December 2, 2004
COULD BE THEIR U.N.-DOING:
REPUBLICANS HAVE DEMS OVER A 'BARREL' (DEBORAH ORIN, December 2, 2004, NY Post)
THE United Nations looms as a new hot political issue, thanks to the exploding revelations of corruption of its oil-for-food program — and that spells more trouble for a Democratic Party still reeling from its Nov. 2 election losses.Why? Because Democrats tend to reflexively back the United Nations — that's what 2004 loser John Kerry did, suggesting that a corrupt U.N. that cheerfully let Saddam Hussein rip off $21.3 billion could be trusted more than President Bush in Iraq.
"The idea that we need the U.N. to help us was certainly not a popular thing in focus groups that I watched this fall," dryly remarks senior Democratic strategist Anita Dunn.
In Kofi They Trust... Posted by Orrin Judd at December 2, 2004 9:34 AM
Which brings us to the subject of Marc Rich...
Posted by: Moe from NC at December 2, 2004 9:58 AMThe UN is and has been a waste of time, money and Manhattan real estate.
Posted by: Bart at December 2, 2004 11:55 AMA few miles away from where I grew up was a billboard that looked home-made (stenciled onto a sheet of plywood) saying "Get U.S. out of the U.N." My folks told me it was put up by some John Birchers who lived in the area. What I learned about the John Birch Society kind of soured me on most of their ideas. Except for that one.
Posted by: Roy Jacobsen at December 2, 2004 12:45 PMA few miles away from where I grew up was a billboard that looked home-made (stenciled onto a sheet of plywood) saying "Get U.S. out of the U.N." My folks told me it was put up by some John Birchers who lived in the area. What I learned about the John Birch Society kind of soured me on most of their ideas. Except for that one.
Posted by: Roy Jacobsen at December 2, 2004 12:46 PMThey hated communism and wanted to impeach Earl Warren too. They were ahead of their time.
Posted by: oj at December 2, 2004 12:49 PMMoe: indeed, Marc Rich. Such a nice, slow, fat, juicy target he is, flying right into Karl Rove's sights! It's impossible to write any news item about Rich without mentioning the Clinton pardon, so every time he's in the news, Bill, Hillary, their administration, "legacy," and the Democrats all take another hit. If Rich gets connected with the Oil for Food scam in the public eye, it further deflates their prospects in '06 and '08. Plus, it's another issue that puts Kofi and the UN on the defensive.
Posted by: PapayaSF at December 2, 2004 2:25 PMAnyone know why John Danforth resigned his post as UN Ambassador?
Posted by: Tom Wall at December 2, 2004 6:48 PMJust posted it--he apparently told the Prez right after the election and there's a profile that suggests the nonsense there was pretty annoying to him.
Posted by: oj at December 2, 2004 6:50 PMDanforth wanted to be SoS and went home when he didn't get it.
I still believe that March Rich paid Bill & Hill more than 10^8$US for the pardon. I can't prove it, but I don't think Bill did it for a 250K$ contribution to the library and a chance to roll around with Marc's old hose bag.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at December 3, 2004 1:53 AMMr. Jacobsen,
One other really good idea from the John Birch Society is that every bill passed by congress must begin with a reference to the part of the constitution that gives congress authority to act on the issues the bill addresses. Restricting congress to only those areas allowed in the constitution would eliminate 3/4 of the federal government.
bbb:
Even better would be an Amendment requiring that every law have a sunset/reauthorization provision.
Posted by: oj at December 3, 2004 12:52 PM