"Bolton’s office was responsible for the placement of the Niger uranium ..

[understandinglife]

... claims in the State Department’s December 2002 “fact sheet” on Iraq’s WMD program; claims that have since been exposed as baseless."

<clip>

The reason is straightforward. According to reports from MSNBC, John Bolton has testified to the grand jury investigating the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Not only is it possible that Bolton may have lied about this testimony in a questionnaire he filled out for his confirmation hearing, but the linkage to the Plame affair places Bolton, yet again, into a scenario in which intelligence was doctored for the sake of political gain. In fact, according to an investigation by the State Department Inspector General, Bolton’s office was responsible for the placement of the Niger uranium claims in the State Department’s December 2002 “fact sheet” on Iraq’s WMD program; claims that have since been exposed as baseless.

For the Bush administration, this means prolonged attention to the Karl Rove saga and yet another member of its “inner circle” associated with an emerging conspiracy. For Bolton — whose credibility is already so damaged it couldn’t possibly be made worse — the Plame linkage is yet another reason why he would do more harm then good at the United Nations. Undoubtedly, Bolton’s primary diplomatic asset — his proximity to the president — will be diminished as the administration distances itself from those involved in the leak.

And yet, as reported in The Washington Post and all but confirmed by Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, the White House will likely go ahead with a recess appointment of Bolton, potentially as soon as this Saturday (July 30, 2005). Such a course of action, now more than ever, will be an utter blow to U.S. foreign policy interests and America’s position within the international community.

<clip>

The dangers of a recess appointment are clear. The additional damage that such a course of action would cause to Bolton’s credibility will handicap him at the United Nations and damage the United States’ negotiating capacity at a time when the future of the United Nations is at stake. Emerging stories of Bolton’s less-then-honest recounting of grand jury testimony and association with the Plame investigation simply add to the problem. America needs an ambassador who can help fix what’s wrong with the United Nations without abandoning what’s right; an ambassador who can champion American policy without damaging America’s reputation, an ambassador who has the ability to build alliances without resorting to doctoring intelligence. Bolton was not that ambassador to begin with. A recess appointment only makes him worse.

From Bolton's Abscess Appointment by Don Kraus and Sam Stein

July 29, 2005

Link:

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050729/boltons_abscess_appointment.php

A recess appointment will make it absolutely clear that lawless Bush is maniacally focused on destroying the UN. All part of destroying any mechanism for holding him accountable for his vast and expanding rap sheet of capital crimes.

WATCH IT; SPREAD IT http://www.bushflash.com/right.html

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us - How ever long it takes, the day must come when tens of millions of caring individuals peacefully but persistently defy the dictator, deny the corporatists their cash flow, and halt the evil being done in Iraq and in all the other places the Bu$h neoconster regime is destroying civilization and the environment in the name of "America."

[ananda]

1. keep in mind..

.. that Bush is ace at destruction and failure. That way he can always be a winner.

Sue

[mike_c]

2. yep, the BFEE has no interest in "doing good" at the U.N....

They want to destroy it.

[wtbymark]

3. The U.N. should fail to recognize Bolton

as a US official (because he was never approved) or the UN should fail to recognize the United States until a credible representative is appointed. The rest of the world will back up the UN. - IMO

[FreedomAngel82]

9. I agree

Right now with Bush in power nobody in his administration or who he appoints would be crediable. People in other countries are right to ignore Bush and not trust him.

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. I concur

[Ready2Snap]

33. Wouldn't it be easier to let Bolton into the "club."

With his history of abuse and bullying,
those guys would tie him in knots a no time flat.
Bolton is his own worst enemy and would self-destruct in that kind of environment.

These career diplomats are so much higher on the psychological evolutionary scale than Bolton
they would have him chastized, reprimanded, probably charged with assault and battery, hopefully not murder
and run out of the General Assembly in disgrace all in the first week.

It would be all over the news and Bush would be made to look the fool
(tough job, eh?) for having backdoored him in the first place.

[Toots]

36. Bolton has been around in the murk for over thirty years

Why do you think he will self destruct now?

[rateyes]

42. That's an interesting and intriguing question:

Can the UN refuse to seat an ambassador from a member nation? If so, and they take that path with Bolton--what would be the fallout, both for the UN and the US?

I'm not sure I would like to see that fight---then, again?

If Bush does the recess appt., and it is found out that Bolton is major player in yellowcakegate---seeing as how Bolton is not going to be effective anyway, and can only serve until, when (January?)

