And Bush appoints Bolton:
resident Bush will bypass the Senate confirmation process on John R. Bolton and appoint him as ambassador of the United Nations while Congress is in recess, a White House official said today.
The appointment of Mr. Bolton, scheduled for this morning, would expire at the beginning of the next session of Congress, in January 2007. The president has the power to fill vacancies without Senate approval while Congress is in recess.
The move comes after 36 senators signed a letter to the president last week, saying that Mr. Bolton was “not truthful” while answering questions by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in March, and should not be given a recess appointment. Some Republicans have said the approval of Mr. Bolton is long past due and that Mr. Bush is well within his rights to make the recess appointment.
Hrrmm. I wonder which party those 36 members belong to? The NY Times isn’t telling.
At any rate, my take on Bolton remains the same- it doesn’t matter much.
More here on the silly ‘Bolton is damaged goods’ meme permeating the left flank of the blogosphere.
Andrew J. Lazarus
I think the reception Bolton will receive at the UN from all the other countries will show that once again Bush has been a uniter and not a divider.
KC
Oh well.
Geek, Esq.
This appointment is a joke. Bush will accomplish nothing at the UN as long as Bolton is there.
Which should please the majority of both Republicans and Democrats–albeit for different reasons.
Sojourner
How many wackos has Bush now nominated and had approved? Certainly Janice Rogers Brown comes to mind.
M. Scott Eiland
Gee, will we get to see Voinovich start blubbering on the Senate floor again over this?
Mr Furious
I hope Bolton ends up entangled in the Rove/Plame affair and this blows up in Bush’s face.
Rome Again
which only proves that Mr. Bush’s ummm… “mandate” isn’t quite as big as he thinks it is. He couldn’t get Bolton approved so he took the path of a defeatist to get what he wanted.
By the way John, your blockquote begins by saying “resident Bush”, was that a Freudian slip or just an oversight?
Steve
Obviously there was some really bad stuff in the documents requested by the Senate if they went this far just to avoid having to turn over the documents.
Zifnab
If he was a Republican President standing beside a strongly Democratic Congress, I might understand why he’d be a bit stubborn. If Bolton’s positions on foreign policy were in question and not his reckless disregard for authority and use/abuse of power, I might understand why Bush would insist on Bolton.
But when a Republican Congress that’s basically worked in your back pocket for the past five years suddenly balks on nominating a candidate that already has a long track record of negatives, perhaps its time to at least widen your playing field. Start scoping out other possibilities. Because in the case of Bolton, I’m just not seeing it.
Doug
Nice piece of reporting in the quoted reporting. “Some say this, and some say that.” Well, gee, neat. Got any facts to report? Was Bolton honest?
“36 Senators say that the world is round. Others say the President’s vision of the world’s shape should not be second guessed.”
Sojourner
Because Bush always has to have his own way, no matter the cost. His “vision” of leadership is so incredibly narrow. For him, being a strong leader is refusing to change positions (don’t want to admit weakness) and refusing to listen to those who disagree with him (the world is black and white). For him, leadership is trying to look tough when walking from the helicopter to the WH. It’s really sad that the so-called leader of the free is such a weak individual.
Bernard Yomtov
So if they are Democrats it’s OK that Bolton wasn’t truthful? Is that your take?
james richardson
let bolton try to chase some other country’s ambassadors down the halls of the U.N. please, let him try. at the very least we’ll hear about it in the news. he might even get a broken nose out of it. i’m not one for violence, but some people are just asking for it.
coldfury thinks bolton is important to the bush’s plans to bomb iran. any thoughts?
it would be fun to see him in the plame scandal. maybe it’s better to have him on another continent.
mac Buckets
A punch in the nose would require action by a UN figure, which is so ridiculous as to make one shoot Diet Pepsi onto one’s keyboard. No, all UN Ambassadors’ limbs have become atrophied from decades of disuse. The worst Bolton could expect would be a sternly-worded request for a Resolution asking that he stop chasing Ambassadors down the hallway (but not to worry — the UN won’t enforce it).
dan
Curious…I remember when I was about 7 or 8 years old, I would go to the BX at the local Air Force base with my grandmother (my family was all military) and buy all sorts of medals and ribbons that I clearly could not have earned (e.g. I got the Vietnam Vet ribbon, despite the fact that I was born in 1973). The guy who manned the Decorations counter was all too happy to sell them to me (with my grandmother’s money). Except for the Purple Heart, he wouldn’t sell that to me. I immediately understood why, and immediately felt guilty for asking. I knew, even at such a young age, that there were certain commendations that every American should respect, and not pretend to have earned. The producers of the Wedding Crashers should have known better and the rotten people who put a Purple Heart on band-aids at the Republican convention should have known better, too.
dan
oops…I posted in the wrong thread. Really, I’m usually not such an idiot.
mac Buckets
I will never cease to laugh at all the Bush-haters who are so metaphysically certain about their “Bush is stupid and evil and weak” analysis, while Bush thinks in “black and white.” That will never not be funny ever.
