THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, October 28, 2010
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HARDBALL IN THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL— UNITED NA-
by John J. Metzler Syndicated Columnist
TIONS—There’s always room for a surprise in pol i t ics, especially in the global hot house of the United Nations. So when both Germany and Portugal won
two-year stints on the UN Secu- rity Council, even many insiders were stunned by the outcome. In the General Assembly’s an-
nual election for the five non- permanent places on the powerful Security Council, three countries were running unopposed for re- gional places. Yet for the aptly named West European and Oth- ers Group (WEOG) three countries
GERMANY AND PORTUGAL WIN SEATS were vying for two seats; Canada, Germany, and Portugal. Given its long standing reputa-
would be Canada and Germany. Portugal, a small Iberian coun-
tion as a “global good guy” for foreign aid and multilateral de- velopment, Canada was a clear favorite for one slot, despite yam- mering on the sidelines about Ottawa cutting some assistance and being too close to Jerusalem and Washington. Since being a UN founder in 1945, Canada had never been shunned for a two year Council stint. Equally, Germany, one of the world’s largest humanitarian do- nors and third largest contribu- tor to the UN budget seemed to have an inside track. Add the consistent and focused lobbying by the German Mission to the UN to explain Berlin’s position, and it appeared that the two winners
MR. FIX-IT WASHINGTON
by Oliver North Syndicated Columnist
- The Obama administration has replaced an old axiom, “If it ain’t broke, don’ t f ix i t ,” with one of its own: “If it ain’t broke, fix it till it is.” That’s certainly what
the O-Team is doing to the U.S. military. While campaigning for the
presidency, then-Sen. Barack Obama repeatedly promised to “end discrimination against gays and lesbians” by the U.S. mili- tary’s so-called “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Last October, he told supporters at a Human Rights Campaign dinner here in Wash- ington, “I’m working with the Pentagon, its leadership and the members of the House and Sen- ate on ending this policy. ... I will end ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ That’s my commitment to you.” Of course, it’s not a matter of
“policy”; it’s the law -- and it’s been on the books since 1993. Section 654 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code clearly states: “The presence in the armed forces
of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would cre- ate an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.” Notably, this language became the law of the land -- not just “policy” -- while American troops were engaged in Somalia.
Apparently, someone had par-
tially educated Obama to the law he vowed to uphold, and he made a rhetorical adjustment. During his Jan. 27 State of the Union address, he said, “This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are.” Those applauding his revised pledge to the Democratic Party’s base evidently missed two im- portant points. First, there is no inherent “right to serve” in our military. Secondly, the law isn’t about “who they are.” It’s about what they do. By February, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Adm. Mike Mul- len, who is chairman of the Joint See NORTH on 47
try with a shaky socialist economy and far less political clout to bring
to the table looked to be a loser, despite many UN delegations be- ing more “comfortable” with little See METZLER on 46
IS BARNEY FRANK? You would be
by Thomas Sowell Syndicated Columnist
hard pressed to find a poli- tician who is less frank than Congressman Barney Frank. Even in an oc- cupation where truth and can- dor are of - ten lacking, Congressman
Frank is in a class by himself when it comes to rewriting his- tory in creative ways. Moreover, he has a lot of history to rewrite in his re-election campaign this year. No one contributed more to
the policies behind the housing boom and bust, which led to the economic disaster we are now in, than Congressman Barney Frank. His powerful position on the House of Representatives’ Com- mittee on Financial Services gave him leverage to force through leg- islation and policies which pres- sured banks and other lenders to grant mortgage loans to people
who would not qualify under the standards which had long prevailed, and had long made mortgage loans among the safest investments around. All this was done in the name of
promoting more home-ownership among people who had neither the income nor the credit history that would meet traditional mort- gage lending standards. To those who warned of the
risks in the new policies, Con- gressman Frank replied in 2003 that critics “exaggerate a threat of safety” and “conjure up the possibility of serious financial losses to the Treasury, which I do not see.” Far from being reluc- tant to promote risky practices, Barney Frank said, “I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation.” With the federal regulators leaning on banks to make more loans to people who did not meet traditional qualifications -- the “underserved population” in po- litical Newspeak -- and quotas being given to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy more of these
See SOWELL on 32
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