Not that I often do, but today let me not mince words here …
The United Nations is a self-perpetuating, money-sucking, basically useless organization that needs to go, for until it does there will never be a chance to replace this monster with something that actually works.
There are very few days that pass without something about the UN appearing in the press to piss me off, whether it be yet another expensively dressed Secretary General espousing shock over a situation that the rest of the world long ceased to find a revelation … Ban Ki-moon’s trip to Darfur was shameful … or successive trottings-out of statistics that spiral ever more rapidly downwards no matter how efficient the highly paid bean counters may be, and it takes only the sight of a convoy of brand spanking new white SUVs to get me spitting dust, much like the thousands lining the paths of said convoys.
The offering today? The “racism forum” set to open in Geneva and reports on the UN reaction to the boycotting of the conference by the US, Australia, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Israel and Germany, amongst others.
In typical fashion …
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has said she was “shocked and deeply disappointed” by the boycotts.
Oh, for fuck sake!
There’s that shock thing again. I’m thinking UN big shots should be a bit more clued up, heh?
The only world leader showing up … and speaking … is that wonder of gentle tolerance, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Holocaust denier extraordinaire, who will apparently be welcomed with open arms, handed the podium and encouraged to pour his tiny, rotten little soul out in front of yet another global audience provided so kindly by the UN.
The fact that the Pope has been called in to provide backup for this fiasco adds an element of crap.
The Pope has also spoken out in favour of the conference, saying it was an opportunity to fight discrimination and intolerance.
“We ask for firm and consistent action, at national and international level, to prevent and eliminate any form of discrimination and of intolerance,” he said.
WTF?
Of course, this isn’t too surprising when the Church’s take on Nazi gas chambers at the time they were cranked up and running at full bore is recalled. Pope-led “Firm and consistent action” helped get six million people killed, thankyouverymuch, so he can just shut the fuck up … and why would anyone ask his opinion, anyway?
This conference and the press around it is exactly the sort of UN bullshit that winds me up and gets this monkey drumming like mad, beating out the same bloody tune again in hopes of putting a tiny dent in the image so carefully crafted and maintained by one of the world’s great PR machines.
Of course, I wouldn’t need to make much fuss at all if we could all take a look at the bill for this forum .. that would rather nutshell the whole game and draw a thick, black line under what the UN is really all about.
The overall sentiment that the cumbersome United Nations apparatus is next to useless, the more important the circumstances of the international emergency, is well taken. However, I have two observations. First, as a Roman Catholic here in America, I do not share your views of our Pope or our Religion, obviously. Second, I would suggest that you have every right to express your opinion, but I would advise you not to go around insulting other people’s religions or religious leaders. I for one am perfectly well suited to criticizing my own Catholic Church Clerics, without your heartfelt and enthusiastic assistance.
Public discourse is an art form, and when you are addressing millions, as in the case of your own blog here, you have to “dial it down” a tad, when it comes to, say, the use of foul language, or incendiary opinions. The case of Darfur is a difficult one, but then, so is all of Africa. Even countries that were progressive and stable for many years, in Africa, such as Liberia, Kenya, and Ghana, have lost some of their lustrous beacons as good examples lately. Pressuring China to influence the Sudan regime in Khartoum is about as tricky and difficult a business of our American foreign policy concerns, as solving the “horn of Africa” Somalian high seas pirates, for example.
Maybe you and I should focus our efforts wisely and effectively, by supporting Amnesty International, and by doing everything we can, to get that recently convicted Iranian-American Journalist from National Public Radio released from jail. She was given a ten year jail sentence, and her treatment by the Iranian regime is typical of the way Iran has treated other Journalists.
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Michael,
Thank you for your well-thought comment, but allow me to point out that I am not criticizing “other people’s” religion, but mine, as I, too, was raised Catholic, and given my experience with the church I am well within my rights here, or in any forum, to blast away as I see fit.
I rarely resort to “foul language” on this blog, but since it is mine and therefore an honest reflection of my thoughts, when fuck is called for I call it. If people are offended by words, the are welcome to not read them.
I support many groups that effectively work for positive change in the world, including Reporters Without Borders.
All it took was “The United Nations is a self-perpetuating, money-sucking,” to make me smile. I’m so glad somebody else gets it.
So many comments…
This is the most important one.
If you ever, EVER, dumb (oops) dial it down as per Mr. Del Camp’s suggestion, I will swim to Seychelles and kick your ass.
Society’s tippi-toe, dialing it down approach is what got us into this situation with the UN in the first place.
Last I knew, Sandra, you were still an American citizen and by Jesus, I spent 8 years serving this country to ensure your rights – such as free speech.
So say whatever the fuck you want, I’ve got your back.
I know you do, Lisa, and I’m thankful for your ability to run many miles across arid wasteland carrying 60 lbs of ammo, then blow the shit out of anyone who tries to stomp on my blog. I have such great friends!!!!
As for dialing it down … well, babe, having been my kick-ass editor for a while, you know how well that works.
