This Is Diplomacy? (Egeland "Stingy" Comment)

CNSNEWS.com ^ | 12/29/04 | Rich Galen

[kattracks]

* The United States was deemed "stingy" in its immediate promise of $15 million in aid to the post-tsunami relief effort in Southeast Asia by United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Jan Egeland.

* I have two words for the U-G for HA & ER Egeland: Get out.

* In fact, I have the same two words for the whole United Nations: Get out.

* The United States -- the "stingy" United States -- contributes 20 percent of the entire budget to run the United Nations. Out of every five dollars of Egeland's salary, the taxpayers of the United Stingy of America pay one.

* I want to pay none.

* As quickly as someone could draw up the papers, the United States pledged $15 million to the relief effort -- a number which was upped to $35 million by yesterday afternoon.

* By comparison, the entire European Union had pledged $4.6 million. The French? The French decided to pony up $136,000.

* And keep in mind, that $35 million is just the official U.S. government portion. Many times that amount is being raised and spent by individual citizens giving to charitable organizations all over the country. Those donations are not counted in the $35 million, which is not understood by intellectual thugs like Jan Egeland.

* Egeland apparently believes that only money spent by governments counts. That's because he comes from Norway, where the government does almost every thing for every one, and so, individuals don't have to do much.

* However, in America, we believe that the government should do what it NEEDS to do, and the citizens are perfectly capable of handling the rest.

* Even I spent a good deal of time yesterday trying to find jet fuel for a plane that was being loaded with medical supplies by Dr. K.A. Paul, who runs an outfit known as the Global Peace Initiative out of Houston. Dr. Paul is just one of the hundreds of good-hearted people in America who are scrambling to get help to the tsunami-devastated region.

* As someone who saw first-hand many of the buildings Saddam Hussein was able to construct while the oil-for-palaces program was being overseen by the United Nations, I am something less than its greatest fan.

* I am much less a fan of the organization's leader, Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

* Annan was opposed to the liberation of Iraq because he is among those who believe that stability is paramount -- even if that stability comes at the price of freedom for millions of people.

* Where was Mr. Egeland when Saddam was murdering 300,000 of his subjects? Oh. He was in New York City enjoying the splendid life of a senior executive at the United Nations.

* Speaking of being stingy, does the name "quisling" mean anything to Mr. Egeland? To be a "quisling" is to be a collaborator with the enemy. Vidkun Quisling was the guy the Nazis installed as the leader of -- ta da -- NORWAY after it was occupied by Germany in World War II.

* The British and even the French tried desperately to prevent Norway from being overrun by Germany, but when it fell, Mr. Egeland's country provided the rest of us with the model for collaborators.

* Norway, by the way, was neutral during World War I. While the Western Allies were spilling their blood and spending their treasure, Norway was taking a pass.

* That would be a working definition of stingy, it seems to me.

* According to the U.N. website, there are 191 members. Some of them are pretty well known to Americans: Great Britain, New Zealand and Spain, to name three. Others are not so well known, such as Lesotho, Tuvalu and Kiribati.

* Here are my proposals: First, not one stingy penny of U.S. money should be sent to the United Nations until Mr. Egeland is fired. Period. Let the French make up the difference.

* Second: While I believe there should be a United Nations, it shouldn't be on the east side of Manhattan.

* If people like Jan Egeland are truly dedicated to their cause, they should do their work where it is needed most. We should move the U.N. to a place like Kiribati. Or Tuvalu. Or even to Lesotho.

* If they can find it.

* On the Secret Decoder Ring today: The official Webster's definition of a "quisling"; a pretty artsy Mullfoto; and a telling Catchy Caption of the Day.

Copyright 2004, Richard A. Galen

[Reader of news]

America has liberated millions of people, is giving food to the hungry, is helping underdeveloped countries...and that say "stingy"...The U.N. hates President Bush and the USA.

[sinanju]

That son-of-a-bitch made those comments barely thirty-six hours into the disaster. This has certainly been all over talk radio and FOX news. I sincerely wish that disaster-relief money was witheld from the UN and given to the better charities and NGO's that have a good track record. At least it will feed that many fewer beaucrats. The administration, by the way, should also demand an offical apology.

[sinanju]

Galen is especially right, in that in light of recent events this is really gratuitous insult added to monstrous injury.

[sinanju]

At long last, just how much more of this s**t are we going to stand for?

[Caipirabob]

The innocents harmed by this tragedy should not be punished for the UN's stupidity. Please donate or send food/clothing to a charitable/relief group you feel you can trust. Just be sure it will be used as best as possible for the purposes intended. I used "World Vision" as recommended by many FReepers. I undertstand that just about all of the donations are used to actually help people.

The UN needs to be removed. I leave the method open for debate.

[shubi]

The UNs record on aid is pathetic. Look at the "results" in Haiti for an example.

