America, the Beautiful

[winterbadger]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/24/AR2005082402321.html

So, basically, we're in favour of ethnic cleansing, genocide, and war crimes; we don't want to talk about the Millenium Development Goals--how to sell things to people more cheaply is more important than ameliorating poverty and disease and starvation; and we think that what the world really needs is more and better nuclear weapons.

There are times my government makes me sick.

No, let's not kid ourselves. There are very few times that my government does *not* make me sick.

Comments

[winterbadger]

Oh, it was definitely a giant finger (or two, for the UK version) pointed in the direction of the East River. Folks in the UN know that Bolton hates the entire organization and has no intention of engaging constructively (if such were even possible for a member of this administration).

What I love is that, on top of that, he was basically emasculated during the no-confirmation confirmation process, but Rice saying things like "We'll be monitoring him very closely" and "We'll keep him on a short leash". You don't say things like that about trusted advisors; you say thigns like that about pit bulls. The UN has often been a place that the US conducted delicate negotiation, a place where you needed someone with tact and finesse, who had the respect of his or her peers and the confidence of the President and his cabinet. Bolton clearly has none of those things. But he doesn't need them, because he's there to be a speaking trumpet, a mouthpiece for the one-way "diplomacy' (IOW, do what we tell you or else) conducted by this administration.

As someone who trained to be a member of the United States' diplomatic corps and has worked off and on for 15 years in our defense, intelligence, and law enforcement community, I have been impressed by the caliber of some of our UN ambassadors, admired many of them (Lodge, Stevenson, Moynihan, Young, Walters, Albright), and had a grudging respect for others (Kirkpatrick, Negroponte). Bolton's appointment is a sham and a disgrace. But, then, so is this whole presidency.