Bolton Out and Christmas Comes Early For Dems

With only 20 shopping days left till Christmas, Democrats on Capital Hill get their best gift since the November election. The infamous John Bolton has announced he will not seek any confirmation hearings to continue to be UN envoy for the United States. This is great news for all those in Congress who opposed him. It is terrible news for Bush because he is losing his personal mouth-piece in the UN. And Bush showed his anger about the topic today. But it was time for Bolton to go and Bush should learn an important lesson from this about future appointments.
John Bolton has been causing controversy since his first day as UN envoy. The major problem is seen as his "brusque style and whether he could be an effective public servant who could help bring reform to the U.N." Both of these comments are valid. Bolton seems to be short with those who would like to seek diplomacy instead of harshness. Bolton also has not done anything to change the UN except to make it appear useless in the media.
But more than that, Bolton's appointment was very controversial. In a very underhanded way, Bush appointed Bolton to the UN "temporarily in August 2005, while Congress was in recess." As you can imagine, Democrats and Republicans alike were pretty pissed about this sort of back-alley politics. And for those reasons, it was time for Bolton to go. His temporary appointment runs out soon. In a letter to the President, Bolton wrote, "After careful consideration, I have concluded that my service in your administration should end when the current recess appoint expires." Ouch. And so Bush was pissed.
In some statements today, the anger of the president was apparent. Speaking of Democrats, Bush stated he was "deeply disappointed that a handful of United States senators prevented Ambassador Bolton from receiving the up or down vote he deserved in the Senate." That's odd considering no one really liked this guy except Bush. Even members of the president's own party were loving the fact that he was leaving. But Bush went on to say about the Opposers, "They chose to obstruct his confirmation, even though he enjoys majority support in the Senate, and even though their tactics will disrupt our diplomatic work at a sensitive and important time." "This stubborn obstructionism ill serves our country, and discourages men and women of talent from serving their nation." So I guess he really is upset. But he should learn a lesson from all of this.
John Bolton was a mouth-piece for the administration. He used his position of power in the Security Council to try and bully other countries to fall in line with US foreign policy. He is the reason the situations in Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Iraq remain as they have for the past three years. He has done nothing but parade the Bush party-line around the halls of the UN. And all the time he is being pushed by an administration that lust for war.
Congress has grown tired of Bush appointing his buddies to seats of power. Bush needs to see that a real UN ambassador would work with other countries, not intimidate them. A real UN ambassador would represent the country, not the current administration. A real UN ambassador would work for peace, not harsh sanctions that hurt the innocent. And by that definition, Bolton is not a real UN ambassador. Bush needs to think long and hard or he will have to endure the waiting game with Congress. As for Bolton, I wish him luck and a merry Christmas.