Guess Who’s Coming to (Just) Dinner

So, President Bush will only attend one part of a UN gabfest on global warming–the dinner–and, needless to say, people are irritated. The Times article makes it sound as if Bush is out for a round of golf and drinks: "Bush to Skip U.N. Talks on Global Warming" is the headline. But is the White House really so absent on the issue? Let’s review what the article tells us:

• Bush has actually stated he wants to reduce emissions–he just doesn’t want to put the U.S. into a binding international treaty that would give other countries say over the direction of U.S. industry.
• It’s not as if the U.S. will go unrepresented. Condoleeza Rice–no minor figure–will represent the U.S. there.
• And Bush is holding his own meeting on the issue later in the week, where, presumably, he’ll be spared the doom-and-gloom, anti-U.S. blather sure to be prevalent at any UN climate change blab session.

Update: And, you know, it’s not as if European countries are doing a tremendous job of meeting their CO2 emissions targets right now; why should the U.S. feel compelled to join up with the international gang?