shortsighted and uninformed. You are shortsighted in that the world has gotten a lot smaller than it was back in 1900 when nationalism was the way of the world. We are too global now to not have a world body that seeks to prevent wars and steps in when they occur. The neocon agenda seeks to return us to an isolationist and nationalist position so they have the right to wage war as they choose (as well as anything else they want to do.) It is part of their “total power trip.”
You are uninformed because you don’t know the reasons why the UN was founded, nor what it does or how it does it. Or even how much power the US wields, or how it has been subverted under the Bushies. I glean from the tone and words of UN haters that they are buying into the “Bushies UN scam” as that is all you hear these days. Look up the history of the UN and our part in it before you whine and complain how bad it is. We gain tremendously and suffer little from the UNs existence.The point is, the UN is what we nations of the world make it, through everyone’s vision, money and hard work. Let us not throw out the baby with the bath water. Lefty’s points are well taken. The UN needs changing as the world changes but lets
Quote:
“distinguish between the Bush Administration and the fascist GOP and the civilized democracies of the world.” And as he also says:
Quote:
“Bush never passes up an opportunity to prove what an ass hole he is.”
Posted by Merlin on Mar 21, 2005 at 12:34 PM Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
This Bush administration has already dealt away with almost all other branches of power within the US -Congress, the media- and does not want to be held back by international law or bodies. Naming Bolton is simply sending a message that the UN better serve the true master of this world or fess up. That is a very short-sighted vision as the US is finding time and time again that it cannot go at it alone everytime and everywhere.
Only the UN can give the actions of a very unilateralist US government international legitimacy, and herewith enabling other nations- that are still being held to account by a more diligent press- to chip in.
Posted by Felipe on Mar 21, 2005 at 7:02 PM oh yeah,
Move America Forward, describes itself as “the organization leading the effort to evict the United Nations from American soil”. Thats the soil that other people were forcibly removed from, you remember, that ethnicide that happened once upon a time. AmeriKKKa was moved forward then & continues to move forward in Iraq.
Posted by John Gallagher on Mar 22, 2005 at 5:14 PM Rand’s link had an extra space and digit (77 s/b 7) in it. Try this (which may have the same problem after posting:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17373
Ron
Posted by Ron on Mar 25, 2005 at 5:13 PM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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