I'm still thinking on that one. Good post, interesting scenario.

[mrdmk]

4. Let him be appointed to the U.N. There nothing we can do about that

With the recess appointment the Democrats in the Senate (if they can hang together) will hold up the Roberts' nomination to the Supreme Court.

It will another reason to Impeach Mr. Bush Jr. bring down this whole mess so we can start over after 5 years destructive and inept government. Maybe world opinion will return to our favor.

[FreedomAngel82]

10. What would happen

if Bolton does make it to the UN? Could he be impeached from the position?

[mrdmk]

22. If the President of the United States is impeached the whole

administration including the Vice President will have to pack their belongings and leave. I do not about the ambassadors around the world including the U.N. ambassador. This I do know, when a new administration does enter the White House it is customary for all ambassadors to put in their resignation. This is so if the ambassador can say I work for the current administration to the government of their assignment.

If anything comes from turd-gate, I think the President's term in office will be less than four years, pardons or no pardons, immunity or no immunity. Thus, from there, things will go the course.

[SnowGoose]

39. With respect, I think you're mistaken.

The last time a POTUS was ousted was Nixon (granted he resigned to avoid impeachment), but the administration stayed, and the VP (Ford) moved up to president.

If Bush is impeached, get used to saying "President Cheney".

[rateyes]

41. IMO, there is no way that Bush gets impeached and

Cheney doesn't. If removed from office, get used to saying President Hastert. Again, IMHO.

[mrdmk]

43. Because he resigned, there was no impeachment

When you impeach a president, you impeach the entire administration including the Vice President.

[symbolman]

49. Ford was not Nixon's VP

so that don't fly.

Spiro Agnew (and I remember because I was around then) walked, later Nixxon was sent packing by Republicans that realized, as they should now, that they WOULD ALL LOSE their seats if they didn't take him down..

Ford was planted in the White House, which I still don't understand, because I thought the next person it would fall to would be the Speaker of the House or am I wrong?

Remember that Ford was on the Commission that investigated the murder of Kennedy and of course found no wrongdoing by anyone other than Oswald..

We'll see the same old shit here.. watch them appoint DELAY if Bush has to take a dive.. if that happens I will personally drag a MILLION people with me to surround the White House and shout that fucker OUT of there :)

[DoYouEverWonder]

25. Yes, any government official

can be impeached.

[Ready2Snap]

34. Unfortunately, bad judgment isn't an impeachable offense.

As far as world opinion, I think we're OK on that score,
although they are real pissed at us for having re-elected him.

Filibustering Roberts can be done on the grounds of Bush's people
refusing to supply the requested documents to the Senate,
and they would have the Bolton fiasco (see my reply post to #3 above)
as precedent and proof of the need to see all pertinent papers before allowing a vote.

The Repugs wouldn't have a leg to stand on, and if they resorted to the cry-baby tactics of the past,
would make the Dems look like the adults.
Besides, there is ample evidence that a lot of Repug Senators are ready to jump ship on Bush.
A hissy fit might be all the excuse they'll need to sink Roberts nomination.

[Just Me]

5. The forged docs mysteriously make their way to Bolton.

Can I say that with some confidence?

There's no question that Bolton was one of the co-conspirators who defrauded the American people into an unlawful war.

[donco6]

6. If Bush does appoint him,

won't it just give the world a chance to see what a whacko Bolton really is? I've read minutes of meetings, seen video clips - the guy just CANNOT control his temper. He says and does things that are borderline assault. Maybe it could all work to our advantage in the long run.

[fooj]

7. Their audacious moves are stunning, to say the least.

:grr:

[FreedomAngel82]

8. Of course

And we all know that Cheney is involved as well. He was going over to the CIA a lot to "fix" intelligence and Bolton was there and probably doing Cheney's bidding. Remember that Bolton is also a PNAC member and Bush promotes those who are loyal to him. I believe that Bolton's job is to get into the UN and destroy it with the current members. Without the UN Bush couldn't go to war and all that. That's why he's pushing through.

[ladjf]

11. I hope that I'm still around when that great day comes.

[Disturbed]

13. "Without the UN Bush couldn't go to war..."

The Bush Regime can attack any country that it wishes to. That has been made obvious. Amerika is an outlaw nation and answers to no one.

