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Posted 9:58 PM by Mary

Bush Gives the UN the Finger: "Published on Tuesday, March 8, 2005 by The Nation
Bush Gives the UN the Finger
by David Corn

If you were sitting in the Oval Office and George W. Bush asked, 'Hey, tell me, who could we appoint to the UN ambassador job that would most piss off the UN and the rest of the world,' your job would be quite easy. You would simply say, 'That's a no-brainer, Mr. President, John Bolton.' And on Monday Bush took this no-brain advice and nominated Bolton to the post, which requires Senate confirmation.
Bolton is the rightwing's leading declaimer of the United Nations. He once said, 'If the UN Secretariat building in New York lost ten stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference.' And when the Bush administration failed to persuade the UN to back its war in Iraq, Bolton observed that was 'further evidence to many why nothing should be paid to the UN system.'
Bolton has expressed much more vitriol for the UN than those two (representative) remarks, for he has been a UN-basher for years. Sure, the UN has many flaws and deserves reform. But what message does it convey to the UN and the world to send to the UN a fellow who has essentially called for total defunding of the institution? And this move comes right after Bush went to Europe to mend fences and after he has started working closely with France in an admirable effort to push Syria out of Lebanon. The Bolton appointment is unfathomable--except if viewed as a payback to the neocons. This band of Bush-backers were considered the losers when Bolton, formerly an undersecretary at the State Department, was not appointed to the number-two slot at Foggy Bottom when Condoleezza Rice took over the State Department. But this is some consolation prize. Imagine Jerry Falwell being placed in charge of marriage in Massachusetts.
Bolton's extremism do"

Posted 9:33 PM by Mary

Bush Appoints Right-Wing Extremist to UN Post: "Published on Monday, March 7, 2005 by the Inter-Press Service
Bush Appoints Right-Wing Extremist to UN Post
by Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON -- In a breathtaking victory for right-wing hawks, U.S. President George W. Bush has nominated Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton to become his next ambassador to the United Nations.
Bolton, widely considered the most unilateralist and least diplomatic of senior U.S. officials during Bush's first term, will have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate where some Democrats, a few of whom were said to be stunned by the nomination, are expected to put up a fight.
One aide called the nomination ?incredible?, particularly in light of recent indications, including his talks with European leaders at the end of last month, that Bush and his new secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, intended to pursue a more multilateralist policy in his second term and was determined to smooth the rougher diplomatic edges of his foreign policy team.
That notion had been bolstered by Rice's choice of Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, a long-time pragmatist and ?realist?, as her deputy despite Bolton's efforts, backed by Vice President Dick Cheney, to take the job.
The fact that he failed in his quest was taken as a clear sign that Rice was indeed moving toward a more multilateralist policy in defiance even of Cheney, the undisputed the leader of the coalition of aggressive nationalists, neo-conservatives, and Christian Right activists that dominated foreign policy from the Sep. 11, 2001 al-Qaeda attacks on New York and the Pentagon until after the Iraq invasion.
Rice's acquiescence, if not agreement, to serve as her representative at the U.N., however, will require for"

Posted 7:30 PM by Mary

Humanists Laud Court Decision Striking Juvenile Death Penalty: Practice Declared Cruel and Unusual: "Humanists Laud Court Decision Striking Juvenile Death Penalty:
Practice Declared Cruel and Unusual
For Immediate Release - Contact: Roy Speckhardt (202) 238-9088
rspeckhardt@americanhumanist.org - www.americanhumanist.org
(Washington, DC, March 1, 2005) The Supreme Court announced today that the execution of Americans under eighteen is unconstitutional. 'We commend the Supreme Court's decision which recognizes that the juvenile death penalty is 'cruel and unusual,' states Tony Hileman, executive director of the American Humanist Association.
There's a sickness in thinking justice can be found in killing juveniles and the mentally disabled,' says Hileman. This follows in the footsteps of the Court's 2002 decision in protecting the mentally disabled from execution.
'It's a triumph that the Supreme Court sees the severity and injustice of existing capital punishment laws, has recognized the trend in our society away from such heinous retributions, and has taken a bold step in the right direction,' adds Hileman.
'The freedom and dignity of the individual person is a central Humanist value. Archaic capital punishment laws lag behind our societies' moral sensibility and we must acknowledge that use of the death penalty is dangerous to individual life and liberty,' continues Hileman.
'The reverberations of this landmark case are extraordinary- seventy juveniles will be immediately spared execution and laws in nineteen states will be overturned,' he adds. "