Barry N. Johnson
For all the Democratic caterwauling over this, it seems they’ve achieved at least a partial victory — they’ve severely limited the tenure of a candidate who had the support of a clear majority of the Senate, simply because they don’t like him.
DougJ
This whole thing about him failing to disclose that he had been interviewed in a probe is another in a long line of beside-the-point red herrings about Bolton, along with the stories of him humiliating subordinates, chasing people through hotels, and (my favorite) hanging out at famed New York swinger club Plato’s retreat. You could dig up stuff like that (if it is even true) on anyone.
Bolton is a tough, zealous guy. I might not want him a next-door neighbor, but I do want him in the UN making Kofi-the-pimp’s life miserable.
lily
If you don’t think it’s funny, why will you never cease to laugh? It is a sign of weakness of character to refuse to process feedback or admit an error. Many Bush supporters, for example, prefer to spend their energy creating convoluted thought pretzels rather thatn admit that their guy isn’t up to the job. The letter was signed by both Dems. and Repubs., not a fifty -fifty split, but close. Sen. Trent Lott, that flaming liberal, has spoken out against the appointment. The Washinngton note has quotes from Lott and the names of the signers.
DougJ
“It is a sign of weakness of character to refuse to process feedback or admit an error.”
No, it’s not. It’s a sign of weakness to go around begging for forgiveness for your mistakes the way the Dems do. You may not think so, but 53% of voters seem to.
lily
The quote from well-known liberal and Democratic supporter Trent Lott, in which he condemns the appointment as a “bad idea”, “thumbing the nose at the Senate” and refers disparagingly of Bolton is posted on Obsidian Wings, Not the Washington Note.
Blue Neponset
DougJ:
“No, it’s not. It’s a sign of weakness to go around begging for forgiveness for your mistakes the way the Dems do. You may not think so, but 53% of voters seem to.”
I think the argument should be about Bush’s leadership abilities instead of his ‘weakness’.
What about John Bolton’s recess appointment leads you to believe Bush is showing strong leadership qualities?
Doug
We can only hope they’ll choke on ’em and hit their heads on a table.
DougJ
“What about John Bolton’s recess appointment leads you to believe Bush is showing strong leadership qualities?”
What makes Bush a great president is that he reaches a position and he sticks to it, no matter what the liberal media and liberal Congressmen do. He said he’d get Bolton into the UN and he did. That’s what leaders do. They don’t apologize and admit they’re wrong and compromise. They mean what they say and they say what they mean. No apologies, no excuses, and no compromises.
ARROW
The Democrats were on a fishing expedition with Bolton. They have nothing on him so they go on fishing expeditions for information that is never generally given and then proceed to spin the lies that Bolton is hiding something. This whole deal is about political grandstanding.
Is this the way you folks that vote for Democrats think the game should be played?
Kimmitt
This is a complete victory both for the Democrats and for America. Link discussing this is below.
Sojourner
If a truly anonymous vote could be taken on Bolton, he wouldn’t pass. Even a lot of Republicans don’t like him. They just don’t have the balls to publicly admit it.
capelza
I’m confused. If the clear majority would have voted to confirm Bolton, then why didn’t said clear majority vote to overide the “obstructionist” Democrats. Are the Republicans the majoirity in the Senate?
(Okay, I’m really weak on the whole “filibuster agreement thing, was allowing a filibuster of Bolton part of the deal?)
Blue Neponset
DougJ:
“What makes Bush a great president is that he reaches a position and he sticks to it, no matter what the liberal media and liberal Congressmen do.”
Thanks for answering my question.
IMO, ignoring those who disagree with you is not the sign of a good leader. It isn’t much of a challenge to lead those who already agree with you.
You also indicated that you think Bush is a good President because he doesn’t compromise. I believe those who do not compromise are very short sighted people. Bush might not need the support of those on the other side of the isle right now, but when he does need their support it won’t be there.
another John
Bush and the other Bolton supporters will never publicly admit it, but what Bush is trying to do here is make the U.N. subservient to the U.S. Bush wants to be able to start a war anytime it suits him without the U.N. getting in the way with its pesky rules.
