League...er, United Nations - The

League...er, United Nations - The Axis of Weasels - France and Germany - may well be for the UN what Ethiopia was for the League of Nations; proof to anyone who is open to it that it has no place in dealing with international crises.

The "Man with Notebook" crisis, then, would be the UN's Munich.

I have long had doubts about the UN's ability to resolve international crises. Now, I think they're completely illegitimate.

Administration Smackdown - This is the part that amazes me; George W. Bush has been derided as the "Dumb Guy" every since...well, ever since he's been in the public eye. And like Ronald Reagan, he's taken advantage of everyone's low opinion of him; he's used it as a smokescreen behind which he's maneuvered to achieve virtually everything he's set out to do, politically, in the past two years.

So ever since September 11, it's amazed me that so many otherwise politically-astute people have completely poo-poohed the possibility that the "conflict" within the administration is all a show designed to further disarm the administration's opponents. The feud between Rumsfeld and Powell could be legit - but given Bush's control of his adminstration's spin machine, I'd have to wonder if it's not the greatest "good cop/bad cop" scenario in history - and one of the most politically successful.

Think about it; the "feud" between State and Defense splits the opposition. The opposition is occupied reacting to two different sets of initiatives and signals, and only the Administration knows which one is real - or for that matter, can choose which one it is, when it wants to.

Newsweek's bought into it (I think):

WHEN HIS ARCHRIVAL, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, had raised the idea of taking on Saddam Hussein only days after 9-11, Powell rolled his eyes in exasperation, insisting Al Qaeda alone should be the focus. Last summer Powell warned President Bush in dire terms not to attack Iraq unilaterally, and prodded him to go to the United Nations.

...which, with benefit of hindsight, we know he did - after he'd used the issue of going to the UN to get the opposition to expend an awful lot of political capital.

But last week, as Powell listened to Europeans boast about the success of the weapons inspectors in Iraq, his patience finally gave out. Sitting across a long rectangular table inside Manhattan’s Waldorf-Astoria hotel, the usually genial Powell issued a stark warning to his French counterpart: the clock has run out on Saddam and the United Nations. “Don’t underestimate the resolve of the United States to solve this problem without dragging it out,” he said. The dove had finally morphed into a hawk.

On schedule, I'd suggest. Powell's "dovishness" was a prop.

Well, that's what I think history'll tell us.

Job Hunt Redux - Waiting on final word on a couple of jobs this week. Prayers/karmic vibes/good vibes appreciated.

Posted by Mitch at January 26, 2003 11:02 AM