Ain't Got That Swing

Well, he'll always have Plato's Retreat:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced Tuesday that he won't schedule another vote on John Bolton's nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

In so doing, the Tennessee Republican acknowledged there was nothing further he could do to break a Democratic stalemate with the Bush White House over Bolton.

Of course, Bush can still put Bolton in on as a recess appointment (no pun intended), so perhaps he'll have his man then (again, no pun intended). Though you've got to ask yourself what on earth is driving Team Bush's insistance on a guy who's chiefly known for throwing telephones, running down halls screaming at the top of his lungs, using questionable metaphors (the "lose the top ten stories" line about the UN), etc. etc. etc.--not to mention Plato's Retreat--being nominated for a post that requires a measure of tact.

When I was young, I was subjected to a film strip (some of you younger folks might not recall these, but back then, it was a version of multimedia)--anyway, someone from the John Birch Society presented a film strip to my class full of vitriol about the organization. Standard wingnut conspiracy stuff: the Commies and the Pinkos were going to use the UN to impose Commie and Pinko standards and take away Old Glory, leading to one world Commie and Pinko government. Hmmm.

Seems like the Birchers--who, until the 1980s, were truly considered, well, insane--have gotten a seat at the table.

The UN is not a perfect agency, and even lefties like Alexander Cockburn have strongly criticized it. But, my own take on the body is that it's better than nothing at all--before everyone gets all bellicose, there should at least be a means of attempting to hash things out, particularly when the alternative is the onset of hostilities. Which brings me back to Bolton.

Having someone noted more for "kiss up/kick down" as ambassador of anything is simply stupid, although, it's keeping with the "kill in the name of freedom" policies espoused by Team Bush...which hasn't actually set the world on fire...well, metaphorically speaking, that is.

As for the potential to undermine national sovereignty--please. The United Nations' budget is smaller than that of the City of New York.

Finally, while the Security Council gets all the press and weilds what little power the agency has, plenty of non-sexy--but solid work--is done worldwide, on a shoestring budget. Agencies like UNESCO or UNICEF rarely get any press at all, despite the good things they accomplish.