The idea that Bolton can fix the U.N. is irrelevant because the U.N. doesn’t need that much fixing. Maybe Annan and a few others shouldn’t be there, but they were not the main culprits in the “Oil-for-food” scandal. That scandal was mostly perpetrated by American Big Business. Bush views U.N. reform as part of the race to keep his oil buddies from being held accountable for their actions.
Kimmitt
capelza — the filibuster agreement applied only to judges, essentially.
Randolph Fritz
Well, why don’t we just change the name of the office of President to Caesar, dissolve the Congress, and get it over with?
SCraine
“This job is too important to leave vacant…” so he appoints a man who has done nothing but speak ill of the UN and who conveniently “forgets” — and therefore lies –that he was asked questions by a government investigation commission — one wonders what he will “forget” when he needs to at the UN. The president as usual shows his true colors in this: “It’s my way or NO way.”
DougJ
I’m not saying I’m against ALL compromise. But conservatives have been forced to compromise for far too long, on foreign policy, on abortion, on tax cuts, the list goes on and on. It just feels good to see an actual conservative president doing actual conservative things, liberal MSM be damned. Clearly, a lot of Americans share my sentiment or Bush wouldn’t have been reeelected.
There’s a time to meet halfway and a time to tell people like Saddam Hussein: “No more, no more planning to get nuclear weapons, no more torturing and murdering thousands of your own people, no more thumbing your nose at the us. No more.”
C.L.R.
Bush – Money, Power, Greed, Did someone say he was a Christian? W.W.J.D.?
CaseyL
If the UN post is too important to leave vacant, then why will Bolton be spending most of his time in DC?
Mike
DougJ,
“But conservatives have been forced to compromise for far too long, on foreign policy, on abortion, on tax cuts, the list goes on and on.”
Uh, compromise is the very heart of the American system of govt. If you don’t like it, perhaps you should go somewhere else where you will not be forced to compromise. Like our good ally Uzbekistan. I am sure Karimov would love another supporter such as you. Or North Korea. Unless you want Dear Leader over here as well, then please rethink your attitude about compromise.
Stormy70
LOL. Made my day.
I like Bolton, because he won’t kiss up to the useless UN. Where have they been on the whole terrorist bombing wave that hit Britain, anyway? I guess bombing people are as acceptable to them as Palestinians blowing up Israelis. America will never be subservient to the UN, and since we are paying the majority of the bills there, I think some consideration for our position might be in order. Instead, tyrants and despots hold America bashing summits, while we supply the cavier and wine. I’m thrilled with Bolton, and I hope he scares the panties off the UN.
capelza
How will he “scare the panties” off the UN. Just asking. I keep hearing that his hardassness will reform the UN. What happens if they just ignore him for 17 months?
pfrets
Bolton is a horse’s ass, to be sure.
President Bush is a lame duck, to be sure.
Who gives a rat’s ass about Bolton. Prez want’s to look resolute in the face of ‘librul media and librul congress’, so he makes a recess appointment? Yeah…that’s real resolute. We’ll be back here in a year.
The UN (not a very effective bunch in my mind) will ignore his pompus ass, unless he makes bigger noise than he did at State. The Euros will recognize it for what it is…another headline grabbing media whore stunt pulled by Bush’s pet ambasador. Watch Bolton pull some of his State department bullshit, like a child with a temper tantrum, and then behold the longest ‘sit in a corner timeout’ on record…A year is a long time to be put in a corner and ignored.
Steve
Let’s count ’em up:
Blue Neponset
I think a good leader knows the difference between appeasement and compromise. IMO, Bush sees them as the same thing.
His leadership skills really suck.
ARROW
Help me out, Steve, is there a Republican on your list?
Cassidy
DougJ, leadership is a little more complex than what you seem to think. From the bulk of your posts, I’m not surprised that you choose a more simplistic “black and white” version. For those of us in leadership positions, though, personally I find it professionally appalling that Bush’s “attributes” are considered in the same category as mine.
And Bush’s re-election only proved one thing: not that the masses agree with you, but they were too unwilling to be bothered by facts.
Geek, Esq.
Do Republicans really think that a lame-duck ambassador who very publicly couldn’t manage to get confirmed by the Senate is going to have any degree of success against the entrenched interests at the UN?
Look for the UN-types to employ Plan B when dealing with Bolton:
They plan to “B” there after Bolton is gone.
KC
Honestly, game’s over, who cares? I think the Left was making too big a deal out of Bolton anyway. From what I read, he was a professional schmuck for most of his career. I’m sure he’ll do a job that only the Bush administration could be proud of.
Rome Again
DougJ said:
Conservative things? What conservative things? Many true Republican conservatives will tell you this adiministration is not “conservative” at all.
