A TRUE OBSCENITY – AT 6:33 P.M. ET:  This is beneath contempt.  Far beneath.  The great Anne Bayefsky, a true heroine of journalism, reports for Fox:

How could a country that stones women to death for adultery possibly be chosen to serve in a leadership role on the U.N.'s Commission on the Status of Women?

The United Nations Economic and Social Council yesterday elected Iran to serve a four-year term -- beginning in 2011 -- on the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The U.N. calls the Commission “the principal global policy-making body” on women’s rights and claims it is “dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women.” Yet Iran was elected by acclamation. It was one of only two candidates for two slots allocated to the Asian regional bloc – in other words, a fixed slate and a done deal.

Among other Iranian qualifications to serve in a leadership role in advancing the rights of women, is the country’s criminal code, which includes punishments like burying women from the waist down and stoning them to death for adultery.

The 2009 U.S. State Department report on Iran outlines other highlights of Iran’s women’s rights credentials. For instance, “spousal rape is not illegal” and when it comes to any other kind of rape “most rape victims did not report the crime to authorities because they feared…punishment for having been raped…Four male witnesses or three men and two women are required for conviction. A woman or man found making a false accusation of rape is subject to 80 lashes.”

Other features of Iran’s legal system, according to the State Department, include: “a man may escape punishment for killing a wife caught in the act of adultery if he is certain she was a consenting partner….[I]n 2008, 50 honor killings were reported during a seven-month period…” In general, “the testimony of two women is equal to that of one man.” Moreover, “a woman has the right to divorce only if her husband signs a contract granting that right, cannot provide for his family, or is a drug addict, insane, or impotent. A husband was not required to cite a reason for divorcing his wife.”

COMMENT:  When will we finally realize that the U.N., except for some medical and food assistance functions, has outlived its usefulness as a peacemaking or human-rights-advancing body?  It's a disgrace.

There is an alternative idea that's been floated – a league of democratic nations that will fill the role originally intended for the U.N., which is now being run by the corrupt of the Earth.  It's worth exploring, but the left is, understandably, cool, as very few "third world" countries would qualify.  And, after all, we must defer to their greater wisdom and suffering. 

No, no.  We're tired of that line.

April 29, 2010