[ladjf]

17. All entities have a prime mandate to attempt to dominate to the

furthest extent. However, the balance of Nature always prevents that ultimate outcome. The current opportunities for expansion now "enjoyed" by the Bush administration are a temporary out of balance condition, one that WILL be subdued as the outside counter forces gain momentum. In the end, the Bush phenomena will have been one of utter destructiveness, in our frame of reference, beyond anything imaginable. The opportunities for Earth life will have been diminished significantly, things lost, never to be recovered.

The survivors will study the "Bush Disaster" as a guide to the prevention of any recurrences of such a calamity, the lowest point of human stupidity, immaturity and greed. Future generations will strive to lift themselves from the horrible ashes of their history.

[understandinglife]

18. ".. the lowest point of human stupidity, immaturity and greed."

They have attained that composite milestone, already.

Thank you.


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[ladjf]

19. Except that the mark is continuing downward.

On another note:

A poster simply asked "Why has there been an sudden influx of pro DLC posts on this board"? That seemed harmless enough to me.

I responded:

"It seems as though there is a fairly large percentage of posters
on DU that aren't our people.
There are certain topics that will invariably bring out counter posts, written by the same people, counter post that seem to favor the Bush Thugs. "

The entire thread was immediately locked before my post could be posted. Why?

skinner was the admin who locked it.

[understandinglife]

21. I have no idea ....

... and the person to ask is Skinner; why don't you PM him. That's what I would do.


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[blogslut]

12. I Wonder if Larry Flynt

...found any more dirt on Johnny Bolton and Plato's Retreat?

[understandinglife]

15. Kelly Ann Collins was chatting about that back in May, 2005:

http://kellyanncollins.com/2005/05/lets-talk-about-john-boltons-sex-life.html


Such a classy guy ....


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[blogslut]

16. here's a link to Larry's take

don't worry. there's no porn on the page:

http://www.larryflynt.com/bolton/

[understandinglife]

14. "the history lesson Hayden offered a compliant Congress suggests either ..

... incompetence or duplicity ..."

In congressional testimony on Thursday, the Nation's number two intelligence chief, General Michael V. Hayden, provided so many fanciful explanations for the failures of the US intelligence community before and during the period he was director of the National Security Agency that one has to wonder about the quality of the new office of the Director of National Intelligence.

<clip>

As the nation's chief codebreaker, Hayden had signed off on the notorious National Intelligence Estimate in October 2002 that predicted an Iraqi nuclear weapon within a year if Baghdad acquired enough fissile material and suggested that the purchase of anodized aluminium tubes was evidence of the advanced state of Saddam's nuclear program. As has been made abundantly clear by the British Butler report and the WMD commission here the evidentiary base for estimating Saddam's arsenal of weapons of mass destruction had changed little between the late 1990s, when there were suspicions of WMD but no real evidence, and 2002, save for a few defector reports. What had changed was the political climate. At all levels the Bush administration was applying pressure to intelligence bureaucrats to disprove that Saddam had WMD. Proving a negative is usually impossible.

Hayden glossed over that. Instead he couched the WMD fantasy in terms of an intelligence failure and dodged any real responsibility.

<clip>

Granting Hayden the benefit of the doubt about his lack of understanding of the history of US estimates, there is still the question of his own judgment in shaping those estimates that came his way when he was at the NSA. As viewers of Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation at the United Nations will recall, the US introduced intelligence gathered by the NSA as evidence that Saddam was hiding special weapons. Hayden signed off on that information and presumably that interpretation. In dodging any discussion of his own interpretive errors today, Hayden leaves open the question of his ability to help his new boss supervise the intelligence analysis process. His testimony is also a troubling sign that the country's new intelligence chiefs lack the independence to be candid about the huge role that politics and policymakers played in the WMD mess. This is not a good start for the office of DNI or the new US intelligence system.

From Shifting Blame for the Iraq WMD Fiasco by Timothy Naftali on July 28, 2005

Link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/timothy-naftali/shifting-blame-for-the-ir_4846.html

The pattern could not be more obvious: Any and every mechanism of accountability before the law is being compromised or demolished.

The Bush neoconster regime knows that it must destroy justice or be forever confined to prison.


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[Peace Patriot]

20. This guy Hayden is the one that Dem Jane Harmon was fawning all over

at the House intel hearing I caught part of, on C-Span radio yesterday (7/28)?

We not only have to throw off a fascist coup, we need a BIG BROOM to clean house in the Dem Party as well.

Look to the election system! That is the key! Rightwing fascists control the vote tabulation--mostly Diebold and ES&S--with "trade secret," proprietary programming code. It couldn't be more obvious.

