In
UNGA "Insult,"
Obama Slated
to Leave NYC
10 Minutes
Into UN
Luncheon
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 24
-- Reflecting
either
President
Barack Obama's
lack of
interest -- or
of "respect,"
as one United
Nations
official put
it to Inner
City Press --
in the the UN,
his schedule
for September
25 does not
include the
annual
"Luncheon
hosted by
the
Secretary-General
in honor of
Heads of State
and
Government."
The
President of
the U.S., as
host country,
traditionally
attends and
gives the
toast at
the S-G's
lunch.
But according
to Obama's
schedule,
after first
paying tribute
to Bill
Clinton by
speaking at
his corporate
Clinton Global
Initiative
gathering at
the Sheraton
at
12:10, Obama
will "depart
New York City
en route to
Washington
DC" from JFK
Airport at
1:25 -- ten
minutes after
Ban Ki-moon's
lunch begins.
Less
than an hour
later, Obama
is slated to
arrive at
Joint Base
Andrews.
"That the
lunch isn't
listed on his
schedule is
insulting, or
really,
depressing," a
high UN
official
exclusive told
Inner
City Press,
asking not to
be named given
what he called
the
"inordinate
power" of the
US over the
UN, and of
"Obama
over Ban
Ki-moon."
Last
year, the
ritual remarks
by Ban and
then Obama at
the luncheon
began
at 1:54 pm and
ended at 2:03
pm. By this
year's
schedule,
Obama will
be over DC by
then.
The
UN's Media
Accreditation
and Liaison
Unit's
night-before
Media Alert
lists a Ban
Ki-moon photo
op with Obama
at 10:50 am,
before an
11:20
am photo with
the Amir of
Qatar, with at
1:15 pm in the
General
Assembly lobby
the "luncheon
hosted by the
Secretary-General
in
honor of Heads
of State and
Government."
Maybe
the UN
schedule is
wrong; as
Inner City
Press has
noted, it also
lists a 3:30
pm press
encounter by
"Michael
Spindelegger,
Prime
Minister of
Australia"
-- it's either
Austria, or
Julia Gillard.
But unless one
of the two
schedules is
wrong, Bill
Clinton and
"The
View" have
definitely
eclipsed the
United
Nations.
"Insulting"
or
"depressing,"
as the UN
official asked
Inner City
Press?
You be the
judge.
And also of
Obama's
speech.
Earlier Monday
at the UN, Inner
City Press put
the
question of
whether Obama
will mention a
ban on testing
nuclear
weapons to
Tibor Toth,
Executive
Secretary of
the
Preparatory
Commission for
the
Comprehensive
Nuclear
Test-Ban
Treaty
Organization.
Toth
replied,
"Personally I
would wish a
one liner...
we will have
to
see." Video
here, from
Minute 22:15.
At "The View"
and not the
annual UN
lunch,
apparently. Watch
this site.
, 
