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03-16-2005, 07:29 PM
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Bush nominates Paul Wolfowitz to head the World Bank
It must be tough on the folks at The Onion, trying to write satire when the real world is stranger than anything they can come up with. |
03-18-2005, 03:37 PM
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...bank_bono_dc_5 Quote: |
Paul Wolfowitz, whose nomination as World Bank president has stirred controversy, discussed poverty and development issues with Irish rock star Bono in two phone conversations on Thursday, an adviser said. Wolfowitz adviser Kevin Kellems told Reuters the deputy U.S. defense secretary initiated the lengthy conversations with the lead singer of the rock group U2, whose name had been bandied about for the World Bank presidency.
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03-18-2005, 03:55 PM
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His talking with Bono is a good thing, right?
Having this in the Symposium can confuse me.
I'm really just checking...
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03-18-2005, 04:55 PM
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Yeah, the first post is a What the hell were they thinking? Symposium thread starter, the second post is a Why didn’t Bono get nominated? meander.  |
03-18-2005, 05:01 PM
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Quote: | erik_kosberg said
Yeah, the first post is a What the hell were they thinking? Symposium thread starter, the second post is a Why didn’t Bono get nominated? meander. | Gotcha! I knew coming from you it couldn't be a "Now he's wasting his time and talking to Rock stars!" thing! For a fleeting moment I said to myself, "Now, surely, Erik must know what Bono's done to help third world countries have their debt forgiven..." 
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03-20-2005, 07:10 PM
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FWIW, I’ve seen a rumor floating around the net that Wolfowitz’s World Bank nomination is both a big fat promotion (and a major coup for PNAC) and a way to rid the Pentagon of a guy who screwed up big time without either firing him (which would in effect mean admitting that a whole series of Iraq policy decisions had been wrong) or finding him a different senior-level job that requires potentially embarrassing Senate approval. |
03-27-2005, 03:23 AM
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04-12-2007, 06:52 PM
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The job's worked out well.
Those ethics skills learned while in the Bush administration came in real handy. |
04-12-2007, 07:40 PM
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what a putz.
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It's extraordinary to me that the United States can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can't find $25 billion dollars to save 25,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases.~ Bono |
04-21-2007, 01:09 PM
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05-15-2007, 03:40 PM
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05-16-2007, 10:34 AM
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Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall May 16, 2007 08:19 AM Quote: |
You've no doubt seen that the White House is now saying that "all options are on the table" with respect to Paul Wolfowitz's future as president of the World Bank. Rich with irony and just not a good sign for Paul considering that's the phrase this White House usually reserves for rogue states just before they get whacked.
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05-16-2007, 11:03 AM
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Juan Cole has an interesting insight on Wolfowitz' problems: Quote:
Wolfowitz's record of favoritism, ideological blinders, massive blunders and petty vindictiveness has inflicted profound harm on two of the world's great bureaucracies, the U.S. Department of Defense and now the World Bank. He has left both with thousands of demoralized employees and imposed on both irrational policies that pandered to the far right of the Republican Party. He has, in addition, played a central role in destabilizing the Middle East and in leaving one of its major countries in ruins.
Many of his Himalayan-size errors were enabled by his careful placing of close friends and allies in key and lucrative positions. In the end, his career suffered remarkably little from his substantive policy mistakes. But once he moved beyond the forgiving world of high Republican Party politics, his dependence on cronyism finally caught up with him.
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05-16-2007, 02:12 PM
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05-16-2007, 02:51 PM
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Andrew Young gave an interesting defense (yes, defense -- that's not a typo) of Wolfowitz on the News Hour yesterday: Online NewsHour: Debate | Furor Continues Over Wolfowitz | May 15, 2007 | PBS Quote: | Young on News Hour said
.... He's been more in Africa than anywhere else, and the African delegates and the third world generally have appreciated his leadership. The role of women in the world is far more important than these bureaucrats that are making this decision. They probably all ought to retire like me and get out of the way.
But this is not a -- not like Bolton. Bolton was always there to destroy the United Nations.
JUDY WOODRUFF: You're referring to the former acting ambassador to the United Nations.
ANDREW YOUNG: Yes. For me, this is more like the scandal in the United Nations, where when Europe began to feel the influence of new coalitions in the third world threatening their dominance, they sought to get rid of the people who were pulling together these new coalitions.
I think the threat is that Paul Wolfowitz is pulling together a third world coalition that, while it doesn't have the money, it controls the markets of the future. And the old colonial routines of running Africa from Europe will no longer apply under Wolfowitz.... |  |
05-16-2007, 03:58 PM
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Why do I find that just the least little bit hollow?
Something just doesn't fit. |
05-18-2007, 11:32 AM
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05-18-2007, 11:59 AM
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Informed Comment Quote:
' "Everyone ran into the hallways and were clapping and hugging each other," one employee, who declined to be named, said. '
Bush earlier today complained about journalists dancing on Tony Blair's political grave. He didn't know the half of it.
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05-18-2007, 01:13 PM
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"Africans see World Bank hypocrisy in Wolfowitz row"
BTW, anyone care to guess who Bush might tap to fill the job? Am I too cynical to think that, given Bush's track record, it will probably be someone with a very flawed ethical history? |
05-19-2007, 12:36 PM
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I'm inclined to take the article with a large dose of salt. The important part of the story is that Wolfowitz has been forced out because of his nepotism. I can't believe that's such a subtle thing that everyone missed it. Of course there's a conspiracy of Wolfowitz' enemies. He's such an open and honorable man, no one could have any other reason to want him out.
Sounds like a nice set-up for finger-pointing and not much else. Of course, you can depend on the press not to ask the hard questions. |
12-03-2007, 11:32 AM
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12-12-2007, 07:30 PM
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Anyone else remember Dow 36,000? It was an investing book written at the height of the Dot Bomb bubble and, as the title suggest, said that a paradigm change in how we value stocks meant the DJIA would shoot to 30,000+ in the near future.
When reality stepped in and said, "No, we're going to continue to value stocks on those pre-historic concepts of profitability and price-to-earnings, but that WebVan and Flooz! stock should make lovely wallpaper", Dow 36K became one of the most ridiculed business/investing books of all time. You would think that would end your career in investment advice. You would be right, but that doesn't mean karma sent the author to the fry station of life he so richly deserved. He used his credibility and wealth in 2000 to help get George W. Bush elected, and when he needed a career change not long after he became one of the legion of hacks appointed to run the federal government. After a tenure overseeing Voice of America, James Glassman has been promoted to take over Karen Hughes old job.
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