The Washington Note

Since the White House has made noises about wanting a UN Ambassador before the United Nations' session opens in September, they've created a phony pretext for the recess appointment -- the time demand -- when in actuality they've spent the whole summer running out the clock.

The Record, a New Jersey paper, has a superb editorial on Bush's "snubbing the Senate" if he recess appoints John Bolton:

He couldn't do it the right way, so President Bush is apparently about to make John Bolton ambassador to the United Nations the wrong way - in what's known as a recess appointment.
It's a sign of defeat, since Mr. Bush couldn't get his choice confirmed, even by a Republican-controlled Senate.

It's a president's prerogative to recess appoint, but has there ever been a case where one has done it after the Senate has so clearly, and so effectively, done its job of advice and consent? When an appointed Bolton would go to New York under not one cloud, but several, what better evidence is there that the Article II nomination process worked?

But his reputation precedes him, and he could have very little influence at the United Nations. That may be a good thing in this case, but it deprives the United States of a strong and credible voice at the world body at a crucial time. A world summit will be held at the United Nations headquarters in September. A respected ambassador can accomplish a great deal, including pressing for substantive internal reform.

The Record, a New Jersey paper, has a superb editorial on Bush's "snubbing the Senate" if he recess appoints John Bolton:

He couldn't do it the right way, so President Bush is apparently about to make John Bolton ambassador to the United Nations the wrong way - in what's known as a recess appointment.
It's a sign of defeat, since Mr. Bush couldn't get his choice confirmed, even by a Republican-controlled Senate.

It's a president's prerogative to recess appoint, but has there ever been a case where one has done it after the Senate has so clearly, and so effectively, done its job of advice and consent? When an appointed Bolton would go to New York under not one cloud, but several, what better evidence is there that the Article II nomination process worked?

But his reputation precedes him, and he could have very little influence at the United Nations. That may be a good thing in this case, but it deprives the United States of a strong and credible voice at the world body at a crucial time. A world summit will be held at the United Nations headquarters in September. A respected ambassador can accomplish a great deal, including pressing for substantive internal reform.

wrote a few weeks ago on the consequences of having a UN Ambassador with so little political support from his own country. Congress has long played an integral role in the United States' relationship to the UN; thus, thwarting the Senate to send up an illegitimate ambassador is exactly the wrong way to begin a UN reform program.

The Record concludes:

All the controversy apparently hasn't fazed Mr. Bolton. The Washington Post reported recently that he has asked to have the State Department office used by U.N. ambassadors doubled in size - because he expects to spend more time in Washington and less time at the United Nations than his predecessors.
If he wants to stay in Washington that badly, he should find another job.
- StygiusSuzanne Nossel wrote a few weeks ago on the consequences of having a UN Ambassador with so little political support from his own country. Congress has long played an integral role in the United States' relationship to the UN; thus, thwarting the Senate to send up an illegitimate ambassador is exactly the wrong way to begin a UN reform program.

The Record concludes:

All the controversy apparently hasn't fazed Mr. Bolton. The Washington Post reported recently that he has asked to have the State Department office used by U.N. ambassadors doubled in size - because he expects to spend more time in Washington and less time at the United Nations than his predecessors.
If he wants to stay in Washington that badly, he should find another job.
- Stygius

The All Spin Zone

The Downing Street Memo might be receiving some serious backup shortly.

Sir Jeremy Greenstock was the U.K. Ambassador to the United Nations at the time the war in Iraq was launched in 2003. After the fall of Baghdad, he was Tony Blair's envoy in Iraq during the days of Proconsul Bremer's Coalition Provisional Authority. And he has written what is apparently a scathing book on the subject.

In a story published in the Sunday Observer, Greenstock is quoted as saying:

• The American decision to go to war was “politically illegitimate”

• UN negotiations “never rose over the level of awkward diversion for the US administration”

• The opportunities of the post-conflict period were “dissipated in poor policy analysis and narrow-minded execution”

...
The problem is, we may never read the book - at least in a unredacted version. The UK Foreign Office and Downing Street have apparently put a hold on publication.

...The decision to block the book until Greenstock removes substantial passages will be interpreted as an attempt by ministers to avoid further embarrassing disclosures over the conduct of the war and its aftermath from a highly credible source.