Good for you, Sandra. Don’t mince words. As long as my mother lives and reads my blog every day I can’t use the F word but I sure want to, sometimes…
Sorry, Lisa … correction: 100 lbs of ammo …
Fucking fabulous Sandra!
People seem very concerned about Iran and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad nowadays. Believe me, I get it. However, for those who think Iran and the rest of us would be far better off with Iran as a Democracy, maybe those folks should read the book describing a bit of Iranian History:
Mossadegh: A Political Biography
by Fuad Rouhani
ISBN Number: 0936347961 (isbn13: 9780936347967)
Published in 2007
If I am not mistaken, this is the book which outlines the usual Anglo-American interventions to undermine a perfectly legitimate and capable, democratically elected leader of a foreign country: in this case, Iran. If you do not know this story, then you should not be offering opinions about Ahmadinejad, in my opinion. As for the rah rah sis boom bah ex-military friends who “have your back” I am afraid that buddy system will not help when it comes to these matters of foreign affairs, and the fine art of diplomacy, which is, afterall, the art of getting what we want and need from other countries, without resorting to force of arms, otherwise known as warfare. I share Kurt Vonnegut’s view of war and the human condition, without being a veteran of the military or of any war myself. War comes quite naturally to human beings. There was a 1960s song with the lyric, “Love is all around us” but we can paraphrase for 2009: “War is all around us” and as a Catholic yourself, you know that war starts in the heart. I remember starting to read a book about “The Structure of Evil: An Essay on the Unification of the Science of Man” written by Ernest Becker, and before I put it down, I learned that evil is built from the ground up, slowly but surely, and does not happen overnight, or like a thunderclap out of nowhere or lightning out of the clouds. No, it begins in our hearts, our soft, moist, palpatating and manipulating hearts.
Personally, I do not share the Israeli alarm about Iran. Further, I think it is a fine idea that Iran become a nuclear power, in the sense that nuclear power plants are modern, and non-polluting, at that. China is building a giant new Westinghouse nuclear power plant to supply their energy needs, and nobody breathes a word of concern about it. Iran is a generally responsible country, even though they do not agree with the Anglo-American hegemony view of the world. Frankly, neither do I. People might say to me, something along the lines of “Love it or leave it” but those people are not really useful Americans in my book, and I am. I would call such people “Yahoos” because that is what they are, and even if they outvote me 200 Million to One, I will not find myself in agreement with them about much, ever. I command America based on my perceptiveness, my intelligence, my knowledge and my abilities. I have learned not to depend on majorities, and not to search for common ground or accommodation where there is none. I am an American minority of One, and I rule. In fact, the most important minority is the number one. The Iranians have not learned this lesson as yet, and their Country is the poorer for it. However, the Chinese are beginning to learn that when they empower the individual, they empower their nation. People around the world prefer smart to dumb, and while people in America are forgetting their own former smartness, people in other countries are learning from our past, and yet keeping their own valued traditions. America is a formerly great country and people, and we Americans, as is usually the case with husbands or cuckolds in a divorce situation, we are the very last to know and understand the new paradigm. I do not travel to foreign countries much, myself, so I do not have occasion to raise a rumpus over the American flag much. I live here at home, in the belly of the beast that is America, and the flag waving that occurs periodically seems to me an emotional cover for loss of the real former “Republic for which it stands,” and the real need for problem solving that must be undertaken here, to stop the decline I see all around me today. This decline of which I speak resides in hearts and minds, in attitudes and values, and in the level of discourse, the lack of statesmanship, the political expediencies, and yes, the dumb down effects of educational failures and media declines.
I would like to correct the record as you have offered it in one respect. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad never said he wanted to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, as was promulgated far and wide in the American media when he came to visit for a second time in New York City around two years ago. It is a fact that the vitriol spewed against this guy is just purely bad form and bad politics. I followed him intently in a rather long, televised interview and found him to be lucid, intelligent, quite well informed on current events, and very able and persuasive in the presentation of his views.
The thought has occurred to me more than once, that we might have had peace in the Middle East today, had not former Mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, insisted on scoring a few cheap, ephemeral, local political points, by making a grand, embarrassing, public showing of berating Yassir Arafat as he attempted to join the Broadway audience for a theater show, when he came to New York City to make peace. That opportunity was lost, and it was a once in a lifetime event. We could end up without peace for many more generations, and all because the New York Jews and their Mayor could not keep their manners as that foreign dignitary visited the United Nations in New York to pursue the American proffered plan for peace. Does it get any more reproachable than that? Can you see why diplomacy means “good manners” at the minimum? Most people who travel, understand the extraordinary additional layers of cultural misunderstandings and complexities that go along with human interactions. Diplomats are trained to work their way around, with, and through these complexities. I do not think it helps, when opinionated amateurs and American spoiled brat yahoos start their infernal and noisy rabble rousing, just for the fun of it. I would advise such people to go read a good book. Make it two.