The UN personnel are overpaid so much of the "aid" goes to them. They live like kings while people die around them.

[westmichman]

Another good one is "International Aid" in Spring Lake, MI.
IMHO

[Pharlap]

The answer to this "stingy" situation is for the U.S. government to immediately reorder its priorities. All funds earmarked for the U. N. should be diverted directly to U.S. aid agencies for use in response to the tsunami disaster. Such a reordering of priorities would result in the U.S. providing more funds for a useful purpose and would allow ingrates, such as Mr. Egeland, and those of his ilk, to more directly and meaningfully "contribute" to the recovery effort.

[backhoe]

My 2¢'s about the UN?

Neal Boortz has the right idea- kick them off US soil, plop them down in Haiti, and tell them, "when you get this straightened out, give us a call..."

Moreover:

--Sex abuse charges rock UN in Congo-
-- Interesting this is being posted today. Talk show host Dennis Prager had the Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Doree Gold, on his show today. Mr. Gold has just written a book about the UN called the Tower of Babble(i think this was the title). Some of the things he was saying about the UN were unbelievable.

--TV campaign urging: Kick U.N. out of U.S.-
"I say we just give the entire country of Haiti to the UN."--or move them to Zimbabwe or another country in Africa. Let them see what the really do for the world.

--UN knew of Saddam's oil-for-food thefts: BBC-
The sooner we resign from this corrupt organization and kick them off our soil, the better.

Click this picture & goto "last" for the latest UN scandals:

American Policy Center on-line Declaration of Independence from the U.N.

[Gay State Conservative]

It's recently been revealed that,in the US,the red states
are the most generous in charitable giving and the blue
states are the stingiest (with Massachusetts being *the*
stingiest of all). I wonder if the same is true of Norway...
assuming that there are any "red" areas there.

[chainsaw]

How much has this stingy Norwegian given to the relief effort? I'll bet not one stingy penny.

[PGalt]

Great post! OUTSTANDING comments bump!

[CharlesThe Hammer]

The UN kleptocrats reveal themselves once again. Mr. Egeland, granted a world megaphone with which he might rally and inspire humanity, chose instead to take a transparently cheap swipe at the U.S. and , of course that "arch villain" President George W. Bush. The insidious corruption of the UN and its predilection for utopian socialism is revealed in Egeland's whining for more taxation by member states. For those of his ilk, "help" lies not in the creation of wealth and private property, but in the egalitarian confiscation of wealth in "rich" countries for proper distribution in "poor" ones. Naturally, enlightened souls such as himself will see to that distribution for a small handling fee. Egeland embraces tired old Marxist notions of the zero sum game, where imperialists and capitalists prosper at the expense of the "noble savage". Meanwhile, back at the site of the disaster, nations, individuals, and private organizations roll up their sleeves to comfort the orphans, feed the victims, and bury the dead. The truth about the ineptitude of the UN and its "fat" gaggle of bureacrats is mounting. The stench of its criminal irresponsibility in places like Rwanda, Bosnia, Iraq, and Ivory Coast is rising. While they cavort in Manhattan, people die. Even now, bums like Egeland and Kofi Annan gaze out their office windows, unaware. Look south boys, out past Lady Liberty, beyond the Narrows. What's that movement on the horizon? Is the tide rising?

[westmichman]

Are you referring to "International Aid" or the Egghead kook?

[DustyMoment]

I don't know what qualifies as "stingy" in Mr. Egeland's world, but $15 million of MY money, topped with and additional $20 million of MY money does not suggest any "stinginess".

Jan Egeland appears to have been saving up his remark until the opportunity came for him to bash the US. It came, he did, and now he can slither back underneath his UN-sponsored rock.





(Tell me again why the US is part of the crapfest called the UN? I STILL don't get it!)

[HMFIC]

Cong Ron Paul has proposed HR 1146, the bill to dump the UN.

Write, call, email your Reps/Sens and get them to back Paul and push this bill through. The ONLY WAY that this bill will pass is by BOTHERING the POLS to get off of their butts and DO IT!

LET'S GO PEOPLE!

The UN: hating them is NOT just for Birchers anymore.

[chainsaw]

The Kook.

[EQAndyBuzz]

Please open up this thread for profanities. I am as pissed off about this j**k *f* Egeland as the DUmmies feel about Bush winning the election.

I have to vent.

[commonguymd]

Norway gives .7 of their economy to this - through thier government. The real problem is not their giving in this instance, it is how it is given. There is a fundamental difference between us and the rest of the world.

They prefer to have the government give it out and take it from them in the form of taxes. We prefer to do it through charity and free will. The world doesn't understand that. They do not measure us by our free will giving which puts all of them to shame. They measure our giving by what the government gives.

Thus the fundamental difference that leads to the overwhelming underlying animosity.