Bolton Appears Headed for Confirmation

[RedEarth]

Apr. 12, 2005 - John R. Bolton appeared a step closer to confirmation as ambassador to the United Nations despite scathing testimony Tuesday by a former State Department intelligence chief that he was a "serial abuser" of analysts who disagreed with his hard-line views.

A committee vote to send President Bush's nomination of Bolton, who has frequently dismissed the United Nations as irrelevant and misguided, to the full Senate could come as early as Thursday, depending on whether his Democratic foes request a few days to review State Department documents they sought to have declassified.

Carl Ford Jr., a former chief at the State Department's bureau of intelligence and research, denounced Bolton as a "kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy" who directed an abusive tirade at analyst Christian P. Westermann for questioning whether Cuba was developing biological and chemical weapons.

But the pivotal Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, said he was "still inclined" to vote to confirm Bolton, who is now undersecretary of state for arms control.

............

With Republicans in the majority, Bolton's nomination could be approved by the committee Thursday or early next week. Bolton was probably more vulnerable in the committee because Republicans outnumber Democrats there only 10-8. They have a safer margin, 55 to 44 with one independent, in the full Senate.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/print?id=663831

Mr. Bolton, such a fine individual.....

[Solly Mack]

1. (surprise?)

sigh....


and the band played on...

[deutsey]

3. None here.

:banghead:

[Selteri]

10. Not a bit.

I think I'll look for escape from the country before they start locking up 'liberals' for thinking 'terrorist thoughts'.

[QC]

2. If Chaffee votes for this son of a bitch,

could we please not hear anymore about what a wonderful, decent man ole Lincoln is and all that?

[gratuitous]

4. Yes, if Chafee had crossed the aisle

The committee vote would be 9-9, and the nomination would be stalled there under Senate rules. But since Chafee doesn't see anything wrong with Mr. Bolton's appointment, he'll get in. Keep this in mind next year, Rhode Islanders, when he runs for re-election as an "independent" voice on the Republican side. He had a chance to keep this thug away from the UN and chose not to.

[wakeme2008]

6. But it will be a great campaign issue

Bolton is not one to keep his mouth close for a year so Chafee can get re-elected.

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. Why the hell not? At this point it would break with tradition

not to place a rw maniac in charge of something important. It will be entertaining to watch the whole stupid house of cards collapse around these ideologue assholes.

[pearl]

8. He's a goddamn Bastard

n/t

[AG78]

7. Anyone not get confirmed?

Besides Kerik, who never even got to a hearing, everyone in the clique has been confirmed. Some votes have been closer than others, but it works every time. They're on their way to confirming Negroponte for the 3rd time(UN, Iraq, and now NID), so why would they start saying no with Bolton?

[youspeakmylanguage]

19. I don't understand the point of progressive congresspeople...

...even showing up for work - besides voicing opposition, they appear to be almost useless.

Why the hell don't we just appoint Chimpy king until 2006?

[SOS]

38. So true

In the House, the Dems have only observer status.
If they kill the filibuster, the same will be true in the Senate.
35 years of right-wing planning, organizing and funding are now nearing completion.
A one-party state, controlled by corporations and reactionaries.
The only plus to all this is that they are now 100% responsible. If the economy collapses, they won't be able to blame anything other than their own incompetence.

[enough already]

45. Why not use the filibuster before they kill it?

What's the point of watching twit after twit after twit get confirmed?

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

9. does he or doesn't he?

only his hairdresser knows for sure.

[Catherine Vincent]

11. He needs to trim that thing.

[gumby]

12. One Party State.

Any questions comrades?

[DoYouEverWonder]

16. I'll scratch your back

if you'll scratch mine.

There really is no difference between them any more. The semblance of debate is just for show.

[Frances]

20. Give me a break

ALL the Dems are against Bolton. All except Chaffee of the Repubs are for Biden. Chaffee will probably be for Bolton.

If all of the people who thought there was no difference between Gore and Bush had voted for Gore, we wouldn't be voting on Bolton now. Not to mention we wouldn't be in Iraq.

[DoYouEverWonder]

22. If the DEMS didn't let the REPUGS

get away with rigging the 2000, 2002 and 2004 elections, we wouldn't be voting for Bolton.

[Frances]

26. I grew up in Alabama in the time of segregation

So, was it African Americans' fault that the whites wouldn't let them vote?

I don't think you have any idea of what African Americans were up against then and I don't think you have any idea of what Democrats are up against today.

