What Would Wilson Do?

Instapundit links to this Washington Times article on media transparency. The noted blogger editorialized, "It is also a reminder -- as if we needed one -- that far from being a Parliament Of Nations imbued with respect for all that's good, the United Nations is, in fact, a dictators' club whose chief role is protecting the perks of dictators."

Its worth looking at Wilson on such matters. It is as much to him as anyone else that we owe for such an institution. In a subscription-required-article at TNR John Judis looks at Wilson and has useful things to say. One is that while Wilson was committed to a "Parliament Of Nations imbued with respect for all that's good", in Instapundit's words, Wilson also did not accept the legitimacy of non-democratic regimes. Hence, we should expect that Wilson would be as offended by "the joke that Libya chairs the human-rights commission" as anyone else. After all, in Wilson's conception the League of Nations was an attempt to extend democracy into the Hobbsian international arena, not to grant the cloak of legitimacy to dictators.