Not-So-Tough Love

The United Nations removed Libya from its position as Chair of the UN Human Rights Commission yesterday. That will teach you to hire mercenaries to kill your own people, Gadaffi!

Actually, having the country behind the Lockerbie airplane and Berlin nightclub bombings on the Human Rights Commission is a bit of a stretch. It is like appointing Charlie Sheen to the board of Narcotics Anonymous.

But maybe the UN was taking the broader view and looking to rehabilitate Libya. Sometimes, assigning the worst perpetrator to clean up the crime scene turns him around. Herbie Schuler was the bad boy of the 3rd grade at James Monroe School. Herbie exhibited his rebellious streak by urinating on the school's radiators. Urine on hot cast iron results in a most unpleasant odor. Herbie was caught in the act one day and marched off to the Principal's Office. The 3rd grade was abuzz with speculation regarding Herbie's fate. Detention, suspension, and (remember this was the 50s) paddling were the most likely outcomes.

We 3rd graders were shocked to find Herbie out in the schoolyard clapping erasers. This was no punishment! Getting out of class to go outside and make big clouds of chalk dust was as close to heaven as an 8 year old boy can get. Herbie also had some radiator and floor scrubbing duty, but his appointment as Eraser Clapper was an outrage.

Yet, this not-so-tough love approach worked. The school radiators remained urine-free as Herbie decided that future acts of rebellion would result in losing his Eraser Clapper priveleges. Maybe this is the approach that UN tried with Libya.

Of course, there were reports that Herbie would urinate on the hopscotch grid when he was clapping the erasers, and now we hear that Gadaffi is bombing his people. Maybe not-so-tough love only works for radiator vandalism.