So, this this is what the U.N. has come to, eh? The president of Venezuela calls the leader of the country that kicks in five billion (that’s billion with a ‘b’) dollars a year – far more than any other country on this planet ever would – for its very survival a devil. Great. Not exactly what Eleanor Roosevelt and the original crew had in mind, I’m sure. One need only compare the comical, hysterical tone of Chavez’s speech today with the dignified, measured tone of one of the U.N.’s biggest champions. Ah Eleanor, no wonder you’re one of my heroes!

Is it just me, or does it seem as if more and more world leaders are losing touch with the whole idea of decorum and quiet diplomacy? I mean, you can despise a nation and even it’s leader, but in a U.N. General Assembly, with representatives of every sovereign nation represented, shouldn’t the U.N. be above this? That this institution, once-high-minded and respected, now largely irrelevent, ineffective, and scandal-ridden does not and cannot shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. One look at the U.N.’s incompetence and corruption, and the abominable behavior that’s been allowed to transpire under Annan’s reign would tell you that.

Of course, if you invite skunks to a party, don’t be surprised if the place stinks afterwards. A thug dictator like Chavez calls the U.S. president a devil and complains about American dominance in the world? This coming from the leader of a country awash in oil profits and poverty at the very same time?

Then, later on, a podium is provided to a country’s president who has repeatedly called for the annihilation of another sovereign nation? Here, as NRO’s Anne Bayefsky writes, Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, didn’t exactly color himself in glory, either:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad outdid himself in the pathological-liar category. He talked about truth, though he disputes the Holocaust. He talked about peace, though he supplied Hezbollah with the 3,900 missiles shot into Israel less than two months ago. He talked about justice, though the Iranian criminal “justice” system includes crucifixion, stoning, and cross-amputation of the right hand and left foot. He talked about the dangers of nuclear weapons, though he is hell-bent on their acquisition. And he talked about the evils of Zionism, though he doesn’t have a problem with self-determination for non-Jews.

Hugh Hewitt found the way the Iranian president closed his speech chilling:

He closed with a disturbing heartfelt appeal/prayer, which is a warning to the West: “I am emphatically declare that today’s world more than ever before longs for just and righteous people with love for all humanity, and above all longs for the perfect, righteous human being and the real savior who has been promised to all peoples and who will establish justice, peace and brotherhood on the planet. [The Twelfth Imam] Oh Almighty God, all men and women are your creatures and you have ordained their guidance and salvation. Bestow upon humanity that thirst for justice, the perfect human being promised to all by you, and make us among his followers among those who strive for his return and his cause.”

Ahmadinejad is setting up Iran to defy the Security Council, and is establishing a precedent for all future rogue regimes. If the Security Council does not rebuke this challenge and impose sanctions, the organization, teetering on the brink of irrelevance, will fall over that cliff.

Back to Chavez for a moment. He did get one thing right during his speech today – calling for the dissolution and relocation of the U.N., something I am 100% in full agreement with. As he said during his speech:

I don’t think anybody in this room could defend the system. Let’s accept — let’s be honest. The U.N. system, born after the Second World War, collapsed. It’s worthless.

Oh, yes, it’s good to bring us together once a year, see each other, make statements and prepare all kinds of long documents, and listen to good speeches, like Abel’s (ph) yesterday, or President Mullah’s (ph). Yes, it’s good for that.

And there are a lot of speeches, and we’ve heard lots from the president of Sri Lanka, for instance, and the president of Chile.

But we, the assembly, have been turned into a merely deliberative organ. We have no power, no power to make any impact on the terrible situation in the world. And that is why Venezuela once again proposes, here, today, 20 September, that we re-establish the United Nations.

…And maybe we have to change location. Maybe we have to put the United Nations somewhere else; maybe a city of the south. We’ve proposed Venezuela.

That, Mr. Chavez, is a great idea. And one whose fruition can’t come soon enough for many in the U.S. who can think of far better ways to spend five billion dollars than wasting it on a broken, worn-out institution like the one your presence and overblown rhetoric polluted today.