Setting Sail: UN & McCain

The two blogs I have decided to cover are as follows:

- Meryl Yourish

- TAPPED

Meryl Yourish’s blog, which espouses conservative political views, is self-described as “cutting straight to the point,” while TAPPED is a blog sponsored by The American Prospect, a magazine committed, among other things, to “effective liberal politics.”

Meryl Yourish, “The UNnecessary world body”

Yourish begins the posting by slamming the United Nations for “long ago outliv[ing] its purpose.” Clearly angry, she reveals the cause: according to Yourish, the newly-appointed president of the UN Security Council, Libya, has already failed to treat Israel and its issues with the levity these issues deserve. Yourish claims that though Libya had sworn to “act fairly and without prejudice to all the nations in the UN, including Israel,” the governing seat on the Security Council has so far neglected the two separate hostage situations that Israel faces, as it gave only slight mention of one and ignored the other within its recent Middle East briefing.

In this posting, Yourish presents a classic pro-Israel, anti-United Nations position, pointing towards the inefficiencies and vices of the UN system, especially in dealing with Israeli issues. Yourish’s cynicism is by no means unfounded; historically, Libya was no great ally to the Israeli nation. In my opinion, though Yourish’s concern is certainly a valid one and one with which I mostly agree, I would not be as quick as she is to condemn fully the rusted and inefficient mechanisms of the UN. Maybe, for once, something miraculous will happen.

TAPPED, “The McCain Menace”

Prior to the outcome of the Iowa caucus results, Scott Lemieux posted his entry on the McCain campaign. Lemieux proposes, much to his own despair, that in the McCain-Romney matchup that he sees as the GOP race, McCain will likely win the Republican nomination for President. The reason for his anguish? In his own words, “a McCain win would be very bad for the Dem.”

Lemieux clearly shows concern about the formidable opponent that McCain would make for any Democratic candidate, especially for both Clinton and Edwards. As a heavyweight with a reputation of excellent military and political service, as well as an array of attractive positions, McCain would indeed be a powerful force that the Democratic candidate would have to reckon with if McCain became the GOP candidate.