The Dartmouth Observer |
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Commentary on politics, history, culture, and literature by two Dartmouth graduates and their buddies
WHO WE ARE Chien Wen Kung graduated from Dartmouth College in 2004 and majored in History and English. He is currently a civil servant in Singapore. Someday, he hopes to pursue a PhD in History. John Stevenson graduated from Dartmouth College in 2005 with a BA in Government and War and Peace Studies. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He hopes to pursue a career in teaching and research. Kwame A. Holmes did not graduate from Dartmouth. However, after graduating from Florida A+M University in 2003, he began a doctorate in history at the University of Illinois--Urbana Champaign. Having moved to Chicago to write a dissertation on Black-Gay-Urban life in Washington D.C., he attached himself to the leg of John Stevenson and is thrilled to sporadically blog on the Dartmouth Observer. Feel free to email him comments, criticisms, spelling/grammar suggestions. BLOGS/WEBSITES WE READ The American Scene Arts & Letters Daily Agenda Gap Stephen Bainbridge Jack Balkin Becker and Posner Belgravia Dispatch Black Prof The Corner Demosthenes Daniel Drezner Five Rupees Free Dartmouth Galley Slaves Instapundit Mickey Kaus The Little Green Blog Left2Right Joe Malchow Josh Marshall OxBlog Bradford Plumer Political Theory Daily Info Andrew Samwick Right Reason Andrew Seal Andrew Sullivan Supreme Court Blog Tapped Tech Central Station UChicago Law Faculty Blog Volokh Conspiracy Washington Monthly Winds of Change Matthew Yglesias ARCHIVES BOOKS WE'RE READING CW's Books John's Books STUFF Site Feed    |
Thursday, September 19, 2002
I'm Sorry Mama John, I was kidding, relax (concerning fishing for a nomination). Concerning the UN: 1) We are members of the UN by a contract. If we ignore the UN, we are, in fact, "joining other nations in their lawlessness." 2) We are not "one Nation under God," despite the rhetoric that surfaced in the 1950s and, unfortunately, can't be shaken. We are, as the rhetoric that emerged in the 1860s, a nation "for the people, by the people, and of the people." As a republic, we entered into a treaty requiring us to adhere to regulations promulgated as the UN Charter. According to the paper we signed, we have given the UN "a legitimate monopoly of force," and left more than enough room for us to defend ourselves in the event of emergency. 3) There have been times in this nation's history where we have proven our "cruelty and inhumanity." I am not saying that, on the whole, we are not a "better" nation than someplace like Cambodia, but that by entering into the UN we have "leveled the playing field" with these other nations through a series of laws. These laws bind us, no matter what the other supposed adherents to the law do. To imply that we should ignore the rule of law that we birthed onto the world because others have is about as compelling an argument as if you cry to mommy that you peed on her prize rose bush just because the dog peed on it. Doesn't pass muster. Mama gonna test that ass. |