Has there ever been a more transparent human rights poseur than UN Ambassador Samantha Power? The self-styled “genocide chick” rose to academic prominence riding the topic of genocide (she’s against it, doncha know), formulating a doctrine she called “responsibility to protect.” Like any good marketer, she turned that into a catch-word “R2p” and played footsie with the prospect of using her slogan to justify intervening in Israel to protect the poor Palestinians who just want to be left alone so they can slaughter Jews with no counter-punching from Israel. Cultivating a glamorous persona based on her fashionable ectomorph body type and flowing long red hair, she has risen to the stratosphere of political academics.

Power definitely knows PR, but actual diplomacy and even basics of showing up are another thing. Patrick Goodenough of CNS News reports:

The Obama administration on Wednesday criticized Iran’s election to the U.N.’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) – but neither the U.S. nor any other delegation objected when given the opportunity to do so, thus allowing Iran to get the seat “by acclamation.”

Iran will now serve on the CSW, a body dealing with gender equality and the advancement of women, for another four-year term, having already been a member since 2011.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power took to Twitter to express her views: “Yet again Iran unopposed & was ‘elected’ to Commission on Status of Women. Given record on women’s & human rights, this is an outrage.”

But Richard Grenell, who served as spokesman for four U.S. ambassadors to the U.N. during the George W. Bush administration and is a close observer of the world body, was unimpressed with her reaction.

“Ambassador Power can tweet her outrage after the fact all she wants,” he said. “She should have been in the room for the vote and demanded a secret ballot rather than allow an automatic acclamation by her silence.” (snip)

… had just one ECOSOC member objected to Iran’s candidacy, a secret ballot vote would then have been called. And had Iran not received the required minimum 28 votes, that would have allowed another member state from Iran's regional group, Asia, to step in as an alternative.

Yet neither the U.S. nor any other member of ECOSOC objected. Other democracies on the council include 13 European nations, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and India.

A webcast of the ECOSOC session shows just how the process unfolded.