File this under “when pigs fly,” but an actual member of the left-leaning press took to nationally broadcast television Tuesday morning to criticize one of Liberal World’s largest loves, the United Nations.
And what was most interesting: The criticism was just what those on the right, of limited government mindset, have been leveling at the United Nations since its inception: that the global body is ineffective and corrupt.
Joe Scarborough of “Morning Joe” fame repeatedly asked his MSNBC guests repeatedly why the United Nations was meeting in New York, attending parties, signing documents, giving speeches and eating fine food – all while Syria burned.
“Why are they here?” Scarborough asked his panelists, over and over. “But why are they here?”
Nobody really provided an answer, except to say that he was quite right to cast a light on the failures of the United Nations to address the plight of Syrian citizens – while continuing to tout a genuine concern.
Scarborough’s comments came as the United Nations suspended all aid convoys to Syria after an airstrike hit a fleet of Red Cross trucks that were carrying food to Aleppo.
“The strike on a convoy of Syrian Red Crescent trucks carrying UN-supplied food was described by the International Committee of the Red Cross as a flagrant violation of international law. It took place as a week-old ceasefire brokered by Russia and the U.S. collapsed amid a surge of Syrian government bombing.
“The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it appeared that the attack was carried out by either Syrian or Russian aircraft. The attack destroyed 18 trucks laden with food intended for tens of thousands of people cut off by the war in a rural area west of Aleppo city. Initial reports said 12 people had died.”
The United Nations is holding a summit in New York, where refugees have topped the list of concerns.
The body adopted a provision that “expresses the political will of world leaders to protect the rights of refugees and migrants, to save lives and share responsibility for large movements on a global scale,” called the “New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants.”
Scarborough, apparently, wasn’t impressed, saying he thought the United Nations was supposed to be a body that prevented such violence.
To paraphrase, he asked: What’s the point of the U.N. if it can’t stop this?