THE LUNATIC CORNER, PART II – AT 6:19 P.M. ET:  Do I detect the beginning of a little backbone from our delegation to the UN?  I certainly hope so.  But this case is so outrageous that it could make even our UN ambassador develop some backbone. 

The House today begins hearings on American participation in the UN's Human Rights Council, one of the most degenerate bodies in the UN, and that's saying a great deal.  George W. Bush wouldn't let this country participate in the Council, citing its bias and corruption.  Obama reversed that position, arguing – a child's argument – that we could influence the HRC by becoming a member.  That's like saying you can reform the Mafia by joining up.

The Council appointed one Richard Falk as an "expert" to investigate aspects of the Israeli/Palestinian dispute.  The painstream media described Falk as a "retired Princeton professor," never giving any more details.  But Falk is much, much more, and the much more has now erupted into a scandal.  From The Jerusalem Post:

NEW YORK – In a letter to a leader of a Geneva-based NGO that watches UN activity, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s office condemned Human Rights Council member Richard Falk for his remarks on 9/11, calling his views “preposterous.”

Just prior to Tuesday’s US Congressional hearing into the UN Human Rights Council, the secretary-general’s office sent a letter which "condemned" the Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur Falk for his "preposterous" comments questioning whether the 9/11 terrorist attacks were orchestrated by the US government.

Just a retired Princeton professor.

The Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch had called on the UN chief to condemn and remove Falk, after Falk’s controversial blog posting in which he endorsed a book by 9/11 conspiracy theorist David Ray Griffin, calling it “authoritative,” and wrote of an “apparent cover up” in which the Bush administration, rather than Al-Qaida, was responsible for the attacks.

UN Watch’s call for Falk’s resignation has been echoed by the New York Daily News, which asked in an editorial last Friday, “When will the lunacy reach such heights that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon realizes his so-called Human Rights Council is wrecking what little reputation the world body has left?”

US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice released a statement Tuesday calling Falk's remarks endorsing "the slurs of conspiracy theorists" "despicable," and registering a strong protest on the US's behalf to the UN.

"The United States has in the past been critical of Mr. Falk's one-sided and politicized approach to his work for the UN, including his failure to condemn deliberate human rights abuses by Hamas, but these blog comments are in another category altogether," Rice's statement read.

"In my view, Mr. Falk's latest commentary is so noxious that it should finally be plain to all that he should no longer continue in his position on behalf of the UN," Rice stated. "I would note that U.S. and many other diplomats walked out in protest in September 2010 when Iranian President Ahmadinejad made similarly slanderous remarks before the UN General Assembly."

COMMENT:  We applaud Rice's comments.  Now it's time for journalism to examine how this crackpot, and longtime anti-American hatemonger, got the UN assignment, and why we never protested at the time.  Don't hold your breath.

January 25, 2011