Please stop whining and do something to protect our democracy. You are the Democrats!

[DoYouEverWonder]

33. Oh poor little rich white boys

Oh please, there is no comparison between the oppressed blacks who descended from slavery, to the rich and powerful in Congress today.

You shouldn't let party loyalty blind you. Open your eyes. In the meantime, attacking an individual on a message board, because I'm not willing to support anyone who votes for illegal wars and continues to allow these criminals in the WH, to get everything they want, is not going to win folks like me back to the party. These enablers are not good Democrats.

[Frances]

37. Sorry I didn't realize that you were not a Democrat

nt

[DoYouEverWonder]

40. You shouldn't make assumptions

about people you've never met.

Until, Jan 2005 I was/am an active Democrat. Before 2000, most of my efforts had been on the local level.

Since Bush was selected in 2000, I have been very active in numerous ways trying to help remove this cabal from power. After the primaries, I totally supported Kerry. I even stood out in the blazing FL sun just to see John Edwards. When Edwards came off the stage, I was the first person he shook hands with. I told him the election was going to be a landslide. He looked me straight in the eye and said, "we're going to win this thing" and I believe him. I guess you could say I'm a tad disappointed.

When Bush was inaugurated for a second time I realized this was another MIHOP event. There was nothing any of us could have done more or better because the fix was already in. Kerry knew about the machines. He knew the election was being rigged. Yet he walked away? Why? He had tons of evidence of all kinds of wrong doing by the Bush Campaign. I know for a fact he had hard evidence that would hold up in court because I gave it to his campaign personally. See item 5 of his FEC complaint. Oh yeah, the FEC complaint, whatever happened to that?

[Frances]

43. You wrote

"In the meantime, ...is not going to win folks like me back to the party."

That statement says that you do not consider yourself a Democrat at this time.

I am sorry that you are disappointed with the party today. But if you had grown up where I did, you would have some inkling of what Democrats are up against.

For example, your reference to poor little rich boys doesn't apply to me, but it does apply to someone related to a person I knew. This person was an Alabama lawyer who was kicked out of his family law firm because he agreed to defend the FBI informant who outed the KKK members who killed Viola Liuzzo (sp?). The state of Alabma was going to prosecute this informant, but later dropped the case. In spite of the fact that the case never went to court, the lawyer's family would not let him back in the family firm. And yes all of the family lawyers were rich white "boys."

[gumby]

49. Word.

[MoJoWorkin]

24. Thank you Frances

I keep saying that to my anti-war friends who saw no difference between Gore and Bush. OMG what does it take before they see the grievous error they committed into blindly following that self-serving Nader!!! None of the Greens it talked to even knew anything about Gore's book, Earth in the Balance, or really anything about him other than what Nader and a gleeful media erroneously spewed about him.I can't believe anyone who heard any of his speeches put on by MoveOn could continue to believe there was "NO DIFFERENCE".

What a different world it would be today if Gore were President.
No, Gore wasn't perfect, but he would have made a damn fine president. We wouldn't be headed for Armageddon either.

Yes, I am still bitter about it all.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

13. i have to give that old Dino Biden his props

it looked as if Biden's head was going to explode during his soliloquy, which was eloquent in case you didnt have a chance to see it. Biden's entire being turned red, it was quite something. Here I thought Joe had gone the way of the Dino and there he was livid. For a second there it looked like the democrats actually stood their ground, which - if nothing else - made good theater.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

14. he looks like a fascist einstein.

Field Kommander Einstein.

[leesa]

15. Unbelievable! Our Congress is so incompetent and the GOP so evil

that they will confirm someone to a post in an organization he says doesn't even exist. ALL of these poeple are traitors to our country.

[matcom]

17. "Your Government has failed you......."

-Richard Clarke

-matcom

[KoKo]

18. CNN reported that Dems had 7 Witnesses lined up. Only 1 allowed by Lugar.

That's disgusting, isn't it.

[CarefullyLiberal]

21. Michael Bolton would be better

John Bolton appears to be a real piece of crap.

I'm amazed he got as high up as he did.

-Fergus

Michael Bolton for Secretary to the UN

[phusion]

29. What, that no-talent ass clown?

Yea, you're right, he would be better...

:(

[Pachamama]

39. Hey, when your a "Kiss Up - Kick Down" kind of guy, its easy in this Admin

to go far...

Guess that makes Bolton a Top and a Bottom....:eyes:

[radfringe]

44. don't forget about being a cereal abuser...

