Trouble is brewing for yet another high-level Bush nominee. This time it's John Bolton, Bush's pick for ambassador to the United Nations. The nomination has been delayed in Senate committee amidst revelations that Bolton has essentially been caught planting a severed finger in the chili of foreign (not to mention interoffice) relations.
As usual, Bush is standing by his man. (Who would have imagined back in 1992 when Hillary Clinton made her emphatic denial that it would end up being George W. Bush who most resembles Tammy Wynette?) Speaking to a group of insurance agents on Thursday, Bush called Bolton "a good man." After all we've learned over the past several days, it's clear that the only people who are going to buy that were shopping for it in the first place.
Bush went on to say, "John's distinguished career and service to our nation demonstrates [sic] he is the right man at the right time." Should we trust the President's judgement of Bolton's character? I wonder how he has fared in the past.
How about a trip down memory lane:
- Bush on torture enabler Alberto Gonzales, last week: "I've had this good man by my side for quite a while. When I was the governor of Texas, we worked together.... And now as the President of these United States, I'm proud to serve with Al Gonzales as our Attorney General."
- On Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in December, 2004 after the Abu Ghraib abuses came to light: "He's doing a really fine job." And, "I know Secretary Rumsfeld's heart ... He's a good, decent man. He's a caring fellow."
- On lying, philandering Homeland Security nominee Bernard Kerik, in December, 2004: "His ... experience makes Bernie superbly qualified to lead the Department of Homeland Security." And in October, 2003: "Bernie, you're a good man."
- And one for good measure—After CIA Director George Tenet's resignation in June, 2004 to "spend more time with his family": "He's done a superb job on behalf of the American people."
Jeez. Flannery O'Connor should have been so lucky.
.jpg?t=20120209092158)
Article comments
1 - Marc
Leaving aside the fact the UN needs someone to kick it in the ass and straighten up, and not so incidently show Kofi the door, why would anyone put stock in some of the accusers in this case?
The latest, Lynne D. Finney, miraculously shows up just prior to a vote and her alleged beef with Bolton happened 22 years ago!
His offense? OMG Bolton yelled at her and threatened her job security. Poor baby, yet she didn't get fired.
Show me anyone that spends more than a few years in a leadership position and doesn't leave behind peers, subordinates, and even bosses with hurt feelings and axes ready to grind and I'll show you someone that did exactly nothing in their career.
BTW wasn't it just a few short months ago the Ted Kennedy was ranting that Janice Rogers Brown was a "Neanderthal" and didn't deserve a place on the federal appellate bench?
Where's the Democratic condemnation for that?
One must keep one's priorities in order I guess.
Just as Lynne D. Finney has as she is "Connecting with the Universe - Meditations for enlightenment and Self-realization"(now available on CD) seminar with learned Tibetan monks in the most Holy and Sacred Upper Reaches of the Santa Cruz mountains.
How do you spell moonbat?
2 - mo_loh
Not to analyze by analogy, but does the repeated use of the term "good man" remind anyone else of another similar term?
"We always called each other goodfellas. Like, you'd say to somebody: 'You're gonna like this guy; he's all right. He's a goodfella. He's one of us.'"
--Goodfellas, 1990 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099685/)
3 - richard
I think that nominating someone for an ambassadorial position requires that he have some diplomatic skills. Bolton said that "there's no such thing as the United Nations" and "if 10 floors of the 38-story U.N. headquarters building were eliminated, 'it wouldn't make a bit of difference.'" Not the person for the job, I'd say.
4 - Leoniceno
One of the functions of an ambassador, though, is to represent to foreign parties a government's view. If the Bush administration has a negative view of the United Nations, there is no reason that Bush should not appoint an ambassador with a similarly negative view.
5 - Marc
"if 10 floors of the 38-story U.N. headquarters building were eliminated, 'it wouldn't make a bit of difference."
And there is an argument with that?
Let's have a quick look at those "ten floors."
Included in the ten is an office that was ordered to shred many months of documents pertaining to the Oil for Food scam. The order was given (By Benon Sevon head of OFF program) the day after the Volcker Commission was announced. The shredding continued for 6 months yet Kofi claims he never saw the hundreds, maybe thousands, of bags of dead tree mulch passing his office door.
Location of the office where the dirty deeds were done? Right next door to Kofi the Magnificent's office. (KTM for short)
Also among these illustious ten floors are those that either covered for, or participated in thousands of rapes by UN "peacekeepers." It took KTM almost two years to come to grips with this story then the most he has done is utter some nonsense bout "peacekeepers" being punished by their own counties.
The Volker Commission also most probably resides on those ten floors. Appointed by KTM, it was given zero legal power to force anyone to testify or come clean. As it should be Volcker and his commission has been throughly exposed as a sham.
And finally, and most telling, somewhere on those ten floors is a report. A report authorized by KTM to gauge how his fellow UN employees felt working under him.
The report has been buried deep, but not so deep that a PDF file still exsists. Here are a few choice selections:
"Staff Accountability is alarmingly low, indicating respondents perceive those who violate guidelines are not disciplined fairly and consistently. Also staff perceive they are unprotected from reprisals for reporting violations. The low Breach Follow-Up (39) score indicates that breaches of conduct are not reported and not investigated. This does not necessarily indicate breaches go undetected or uninvestigated, only that survey respondents don’t perceive this.
Performance Management is low because of two items in the factor regarding the PAS and the candidate selection/promotion process. Both are perceived as being ineffective for evaluating integrity. Ethnocentrism (44) is low because the majority of respondents feel people of the same cultural background tend to favor their own regardless of whether it is in the best interest of the UN. They also report it is difficult to deal with unethical behavior because of internal political pressure.
Tone at the Top indicates that respondents frequently do not see senior leaders as positive role models for integrity and ethical behavior."
As you can imagine KTM wasn't happy, in fact he even wrote a "letter" to Sen. Kerry complaining about the ungreatful bastards that work for him.
It didn't work, the place is still a shambles and needs someone that shake the tree, not water it.
And BTW, Bolton will be sent to the Senate for a vote despite the political hacks in committee trying to stop it.
6 - Marc
Why am I not surprised, Old Pete has nothing to say now.
Come on Pete.. a quick rejoiner in response, defend your beloved UN.
7 - Pete Blackwell
The argument that Bolton should be ambassador to the UN is like saying we should send diplomats to Israel who don't believe in that country's right to exist.
Acting as a force of dissent is one thing. Acting as a force of destruction is another.
Marc, I didn't respond to your rant because it was bizarre and paranoid. I don't "love" the UN, but I also don't have the hysterical allergic reaction that you black helicopter types seem to experience.