Join your local election reform group--or form your own--and help restore our right to vote NOW, while we still have the power at the state/local level. It may be our last chance to recover our democracy.

See the DU Forum "2004 Election Results and Discussion" for information and action ideas:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=203http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=203

[understandinglife]

24. July 29 2005 - Letter from several US Senators to Bush re: Bolton

US Senate
WASHINGTON, DC 20510

July 29, 2005

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

In light ofthe fact that John Bolton was not truthful to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the questionnaire he swore was truthful, we ask that you do not make a recess appointment of Mr. Bolton to be the Ambassador to the United Nations and instead submit a new nomination to the Senate.

Mr. Bolton's excuse that he "didn't recall being interviewed by the State Department's Inspector General" is simply not believable. How can you forget an interview about an issue so important that the United States Senate unanimously passed an amendment stating that Congress supports "the thorough and expeditious investigation by the Inspector General of the Department of State and the Inspector General of the Central Intelligence Agency into the documents ... that the President relied on to conclude that Iraq had attempted to obtain uranium from Africa"? The amendment was cosponsored by the Chairmen of both the Foreign Relations Committee and the Intelligence Committee.

Mr. President, we know you are engaged in an effort to strengthen our relationships throughout the world. Sending someone to the United Nations who has not been confirmed by the United States Senate and now who has admitted to not being truthful on a document so important that it requires a sworn affidavit is going to set our efforts back in many ways.

Sincerely,

Link:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/senate.bolton.letter.pdf

Discussion at TPM Cafe here:

http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/7/29/154855/679

"... now who has admitted to not being truthful on a document so important that it requires a sworn affidavit ..." - yeap.


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[understandinglife]

26. Dean: Bush Must Not Use Recess Appointment for Bolton

Press Release

Bolton Stonewalling Raises Even More Questions Dean: Bush Must Not Use Recess Appointment for Bolton

Washington, DC - A State Department spokesman yesterday confirmed that President Bush's nominee to be United Nations ambassador, former Undersecretary of State John Bolton, failed to disclose in his Senate questionnaire that he has been questioned by investigators examining faulty prewar intelligence.

The State Department inspector general is conducting an internal probe with the CIA as to how false intelligence about Iraq's alleged attempt to secure uranium from Africa was used in the decision to invade Iraq more than two years ago.

In addition, Bolton has refused to reveal whether he testified before a grad jury swirling questions about his handling of a State Department memo that is believed by federal prosecutors to be a key source of information for individuals who improperly, and possibly illegally, disclosed the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Bolton should not be appointed to the United Nations post until questions surrounding his involvement in these investigations have been answered:

"Failing to reveal his involvement in an ongoing State Department-CIA investigation in his Senate questionnaire, raises very serious questions about John Bolton's credibility. John Bolton and the Bush Administration must stop stonewalling and come clean about Bolton's role in these two investigations that have cast a dark cloud of corruption over the White House. To preserve any remaining confidence in the integrity of Bush's foreign policy team, Bush must not use a recess appointment to install Bolton at the United Nations."

http://dnc.org/a/2005/07/bolton_stonewal.php

"To preserve any remaining confidence in the integrity of Bush's ...." - Mr Dean, as I'm sure you realize, 'integrity' and 'Bush' are mutually exclusive.


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[understandinglife]

30. Bolton Not Truthful, 36 Senators Charge in Opposing Appointment

Bolton Not Truthful, 36 Senators Charge in Opposing Appointment

by Steven R Weisman

July 30, 2005

WASHINGTON, July 29 - Charging that John R. Bolton was "not truthful" in answering questions about his record, 36 senators urged President Bush on Friday not to make a recess appointment of Mr. Bolton as United Nations ambassador after the Senate's failure to confirm him for that job.

But one Republican official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the president has not announced his decision, said Mr. Bush would probably appoint Mr. Bolton next week.

In a letter to Mr. Bush, the senators cited the disclosure on Thursday that Mr. Bolton had been interviewed by the State Department's inspector general in an investigation of intelligence failures related to Iraq, even though he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in March that he had not been involved in any such inquiry.

<clip>

bIn a final gesture of opposition, Democratic senators indicated that they would use a parliamentary maneuver to formally send Mr. Bolton's name back to the White House once the Senate adjourns, rather than have it remain pending at the Senate.

Link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/30/politics/30bolton.html?ei=5094&en=9d594c0f61f6ec9e&hp=&ex=1122696000&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

OK.


