So Bush trudged up to New York yesterday for his every-September trek to the United Nations, but, alas, his speech was just more of the same. Though he was speaking to an international audience of world leaders and diplomats, Bush spoke right past them to try and score a few points for his election efforts. One got the impression that the U.N. audience didn’t appreciate it.
Last September’s speech was clearly worse — Bush was still emphasizing Saddam Hussein’s WMD and ties to terror, reality not withstanding — but yesterday was more odd than offensive. The president had a skeptical audience from whom he wanted something — more help in Iraq — but yet he refused to acknowledge his mistakes or problems, and continued to offer empty political rhetoric with no plan, agenda, or constructive ideas.
Slate’s Fred Kaplan noted that Bush “catalogs some of the world’s problems, then suggests nothing — not the vaguest plan of action — for how to deal with any of them.”
Sounds a bit like Bush’s approach to nearly everything. When dealing with the crisis in Iraq, he couldn’t recommend more tax cuts for the wealthy or caps on medical lawsuits — his usual crutches for all policy problems — so he just went through the motions, patted himself on the back for accomplishments that don’t exist, and scolded the world for not joining him in this debacle in the first place. It was a helpful reminder that diplomacy is still not Bush’s strong point.
To be fair, he did recommend one new global initiative. The problem, unfortunately, is that the initiative already exists, and Bush’s support for it was half-hearted.
“Because I believe the advance of liberty is the path to both a safer and better world, today I propose establishing a Democracy Fund within the United Nations. … The fund would help countries lay the foundations of democracy by instituting the rule of law and independent courts, a free press, political parties, and trade unions. Money from the fund would also help set up voter precincts in polling places and support the work of election monitors. To show our commitment to the new democracy fund, the United States will make an initial contribution. I urge all other nations to contribute as well.”
A U.N. fund to help promote and expand democracy sounds nice, but for anyone who knows better, it was a vacuous proposal. As Kaplan explained:
The first insult here is that the United Nations already has agencies for much of this work. The second is that Bush doesn’t even put a dollar figure on his “initial contribution.” It’s as if he were proposing that his most ambitious project — the global propagation of democracy — be funded through the March of Dimes.
White House officials did eventually put a dollar figure on the effort — $10 million. That’s a lot of money to you and me, but it’s not the kind of money that will “lay the foundations of democracy” around the globe.
A solid New York Times editorial touched on why the speech failed: it was delivered to the wrong audience.
Even when he talked about issues of common agreement, like the global fight against AIDS and easing the crushing third-world debt, Mr. Bush seemed more interested in praising his own policies than in assuming the leadership of an international effort. The speech would have drawn cheers at an adoring Republican National Convention, but it seemed to fall flat in a room full of stony-faced world leaders.
Maybe administration officials should have packed the United Nations hall with loyal sycophants who obtained tickets through the local Republican Party. Bush seems to excel far more in those events anyway.