This “conservative” administration has racked up billions of dollars in debt that we and our children and our children’s children will have to pay for, if we’re still here to do so in the future; given tax cuts to the top 1-2% of the richest Americans who are not in need of that money while not giving a damn about the fact that the poorest of the poor are not able to make ends meet, and at the same time has encouraged the most invasive legislation on issues that true conservatives would abhor (Patriot Acts, Destruction of the Social Security program, Bankruptcy protection for corporations not citizens, privacy issues such as what goes on in your bedroom, insert themselves into private family matters such as the Schiavo situation, these are ACTIVIST and they are completely counter productive to the true conservative’s values.
True conservatives would tell you these things are not “conservative” at all, they are ACTIVIST.
You don’t know the meaning of the word “conservative”. And to be quite honest, as a “liberal” I wouldn’t be stupid enough to enact any of these things myself. George Bush’s administration is more liberal than a fairly far left liberal like myself would feel comfortable with.
The difference between my leftist views and George Bush’s? I care about humanity and want to see humanity cared for, afterall, they are taxpayers just like the rest of us and deserve to have their livelihood maintained (not pampered, just maintained). That means feeding the poor, caring for the sick, lowering taxes on those who can’t afford to live now as it is instead of giving that tax break to people who don’t NEED it at all. Jesus talked about these types of issues in his Sermon on the Mount. Why do you consider humanity’s needs to be so much less important than the billionaires of this world?
I might guess it is because you want to have the same advantages when you get rich, but don’t hold your breath… you’re probably not going to be rich in this lifetime, the odds are against it. For one to be rich, many need to be poor.
What you call “conservative” values is actually catering to people who don’t give a damn if ordinary Americans (and if you’re online you’re probably one yourself) live or die at all. It is hubris at its finest, and one day you’ll find you have a target on your back as well. What you support is not conservativism, it’s activism with the goal of controlling the people so the rich can do as they damned well please, no matter if it ruins our environment, kills humans or goes against God’s 10 Commandments and Jesus’ beatitudes.
By the way, that liberal media you mentioned is a part of this plan, it is not liberal at all. Want me to prove it? I can. Google CNN transcripts from the Democratic National Convention and tell me who their special guest was (one hint, it’s a current Republican Senator’s husband) and read what he had to say about the Democratic convention. Why were they asking a well-known (and crassly rude) Republican to weigh in on Democratic agenda items? Why not ask a Democrat?
Now, look up transcripts from CNN for the Republican convention and tell me, who was the special guest for that coverage? I’ll give you a hint, it was the same person as above, BOB DOLE. Did he pick apart the RNC agenda items? Hell no, he did not, he sang praises of the RNC the entire night. Liberal media my ass!
You are highly misinformed, but of course that’s not your fault, it’s the fault of those who told you the media is liberal – influential Republicans who do the bidding of your man Bush.
neil
For all the Democratic caterwauling over this, it seems they’ve achieved at least a partial victory—they’ve severely limited the tenure of a candidate who had the support of a clear majority of the Senate, simply because they don’t like him.
Really? A clear majority of the Senate? So when was the vote? When was the filibuster? Do Democrats have the power to obstruct using only the power of their mind now?
E del Canal
All the fuss about Bolton stems from the fact that some ‘analysts’ in the State Department (not a hotbed of conservatism) and in the Pentagon, LIED about places like Cuba and Korea. One of those analysts, Ana Belen Montes, from the Pentagon, is now serving jail time for having been convicted of spying for Castro. Sen. Dodd, who’s been in the back pocket of Fidel for well over 30 years, doesn’t like that; and Biden, who plagiarized his way through school, and in an important speech, is ‘furious.’ Who are they kidding? They don’t want a strong conservative at the UN because they like the Fabianist Communism that has characterized the UN any time they abandon actual Stalinist or Maoist tendencies. The demands for documents is NOT fair, and they know it. The mealy mouthed accusations of “mistreatment” of subordinates is nonsense, and they know it. And how quickly they forget the hundred-plus recess appointments that Clinton made. Let’s face it, the Left in this country is FURIOUS because its march toward Socialism was halted when The Gore was not elected. They LOST; they need to face that fact.
Steve
Oh, be serious. It must be time for another Daily Flypaper Thread.
Stormy70
Bolton would have been confirmed in an up or down vote any way you slice it. Game over, man, game over. (Thanks to KC for helping me remember this great movie line.)
Rome Again
Sojourner said:
Humans make mistakes, but George Bush doesn’t make mistakes, apparently he’s not human. What I mean by that is, he is alienated towards humanity, he only cares for the rich (evidence of this fact by his tax breaks). Judging by the goals of his presidency, I would say it is a strong possibility that he is an enemy of humanity.
