Second Term Envy

During the Secretary General’s annual luncheon for world leaders:

Secretary-General Ban: “Let me say straight off, this is my fifth lunch with the distinguished leaders of the world, and I’m very much grateful for your strong support.  In that regard, I am very glad that it is not my last lunch, and we will have five more lunches in the coming five years. ”  …

President Obama: “A lot of us are envious of him, because, in running for a second term, he ran unopposed — and he won, unanimously. I’m still trying to learn what his trick is.”

Even if Ban continues to focus on doing the job at hand and not worry about the future, former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger knows what the Secretary-General should do following 2016. Schwarzenegger was the keynote speaker the previous day at the UN Private Sector Forum 2011 on Sustainable Energy. Ban was not able to attend, but in his prepared remarks the Governor intended to invite the Secretary-General to co-star in a Hollywood sequel with him.

“Secretary-General, I’m as happy as anyone that you were elected to a second term. Even though I want you to serve as long as possible, at the same time I can’t wait for your term to finish so we can do the sequel to the film Twins: “Triplets”.

Imagine: Devito. Schwarzenegger. Moon. Talk about a blockbuster. I can see the posters now. So just keep that in mind.”

And yes, Arnold got the Secretary-General’s name wrong.

About the Author

Tony Fleming

Tony is a communications and advocacy professional with over 20 years of experience in multilateral reform advocacy and online communications.

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