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[understandinglife]

31. ".. our ambassador to the UN will be a man who is either suffering from ..

... severe memory loss or a liar (and possibly a perjurer), or both, not to mention a most undiplomatic diplomat, a determined advocate for tailoring intelligence to policy goals and, as former State Department official Carl Ford once memorably described him, a “kick down-kiss up” kind of guy.

Winning hearts and minds …

<clip>

According to Title 18, Section 1621 of the US Code, anyone who “in any declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title 28, United States Code, willfully subscribes as true any material matter which he does not believe to be true” has committed perjury.

On July 18 of 2003, 12 days after Joe Wilson accused the Bush administration in a New York Times op-ed article of twisting intelligence and four days after columnist Bob Novak blew the cover of Wilson’s wife, CIA proliferation operative Valerie Plame, then-Undersecretary of State John Bolton was interviewed by the State Department’s inspector general in connection with an investigation into how the incident Wilson wrote about, the bogus intelligence on an alleged attempt by Iraq to purchase uranium from Niger, developed.

<clip>

From Did John Bolton commit perjury?

July 29, 2005

Link:

http://www.btcnews.com/btcnews/1044

Clear enough ...


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[understandinglife]

27. "Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee said he would vote against Bolton"

<clip>

This week, critics raised a fresh concern, saying Bolton had neglected to tell Congress he had been interviewed in a government investigation into faulty prewar intelligence on Iraq.

The State Department said Thursday that Bolton was interviewed in 2003 by the department inspector general. The office was conducting a joint investigation with the CIA into allegations that Iraq attempted to buy nuclear materials from Niger. Bolton had earlier submitted a questionnaire to the Senate in which he had said he had not testified to a grand jury or been interviewed by investigators in any inquiry over the past five years.

Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee said he would vote against Bolton - if given the chance - and would oppose a recess appointment if it is accurate that Bolton's form was originally incorrect.

``Any intimidation of the facts, or suppression of information getting to the public which led us to the war, absolutely should preclude him from a recess appointment,'' said Chafee, of Rhode Island.

Also Friday, 35 Democratic senators and one independent, Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont, sent a letter to Bush urging against a recess appointment. ``Sending someone to the United Nations who has not been confirmed by the United States Senate and now who has admitted to not being truthful on a document so important that it requires a sworn affidavit is going to set our efforts back in many ways,'' the letter said.

From Sources: Bush to Appoint Bolton on Recess

By JENNIFER LOVEN
Associated Press Writer

July 29, 2005

One of many links to this AP story:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5177064,00.html

Do we permit his dictatorship to advance?


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[donkeyotay]

28. Bolton is directly responsible for lies for war... and for outing Plame?

Bolton's Yellowcake
Ray McGovern
May 11, 2005


Just two months later, however, this canard (the yellowcake) reappeared in an official State Department "Fact Sheet" dated Dec. 19, debunking Baghdad's submission to the U.N. Security Council accounting for Iraqi weapons programs. The "Fact Sheet" directly cited the "yellowcake" deal as proof that Saddam Hussein was lying to the United States about his nuclear program (which had been "reconstituted" only in the rhetoric of Bolton's patron, Dick Cheney).

Small problem: State's intelligence analysts had long shared CIA's skepticism about that report. Indeed, in the National Intelligence Estimate of Oct. 1, 2002 they had branded it "dubious."

What accounts for new life being injected into this canard? We learned some time ago from a former senior Bush State Department official that the impetus came from Bolton's office. And now we have documentary proof, thanks to a State Department Inspector General investigation, the results of which were shared with a congressional subcommittee. In sum, when Bolton realized that the Iraq-Niger report itself left most analysts holding their noses (even before it was established that it was based on crude forgeries), his office inserted the bogus story into the official State Department "Fact Sheet" without clearing it with the department's own intelligence analysts. Easy.

This strongly suggests that it was also no accident that a month later the yellowcake fable found its way into the president's state-of-the-union address. Bolton's rogue operation ensured the subsequent embarrassment of one and all when the head of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed El Baradei declared the reports "not authentic," forcing both White House officials and George Tenet to apologize.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050511/boltons_yellowcake.php

The other interesting tidbit in this article is that he had a CIA analyst "on loan" that was helping him out with this bullshit.

[understandinglife]

29. Yes, McGovern has been on-target for sometime. Here are some ...

... links to threads you may find of interest:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4126764

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/000478.html

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4124354 (several references to Bolton's various connections)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4124901&mesg_id=4124901

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[understandinglife]

32. "WHAT THEY HAVE IN COMMON" -- "Lies, evasions, memory lapses, and ...