[flordehinojos]

23. according to richard lugar and in paraphrase, Bolton may have his problems

but the UNITED NATIONS NEEDS REFORMING so ... it looks like LUGAR is telling his republicans to toe the line, vote for the madman, and spread the bush reformation on to the UN.

How, where and when does the chain links to the bush power grab get broken?

[Zorra]

25. Sen. Barack Obama on Bolton:

Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat, said the issue is important given intelligence failures surrounding the decision to go to war with Iraq in 2003.

The testimony suggests that Bolton ``is intimidating intelligence officers so that the facts will fit his positions, which is exactly what the debate was about with respect to the Iraqi war,'' Obama said. ``It is troubling in the extreme for us to brush that aside as something that is not significant.''

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=auLI7E_hnqVw&refer=top_world_news

If Bolton is confirmed, his nomination and confirmation will probably be taken by all the other nations on this planet as an unforgivable diplomatic insult. His confirmation will further alienate our already strained relations with the rest of the world. Buh has done it again.

IMO, the UN would be wise to pull UN Headquarters out of the US until the neocons either finish destroying America or are removed from doing further harm.

[Dr Fate]

27. Non-Nuanced Translation: "Bolton helped Bush lie about the WMDs."

I thought DEMS were reading a book by some fancy pants professor on how to talk to normal people.

Either the book sucks or Obama did not read it.

[Danmel]

28. This is the letter I wrote to Chafee

Dear Senator Chafee:

I am writing to ask you to please vote AGAINST the nomination of John Bolton to be the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Whatever differences we may have with the United Nations, now is not the time to be arrogant and hostile to that body and to the rest of the world. If we ever hope to have international support for any action we may need to take in the future (and I stress the world need), we cannot continue to thumb our noses at the rest of the world.

I am certain that there are other potential nominees who can protect United States interests and sovereignty without alienating the rest of the planet. I ask you to please give serious consideration to the ramifications of such a nominee and not allow pat reassurances to overcome your basic instincts. You are the last hope for those who hope that this nation can regain the love and respect of the world. You really are the last vestiges of what the Republican party used to be- as opposed to the right wing, beholden to the religious right, in your face & out of control thing it has become.

Thank you for your consideration- I hope you will do the right thing and vote NO."



This nomination is a giant middle finger to the world. I am so embarrassed.

[VLC98]

34. Well done.

A nicely written letter and to the point. I admire you for taking the time to write it, but it seems nothing can stop the Republican steam roller.

[hector459]

30. There just is no stopping the neocon-PNACers. Who will invade and save

us? The American masses are stepfordized.

[Robeson]

31. Was there ever any doubt?

[moondust]

32. Pukes must spend a fortune

hunting down the least suitable candidate for a given job and then nominating them. It must require a ton of research.

[Massachusetts]

35. We are DOOMED under this gaggle of FOOLS!

Pay me Now or pay me Later. Most AmeriKans don't care! They will someday, but then its going be to Late.

[indepat]

36. The nomination and rubber-stamp confirmation of Bolton will make a

mockery out of the advice and consent provision of the Constitution: so what else is new, for making a mockery out of much of our Constitution has been right up there among the top neocon priorities.

[DoYouEverWonder]

41. Here's a picture to illustrate

their mockery of the Constitution



:puke: :puke: :puke:

[Vinca]

42. Why do they bother with the hearings?

We're living in a dictatorship. We know we're outnumbered, they know we're outnumbered, we know we're screwed, they're enjoying the screwing.

[Catchawave]

46. My Gawd, he's a strange looking man :::shudder:::, but hey kids...

Let the little weaselly walrus (no offense to weasels and walruses) get approved. It's our job to keep pointing out every nasty little reflublican reflection on Not-My-President Bush. Get mad, get annoyed AT everything they do from now til the '06 elections, and always with the spirit we want to take our country back! Unfortunately, this will be easy :(

[Freddie Stubbs]

47. If the Democrats in Senate REALLY wanted to stop this guy

They could try fillibustering the nomination. The GOP would be averse to using the 'nuclear option' now, as there is legislation they would like to get through before the comeing gridlock that the this would trigger.

[0007]

48. This man is absolutely disgusting. John Bolton could

excite nausea in the strongest of men. Only junior & Condi can stand the stench that this man walks with.

[lala_rawraw]

50. When did Bolton take up the plans dept? Anyone happen to know?