The Washington Note has just learned that the anti-United Nations, non-profit organization called ‘Move America Forward‘ not only rejects international institutions and international law — but has a pretty high disregard for U.S. laws as well.
‘Move America Forward’ has allegedly stolen property belonging to Citizens For Global Solutions by posting on its website a video clip of John Bolton where in about three minutes, Bolton completely guts the very idea and notion of the United Nations.
The video clip is the sole property of Citizens for Global Solutions and comes from an event called the “Global Structures Convocation,” held on February 3, 1994 in New York. The video was recently found in the organization’s archives.
Citizens for Global Solutions allowed Meet the Press to air the Bolton clip on March 13, 2005. Here is the transcript of that show in which full attribution for the video is given to Citizens for Global Solutions.
Later that day, Citizens for Global Solutions posted the video on its newly launched website, StopBolton.org.
By March 16th, ‘Move America Forward’ had posted a slightly truncated version of the video on its own website and provided no attribution for the Bolton clip.
The two video clips are identical with the exception of one segment near the end of the Citizens for Global Solutions clip where Bolton comes pretty close to his own version of a “Dean Scream” about the United Nations. Bolton looks like he’s about to lose it — and even that may have been too much for the anti-UN crusaders of ‘Move America Forward’.
I have confirmed that ‘Move America Forward’ neither sought permission from Citizens for Global Solutions to use the video clip nor was given such permission.
Frankly, I think it is fascinating — from a political and sociological perspective — that the same bit of John Bolton commentary so effectively riles up both opponents and advocates of John Bolton’s U.N. nomination.
Even though Congressional staffers are reporting that in John Bolton’s lobbying schtick for his job, he seems to be expressing support for multilateral diplomacy and his belief in the need for a reformed United Nations, those supporters of Move America Forward’s “Get the UN out of the US” campaign embrace Bolton as their guy because of what he said on the video clip.
It is also interesting (and troubling) that a group that seems to measure American patriotism by one’s zealotry against any type of internationalism, that seems committed to making sure that U.S. law alone is the only global law — would at the same time engage in what pretty much looks like a violation of U.S. laws and intellectual property theft.
Google was recently sued by the AFP News Agency for $17.5 million for a similar such violation.
Staff at Citizens for Global Solutions tell me that they are considering their options.
Here are the two clips. Watch both — but be sure not to miss the last section of the Citizens for Global Solutions clip. It’s just too good.
Bolton Video Clip from Citizens for Global Solutions available here.
Bolton Video Clip allegedly stolen by ‘Move America Forward’ available here (midway down the page).
— Steve Clemons
