20 December 2006

"We Love You," He Asked (?)

You know it's tough being Secretary General of the United Nations, especially when you have to deal with a jaded, skeptical and sometimes combative press:
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan gave his final press conference today. Too bad it also wasn’t the last appearance for some members of the UN press corps. Check out this sampling from the “questions” he got:

Q: I would wish you good luck and goodbye and hope you have a good time when you go underground; and when you surface please do come and see us sometimes….

Q: I’d like to say, is that in your time in office, you have given hope to millions of dispossessed people. And for that, I would say, you will be well remembered…

Q: There seems to be a buzz in the building about more manager-CEO than diplomat-rock star. Maybe that’s directed at you. Is that the best way to go
forward for this new administration?

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, first of all, I’d like to thank you, for the past 10 years, for all your answers on the Balkans, some of which you helped me to make even headlines. …

Q: Dear Mr. Kofi Annan, first, on behalf of the Islamic Republic News Agency, I deeply want to thank you for your 10-year service and accomplishment. Good luck for your future journey…

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, I’m going to use the word “transparency” rather than “corruption”…

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, during your time here as the Secretary-General, you’ve made some great appointments….

Q: Thank you, Mr. Secretary-General, for what you have done for Lebanon during your tenure; we will be missing you….
United Nations beat reporter; could there be a softer job?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like the entire press corp is smoking grass.