Wow! Bill Clinton as UN Secretary-General?

[terrya]

I just heard this on "Countdown".

I honestly have never heard this talk. Clinton would be SUPERB as Secretary General.

I hope President Kerry pushes this. :-)

[ender]

1. except that - he cant.

secretary general can not come from any country that has a permanent seat on the sec council.

[ProudToBeLiberal]

4. well that ends the talks of clinton being Secretary General nt

[hughee99]

5. Maybe he should look into

a nice house in Canada?

[VolcanoJen]

6. Plus, don't they rotate? Isn't it Asia's turn next?

Another freeper wet dream, first reported by the Moonie Times, squashed. :D

Now, Clinton as US Ambassador to the UN... that's something worth looking into!

[Maple]

7. Where is that rule listed please

:D

[AirAmFan]

12. Any rule can be changed. The UN Charter could be amended to require

a unanimous or near-unanimous vote of the Security Council for exceptions to the old rule. Don't you think Clinton would get unanimous approval with President Kerry's UN rep on the Council? Who else would object, other than US Republicans?

[Progressive420]

14. I've just been skimming through the UN Charter

and the article about the Secretary-General doesn't say anything about not being able to come from a country that has a permanent seat of the council

[AirAmFan]

20. Encarta for one agrees with you--says the rule is "unwritten".

It's not exactly an authoritative source, but I can't see why they would make this up:

From http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564986/United_Nations.html

"The secretary general is formally chosen by the General Assembly. But the secretary general must first be nominated by the Security Council and win the consent of all five of its permanent members. The secretary general serves a five-year term, which may be renewed. The Security Council can nominate a candidate from any country, but it is an unwritten tradition that the position rotates geographically, with a secretary general chosen from a new region after every two terms. ....In 1997 the General Assembly created the post of deputy secretary general to assist in the management of the Secretariat. The secretary general appoints the deputy secretary general....

The secretary general, like the rest of the UN staff, is supposed to be independent. In reality, the secretary general must rely on member countries, especially the five permanent Security Council members, to get anything done. ...

Past secretaries general have come from various regions of the world, but IT IS AN UNWRITTEN RULE that they never should come from one of the most powerful countries. This tradition is a response to concerns that a secretary general selected from such a country would not be perceived by other nations as objective or neutral. There is also a fear that such a selection would give the world's most influential nations that much more power."

[Gelliebeans]

2. wouldn't that be interesting

boy some changes would be made

[Philostopher]

3. My FReepish boss brought this up today,

as if she thought I would laugh. I just looked thoughtful for a few seconds, nodded my head and said, "now, that's an interesting thought!"

I don't think it had the effect she expected, by a long shot.

[Laelth]

8. What's amazing is ...

how easily the wingnuts believe their own lies. Clinton was elected twice because ... the American people liked and respected him. The wingnuts just can't seem to understand that. They expect everyone to loathe him as much as they do.

They're completely myopic! :crazy:

-Laelth

[Philostopher]

10. When you consider he left office with an approval rating in the

70s, even after all their attempts to make people believe he was the antichrist, and Bush's is hovering around 50% at this point, it makes their fantasy world especially bubbly, yes. But they're a crack squad at revisionist history, it's not surprising they've managed to convince themselves everybody feels the same way about Clinton they've let their hate pundits make them feel.

[CityHall]

9. Talk about your focal points for hatred

Wouldn't that just unite everything Republicans hate under one roof? Maybe we can get Jane Fonda appointed president of PBS while we're at it.

[AirAmFan]

11. Agree--This is an extraordinary match of Dawg's interests and UN's needs. But

Freepers will go PSYCHOTIC! The smartest and most skilled and experienced international strategist in a job that might be seen as "President of the World"?! They're gong to FLIP OUT!

[NNadir]

13. The United States does not control the Secretary Generalship, but

Bill Clinton would be an excellent Secretary of State or an excellent UN ambassador. He is widely loved abroad (I was in Europe when he was at the reopening of the Brandenburg gate) and would go along way to reestablishing the now shattered credibility of the United States.

I hope that both Mr. Clinton and Mr. Gore will have prominent roles in the new administration. (I would love Mr. Gore as secretary of energy.)

[greenbriar]

16. he can not take any cabinet position

because that puts him in the line of succession and he can't be

[leyton]

17. He'd still be in the cabinet, he just wouldn't be in the succession.

For example, Madeleine Albright, I think, was not in the succession, because she's a naturalized citizen, as is Elaine Chao. (IIRC)

[greenbriar]

19. all the secretaries are in the line

some are just way down the line

[mopinko]

21. think this is wrong

he cannot be elected, but some big law prof wrote an article about the 6 ways big dawg could serve again. succession from the cabinet was one.

[RafterMan]

15. NO!

Half the purpose of the UN at this point is to allow the world to feel they're not being run by the US.

Putting an American in that position (by whatever means) is just a boot in the face of the rest of the world. Bad for them, bad for us.

[bush equals idiot]

18. There is something bubbling beneath the water here.

She gave a specific mention to the fact that Bill wanted to replace Kofi Annan after his time in 2006.

Why would that EVER make a news broadcast if it was nothing but total lunacy. She announced it as another surprise Clinton had for Americans if Kerry was elected.

Something is going on with that little tid bit that has more seriousness to it than we know.