Officials who have seen the book are understood to have been 'deeply shocked' over the way in which Greenstock has quoted widely from 'privileged' private conversations with Tony Blair, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and from the private deliberations of the UN Security Council...

It's also a safe bet that the manuscript has made its way around Washington, and that some degree of pressure has been brought on the U.K. government by the U.S. State Department.

Apparently, Sir Jeremy became very disillusioned with the whole process that led up to the war, and then the immediate aftermath when it became clear that post-invasion planning was an afterthought. But if so, that begs the question - where was Sir Jeremy during the U.N. debate, and why didn't he express his reservations during deliberations prior to the war? What good does a mea culpa do two years after the fact, at a time when both the U.S. and U.K. are hopelessly stuck in a quagmire with no end in sight?

Most certainly, this won't be the last such “tell all” book or article from a high ranking memeber of the Bush / Blair inner circle. I suspect we'll see many in the future. But for the moment, allow me to pose a serious question to Sir Jeremy Greenstock, who apparently now seeks absolution for his sins of commision and/or omission:

Where were you when it mattered?

...The decision to block the book until Greenstock removes substantial passages will be interpreted as an attempt by ministers to avoid further embarrassing disclosures over the conduct of the war and its aftermath from a highly credible source.

Officials who have seen the book are understood to have been 'deeply shocked' over the way in which Greenstock has quoted widely from 'privileged' private conversations with Tony Blair, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and from the private deliberations of the UN Security Council...

It's also a safe bet that the manuscript has made its way around Washington, and that some degree of pressure has been brought on the U.K. government by the U.S. State Department.

Apparently, Sir Jeremy became very disillusioned with the whole process that led up to the war, and then the immediate aftermath when it became clear that post-invasion planning was an afterthought. But if so, that begs the question - where was Sir Jeremy during the U.N. debate, and why didn't he express his reservations during deliberations prior to the war? What good does a mea culpa do two years after the fact, at a time when both the U.S. and U.K. are hopelessly stuck in a quagmire with no end in sight?

Most certainly, this won't be the last such “tell all” book or article from a high ranking memeber of the Bush / Blair inner circle. I suspect we'll see many in the future. But for the moment, allow me to pose a serious question to Sir Jeremy Greenstock, who apparently now seeks absolution for his sins of commision and/or omission:

Where were you when it mattered?

NY Times Covers OSHA Impersonation Story        Confined Space

The story of immigration officers impersonating OSHA officials, has now gone national with a front page article in the NY Times by Steven Greenhouse, who first read the story in Confined Space earlier this week.

The 48 immigrants thought they were attending mandatory safety training by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. But it was not until they showed up to the meeting in Goldsboro, N.C., last week that they discovered they had been summoned for an altogether different reason.

Federal immigration officials had posted

Charles Duelfer's arms teams say all U.N.-sealed structures at the Muthanna site were broken into. If the so-called Bunker 2 was breached and looted, it would be the second recent case of restricted weapons at risk of falling into militants' hands.

The Jed Report: I like Russ Feingold, but WTF! And I thought this guy, or maybe this guy, was the the Douchebag of the Week.

Balloon Juice: How the politicization of that patronage mill we laughingly call the Department of Justice could hurt Obama in November.

David E's Fablog: At the International AIDS Conference, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged nations “to follow Mexico’s bold example and pass laws against homophobia.”

Whiskey Fire: And you shall know us by the rolling of our eyes

TPMCafe: Somebody should drive a stake through the heart of the WaPo's coverage of economics, especially the Federal budget. The atrocities continue below...

ANNALS OF JOURNALISM: Pedaling stupid...They love the 'elitist' meme but only for the black guy...WaPo calls out uppity Obama, later admits bungling his quote, but won't run retraction...Broderella mistakes Ted Stevens for the Prince of Peace...Media stenos gobble up 'Race Card' spin...Poli-tech 'reporter' for the Moonie Times...FBI obtained reporters' phone records...Things they didn't report...What you should know about the Associated Press...CNN anchor (Mrs. Dan Senor) scoffs at hearings critical of her husband's former employers....The Scum Also Rises...CNN uses selective breeding advocate as a source for "Black in America" series...MoDo hits bottom, keeps digging...The Real News Network...

