On a recent Daily Show, Jon Stewart stitched up the incumbent U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon by ranking the top U.N. secretaries’ general names in order of silliness. Here is that list:
1. Boutros Boutros Ghali
2. Dag Hammarskjöld
4. Trygve Halvdan Lie
5. U Thant
6. Ban Ki-Moon
7. Javier Pérez De Cuéllar
8. Kurt Waldheim
During my early 20s, my bud Bailey and I would take great delight in spouting “Boutros Boutros Golly!” at every occasion. We certainly weren’t alone — Ghali’s name brought ample mirth to the writing staff of Latenight with David Letterman, which is where Bailey and I probably first learned that Ghali was, in fact, secretary-general. Years later, my bud Ari served three years in the office of the spokesperson for former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. At present, Ari is spending a year in the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. Unfortunately, Kofi Annan didn’t make the Daily Show’s list, but he does look a helluva lot like this guy. Which is funny, too.
New York City (Nov. 2006)
New York City (Nov. 2006)
New York City (Sept. 2006)
Madrid (Sept. 2000)