It is not surprising then that I find Republicans telling me that I don’t belong in their country (my ancestors came to America in the early 1600’s) and they would kill me if they knew where I lived. These things were actually said to me by Bush supporters, simply because I don’t believe in their agenda or goals.
Our Constitution says “All men are created equal” yet George Bush wants to make sure every poor person spends the rest of their lives enriching the riches 1-2% of Americans. Typical of someone who despises humanity.
Jesus would be so proud, NOT! Didn’t he say “Sell all you have and give to the poor and come and follow me”? Somehow I don’t think he’d agree with the Republican “Trickle Down” theory.
George Bush doesn’t qualify for human, IMO.
Geek, Esq.
Please also don’t forget the fact that Bolton was caught lying to the Senate.
But, of course, lying to the United Stats Congress is perfectly okay.
If you’re a Republican.
Rodger Vaughan
These people are not conservative in any sense of the word.
They are Radical Destructionists and will not rest until
all remnants of this country are destroyed: Railways,
public schools, all taxes, representative government,
post office, FDA, etc., etc.
Sojourner
Probably. But it saved the Repubs from having to be on record as having voted in another schmuck.
I sure didn’t hear very many Repubs demanding the opportunity to vote for him.
Dr. James W. Herbert
It’s about time. This is the President’s nominee. If Kennedy, Biden, Mrs. Clinton (Dragon Lady), Dick Durban (Sp?) and the other bitter and despicable persons don’t like it, to hell with them. It’s about time that the President goes onto the offensive against those folks that care more about politics than our country.
Too bad if various liberals don’t like this.
Dr. James Herbert
former professor, Temple University, Philadelphia
member American Federation of Musicians (the AFL-CIO is ridiculous too)
Kimmitt
That’s a tall order, given the existence of the 11th Commandment.
Sojourner
Bitter and despicable? Thanks for the laugh! I love the Bolton supporters. They don’t understand the irony of their position.
Bob
My guess is that most Republicans will rue the day when Dubya appointed him to the UN. He’ll be Bush’s embarrassment, another mess to swept up after the trainwreck. I only wonder how the DougJs and Stormys of the world don’t get it.
lneil
If Bush and the Republicans continue to annoy the majority of American’s – they assure the Democrats a win in the next election! Go ahead, Georgie-boy! You are just setting your own party up for a huge fall!!! LOL
Sojourner
The problem is, Bolton has to stand in line to be Bush’s embarassment. He’ll get his 15 minutes of fame and then Bush will nominate another lunatic.
Janice Rogers Brown for chief justice, anyone?
Shi Wen Wu
To those of you who read the constitution, please note that this use of the Recess Appointment is a contradiction of the clear intent and meaning of the framers of the Constitution. A “Recess Appointment” is to occur when a vacancy “may happen during the recess of the Senate”. “Happen” in the meannig of the period may be taken to mean “occurs” in 21st century meaning. This vacancy and initial nomination occurred while the Senate was in session. So much for strict construction of the Constitution! On the other hand, Presidents have used this escape hatch to circumvent the Constitution many times. Therefore we may perhaps conclude that the Constitution is open to interpretation to fit the politics and views of the time.
Randolph Fritz
“Game over, man, game over.”
No. Game only beginning. Now we get to find out how much harm Bolton can do as ambassador. With luck, he will only be a major embarassment. Maybe he won’t start any wars. I hope.
Ave Caesar!
RealWildC1039344
Bolton is clearly a bully. How is that a good candidate for ambassador? This guy is letterman’s, Leno’s and the Daily show dream – instant comedy. So Ms Rice has pissed off North Korea just when the white House wants them back at the bargaining table.
My favorite is the new supreme court nominee. Federalist – yes Roe v Wade may be frittered away but the Pacific NW might get their medical marijuana and death with dignity laws. Careful what you wish for. This appointment may the the biggest Bush embarrasment yet.
Intellegent design – intellegence is relative. It could be highly intellegent or borderline idiocy. maybe that’s why the universe is in the shape it’s in today.
seriously – I was taught that the teachings of the bible are not up for discussion. so this teaching of intellegent design alongside evolution is heresy. The proponents of this would be excommunicated or burned at the stake.
As an alternative view it could also be disproved which would mean god is dead – when have we heard that? The science is shakey at best so it’s not unlikely. Keep religion in the churches where it belongs.
Rich
So he pushed hard to get another Thug appointed, what a surprise. It seems he is “Working Hard” to destroy our country!
Pete Kier
Maybe Bush should just appoint his supreme court nominee also.