Brad Reed has compiled the extensive list, but I'll give you the Reader's Digest version here. Go read the full article at Alternet:

10: Bush Gets Re-elected
9: Alberto Gonzales' Congressional Testimony
8: North Korea Conducts a Nuclear Test
7: Colin Powell's Bogus WMD Presentation at the U.N.
6: The Terri Schiavo Affair
5: Bush and Condi's Excellent Gaza Adventure
4: "Brownie, You're Doing a Heckuva Job"
3: Abu Ghraib
2: 9/11
1: "Mission Accomplished"

Seems like the hardest part is simply narrowing it down to just 10.

The suffering continues.

YINGXIU, China - Rescuers rushed to reach 24 coal miners trapped underground by China's earthquake almost two weeks ago, officials said Saturday as the government sharply raised the death toll and warned it could exceed 80,000. It was not known if the miners were alive, but authorities were hoping for the best until they learned otherwise, said Wang Dexue, the deputy chief of the government's work safety department.

Premier Wen Jiabao returned to the quake zone on Saturday and hosted U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a visit to Yingxiu, one of the hardest-hit towns. Jiabao said China's death toll has passed 60,000 and could rise to 80,000 or more...read on.

The Opinion Mill's Sunday Bookchat: 1968 revisited — "What journalists have forgotten about covering political conventions! What wingnuts need to learn about Winston Churchill! What George F. Will needs to learn about book reviewing!"

Daily Howler: Remember a key rule of "liberal" journalism — praise McCain's honesty and honor, especially while reporting his dishonesty and dishonorable conduct.

Lance Mannion: A key concept of liberalism explained in seven sentences (well, really five, but you'll see).

Tom Dispatch: Changing the world, one camera shot at a time. Myanmar/Burma: Why the U.N. and the U.S. should invade Myanmar (but can't), why we shouldn't, and why such actions shouldn't be taken lightly.

The Neocons: Neither honesty, nor reason, nor shame, shall keep them from their self-appointed rounds of starting another unnecessary war.

Guest roundup by Batocchio. That's it for me for now! Next up is Media Bloodhound. Please send your tips and suggestions to mediabloodhound at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

Yes, AP is reporting that A U.N. envoy's session Sunday with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was "highly orchestrated." MSM is missing an important point and a big part of the UN visit: confirmation that she's alive and was not removed from the house where she has been under arrest.

BBC has more: Mr Gambari is believed to be the first foreigner to meet Ms Suu Kyi for 10 months.

Keeping a good thought here for Aung San Suu Kyi and for Mr. Gambari's efforts.

Bad Astronomer: Some Creationists are still dangerous even when they're in jail for tax evasion.

Mother Jones: Laura Rozen War and Piece interviews journalist Douglas Farah, co-author of a new book on Viktor Bout Farah tells how the Tajik-born arms dealer forged a lucrative career skirting U.N. embargoes to sell weapons and air transport services to warlords and despots—not to mention the U.S. military and its contractors in Iraq.

Truly Equal: Iraqi refugees forced into prostitution.

James Fallows: The Iraq speeches, take two...

Balloon Juice: John Cole provides a dandy analysis of the latest faux controversy roiling wingnuttia...

guest round-up by Blue Gal.

It looks like we found where Saddam hid those weapons of mass destruction...or do you suppose John Bolton was planning on taking out those ten stories he scoffed at?

CNN:

Workers found vials believed to contain the poison gas phosgene at a U.N. office building in New York Thursday.

U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said U.N. chemical weapons experts quickly secured the toxic material.

U.N. archivists for UNMOVIC, the U.N. chemical weapons agency, unexpectedly turned up samples of material from an Iraqi chemical weapons plant in old files.

The samples were in weapons inspectors' files dating back to the 1990s, but the substance is not believed to pose any immediate danger, U.N. officials said Thursday.

The building where the samples turned up is several blocks away from main U.N. Secretariat building along New York's East River. Tests found no toxic vapors in the offices, U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said. [..]

The material was taken from al-Muthanna chemical weapons plant north of Baghdad. The samples are sealed and have been there since 1996.

The samples were in containers that ranged in size "from small vials to tubes the length of a pen," Okabe said.

Ewan Buchanan, a spokesman for UNMOVIC, said the substances are in a sealed metal box and wrapped in a plastic bag, "so there is no immediate danger."