The U .N. v. Amerika

THE UNITED Nations and its partisans have been mounting an energetic campaign to protect the world organization from the treatment it gets in an upcoming television mini-series. The reason? The series--Amerika--is a demented fantasy of an America cowed by a Soviet-controlled contingent of dark-skinned U.N. "peace-keeping" troops.

It was widely reported several months ago that the U.N. would try to keep Amerika off the air. But Theodore Sorenson, the lawyer representing the U.N. in the matter, recently told the New York Times that his client will forgoe the unprecedented legal battle that would be necessary to block the ABC show from hitting the airwaves.

Instead, Sorenson told The Times, the U.N. is pushing for a more favorable portrayal in the show and for chunks of primetime on ABC to run counter-programming. Kris Kristofferson, who plays the show's handsome hero, will be featured in announcements touting the body. But should ABC fail to meet the U.N.'s demands, Sorenson said, the world organization may feel it necessary to seek legal redress for defamation, such as the unauthorized use of its logo.

THE IDEA of the U.N. marching out its legal guns to castigate a television network running a fictitious show is hard to take seriously. It is almost as incredible as ABC' s decision to schedule the absurd excercise in xenophobia to begin with.

An organization which purports to seek and promote justice shouldn't use the laws of a free society to restrict freedom of expression. But the U.N. apparently is willing to ignore democratic principles when the sanctity of its logo is at stake.

The U.N.'s potential legal action, though, is all too predictable. The U.N. has always thrived on intimidation. UNESCO, it's "cultural" wing, has a long and ignominious tradition of ignoring democratic ideals in the face of intimidation by the U.N.'s totalitarian members. Now its just the U.N. doing the intimidating.

Whenever the topics of UNESCO, the U.N.'s condemnation of Zionism as racism, or the organization's continued support for Pol Pot come up in discussion, U.N. apologists usually start talking of the U.N. as the champion of law in the nasty and brutish international arena.

Such a defense is an evocative one and expresses a fundamental truth about the U.N.--that despite its more-than-occasional follies, it nonetheless seeks to serve the cause of human rights and justice. The U.N.'s contemplated legal action against ABC flies in the face of that defense.

It is a bit pathetic--and a lot revealing--that the U.N. is willing to sell out democratic principles over something as tawdry as a flashy T.V. drama. According to early reports, Amerika concerns itself with the sexual misadventures of its the wife of its handsome hero as much as with geopolitical commentary. And the wrong the U.N. will be made to suffer? The tasteless appropriation of its logo. How did things ever get this bad?

Amerika's sexual innuendo and Dukes of Hazard pace will attract plenty of attention to its rabidly nationalist message. The show certainly didn't go looking for the threat of a U.N. law suit to attract even more attention. The U.N. was happy to provide the threat of a law suit--and probably a Nielson boost--anyway.

None of this would really be bothersome were it not for all the aggressors who merit the U.N.'s wrath more than logo usurpers. Maybe U.N. partisans with a yen for legal intrigue could come up with some type of lawsuit to force the organization to end its support for Pol Pot.

But more likely the URN. won't cut its ties. The U.N.'s rare show of energy and decisiveness against an offensive television drama underscores its flacid response to injustices that really do deserve a dose of moral indignation.