.... prevarications are characteristics shared by the top U.S. Army brass and our Dear Leader's choices for the government's highest civilian posts. The evidence is overwhelming, and it's no coincidence -- not when it comes to the war in Iraq, torture, the regime's foreign policy, and the nation's highest court.

<clip>

Was he lying? Stonewalling? Or just doing what comes naturally to a right-wing generation of triumphalist American leaders willing to put personal and political ambition -- so-called patriotism -- before honesty?

From WHAT THEY HAVE IN COMMON by John Herman posted at Blogcritics.com on July 29, 2005

Link:

http://blogcritics.org/straightup/2005/07/29/111901.php


Terse comparison of three treacherous individuals -- Gen Miller, Bolton and Roberts.


]b]Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[understandinglife]

35. My Name is John Bolton, and I'm Here to Stop The Diplomacy

My Name is John Bolton, and I'm Here to Stop The Diplomacy

by Hunter

Fri Jul 29th, 2005 at 20:27:32 PDT

It's been a long, winding road of "misstatements", forged intelligence, botched diplomacy, and spectacular tales of obsessive "kick-down" middle management vengeance, but it's looking like a recess appointment of John Bolton as America's U.N. Ambassador is likely to happen in the next few days. Current reports are citing officials inside the White House saying Bush wants to get it over with before he leaves for his summer vacation. (No, I'm not kidding. It's like he's a kid packing for camp or something.)

I have mixed feelings about such an appointment. Well, not really -- at this point, I mostly welcome it, and I think most administration critics have been coming to roughly the same conclusions. If you're out to prove spectacular Bush administration incompetence and corruption, Bolton is the yellowcake-dusted gift that keeps on giving.

<clip>

More at the link and lots of comments (Hunter certainly knows how to provoke a discussion):

http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/7/29/232732/959

My preference is to see the Dems plus a few Repubs return the nomination to the White House - a parliamentary procedure that is available to them.


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[troubleinwinter]

37. Kick & recommended

[fooj]

38. kick

:kick:

[hiley]

40. Excellent thread!

For the truth..
Hiley

[nonny]

44. Bolton asked for & received 10 identities--- I wonder who?

Showdown Vote for U.N. Nominee Bolton
By ANNE GEARAN
AP
WASHINGTON Apr 19, 2005

snip--
According to a spokesman for Dodd, Bolton asked for and received the identities of 10 U.S. officials involved in such secret NSA intercepts during the past four years.
"It's not clear what purpose Mr. Bolton was using this information for," said Dodd spokesman Marvin Fast. "The senator is concerned because it's his understanding that this information is rarely requested, and he wants to ensure that it was for official purposes only."

snip--
Bolton denied he did anything improper, but said he had "lost confidence" in two intelligence analysts who disagreed with him. Bolton also acknowledged that he had asked a U.S. spy agency for details of the secretly recorded communications of other U.S. officials.

Additional stories and details surfaced after the hearing, including that John McLaughlin, then the CIA's No. 2 official, intervened in 2002 to save the job of a Latin America analyst whom Bolton wanted transferred. The case of another analyst who had tangled with Bolton also emerged after the hearing. In that instance, Bolton allegedly accused the State Department officer of insubordination.

On Monday, The Washington Post reported anonymous allegations that Bolton often blocked former Secretary of State Colin Powell from receiving sensitive information for ideological or other reasons.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "is still confident he'll make a good representative for the United States," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Monday. "That's what the president believed in nominating him. And they still support the nomination."

This is from the 2nd page of the article.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=682366&page=1

[understandinglife]

47. Yes, and it is ever more likely that one of those identified is Valerie P

And today's Time Magazine item expands the awareness of how much was being discussed within the administration prior to Ambassador Wilson's article:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4231374

Powell, Tenet VS Cheney, Bolton, Gonzales, Rumsfeld, Feith, Perle, Wolfowitz .... with Valeri P and Brewster, Jennings and State's INR in the middle is sorta how it lines up.


Peace

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[nonny]

45. Bolton Speaks

The U.S. Department of State website has a page of Remarks by Bolton from 2001 through 2005

http://www.state.gov/t/us/rm/

[ClayZ]

46. Can we petition the UN

Asking them not to seat Bolton?

[jazzjunkysue]

48. Bush will do it. He's a spoiled brat. Brain damage. Bolton's in.