I suppose from the onset the institution was corrupt. China and USSR as members of the security council for example. Our State Department and not a few of our Presidents have been dreamers, i.e., we will engage them diplomatically and surely will be able to have influence. A fallacy from the beginning I agree. But if a “Bolton” were there in 47 and given free rein, ahhhh, the trajectory may have been different. Or, the institution may not have come into being at all. In my mind the best option.

I agree with sentence one but disagree with sentence two.

Most of the members of UN are not accountable to anyone on the planet, save the unaccountable dictators back in their home countries. This is a recipe for corruption.

Your point re bureaucracies is well taken. And I would agree. But then you muddy the waters with “Jefferson” and the “neo-cons.”

The UN is a corrupt and essentially worthless organization. It did not have to be that way. If a leader of purpose and integrity were to arise as SG, a leader who followed those “Jeffersonian” ideals you mention, the UN could be a useful institution. But it is too late for that. We need to explore and act upon new ways of nation state interaction, lets start with the concept that the more freedom in your nation, the more your vote counts.

This surely doesn’t lessen the UN’s culpability, but I think that to focus solely on the UN may be a bit myopic. Consider the accounting report just mentioned by the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4646442.stm

which indicates that there may have been hundreds of thousands of dollars intended for Iraqi’s that was apparently misused. (It appears as an issue of individuals, not an issue of US policy or anything like that).

The UN, like all large bureaucracies, seems filled with people who are more interested in their own welfare than that of anyone in their charge. There’s a mutitude of reasons why Jefferson was for small government, this is only one of many. Reducing Big Government (and Big International Government) should be a top priority. I only wish the neo-con’s agreed.

Itís too late for that. The UN may best be compared to a house thoroughly infested with termites. One should consider tearing down the structure and starting anew. And thatís not going to happen. The inevitable resulting political chaos is not worth the bother.

The UN is increasingly becoming similar to the Episcopalian Church. Few people take it seriously. The real action will be accomplished behind the scenes. We should cynically perceive the UN like the proverbial alcoholic uncle who is supplied a daily ration of booze so that he might stay out of everyoneís way.

http://noonshadow.blogspot.com/2006/01/i-hope-kojos-late-fees-and-interest.html

U.N. chief’s son to pay back import duties

The son of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan will pay import duties he initially avoided by using his father’s name while importing a Mercedes car into Ghana, according a letter his lawyer released Tuesday….

It doesn’t matter how many U.N. scandals are exposed. The notion that the U.N. is the answer for all the worlds problems and that it will supplant the non progressive ideal of the nation state is so deeply ingrained in the dogma of the left that they will stick their heads deeper into the sand and chant “one world, lets get together” until they wait out the press coverage. It is the cornerstone of their faith and they will never abandon it. They are like those preachers who have predicted the end of the world on a specific date only to wake up the day after the predicted day in their beds. They just claim a calculation error and pick a new date. They will just ignore it and redirect the conversation to the evils of Bush, Haliburton, and the Jeeewwwwsss.