By Matthew Russell Lee
NEW YORK CITY, September 20 -- Held at the same time as the UN General Debate, the Clinton Global Initiative is at once slicker and more sinister.
At a session on Disaster Preparedness late Tuesday afternoon, videos promoting Toyota's work on the Gulf Coast were screened, while media personality Riz Khan chose questions from Barclays Bank and Dell Computers, and one promoting UPS.
On stage Bill Clinton's head of FEMA and Denis O'Brien of Digicel said give money to established groups. Flacking for Bill Clinton and the UN, Denis O'Brien told fellow panelist and chief UN humanitarian Valerie Amos he had "no complaint about the UN, I saw what you did in Haiti." Introduction of cholera and sexual abuse in Port Salut were not discussed.
Inner City Press had been shepherded into the back of the room. During the Q&A, while attempting to ask Amos about humanitarian crises on the agenda of the Security Council, a staffer came over and said "members of the press are not invited to participate."
Still, at the table to which Inner City Press was led, an operative of Swiss Re insurance company handed out fliers and offered interviews after the session.
The listened sponsors were not only corporate but included long time New York political mystery Tom Golisano -- where's Lenora Fulani, one jaded reporter asked without answer.
While defanged and denied questions, the press corps was well fed, with free granola bars, fruit and soda, and wireless Internet stronger and more reliable than at the UN. For a time there was discussion of ex President Clinton becoming Secretary General, overriding a rule that no national of a Permanent Five member of the Council can be S-G.
Instead, Clinton holds his corporate heavy parallel UN every September in Manhattan. The lobby of the Sheraton is full of hucksters; the soundtrack is smooth jazz, with Fleetwood Mac in the wings. Obama will come here, and Hilary and Chelsea Clinton. It's as if the mis-service of Haiti never happened. But that's true back at the UN too...
