John R. Bolton
- Thread starter Reverend Blair
- Start date
One more time bad boy, this is the LAST time I am telling you to stop trolling these threads trying to incite...next time you will be banned.
Right now America is under fire, and even if everything John Bolton says about the UN is accurate, nobody is ready to listen.
If the world wasn't so angry at America, the world would probably be nodding in agreement about every criticism ever uttered by Bolton or by anyone about the UN.
Anyone really think every story of the one UN high rise would be missed?
Over-reactions of course are in plenty supply everywhere you look.
If the world wasn't so angry at America, the world would probably be nodding in agreement about every criticism ever uttered by Bolton or by anyone about the UN.
Anyone really think every story of the one UN high rise would be missed?
Over-reactions of course are in plenty supply everywhere you look.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Tuesday accused Senate Democrats of playing politics by blocking for a second time the confirmation of John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said President Bush still wanted an up-or-down Senate vote for Bolton and would not say whether Bush planned to bypass Senate procedure and appoint Bolton when Congress recesses.
Senate Democrats on Monday blocked Bolton's nomination when Republican leaders fell six votes short of the 60 votes needed to end a procedural hurdle known as a filibuster and advance the nomination to a confirmation vote.
"We continue to urge the Senate to give him an up-or-down vote. John Bolton enjoys majority support, that is clear. And the Democratic leadership is simply blocking progress and blocking reform at the United Nations by their tactics. This is clearly (the) Democratic leadership playing politics with this nomination," McClellan said.
It was the second failed attempt by Senate Republican leaders to bring the contested nomination to a vote. The White House has not ruled out the possibility Bush could appoint Bolton to the post during an upcoming congressional recess.
A recess appointment for Bolton would allow him to serve as ambassador until a new Congress is seated in January 2007. But it could anger Republicans and Democrats alike for going around established procedure.
Democrats are demanding that the White House release information they say is important to the Senate's review of his fitness for the job. They want to know whether Bolton, the top U.S. diplomat for arms control, misused intelligence and bullied analysts who did not conform to his hard-line views.
Bush has said Bolton is needed in the U.N. job to push for reforms.
White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card talked on Monday to Sen. Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record) of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about providing additional information on Bolton, but they came to no agreement.
"We've continued to make a good-faith effort. The Democrats clearly aren't interested in more information," McClellan said.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said President Bush still wanted an up-or-down Senate vote for Bolton and would not say whether Bush planned to bypass Senate procedure and appoint Bolton when Congress recesses.
Senate Democrats on Monday blocked Bolton's nomination when Republican leaders fell six votes short of the 60 votes needed to end a procedural hurdle known as a filibuster and advance the nomination to a confirmation vote.
"We continue to urge the Senate to give him an up-or-down vote. John Bolton enjoys majority support, that is clear. And the Democratic leadership is simply blocking progress and blocking reform at the United Nations by their tactics. This is clearly (the) Democratic leadership playing politics with this nomination," McClellan said.
It was the second failed attempt by Senate Republican leaders to bring the contested nomination to a vote. The White House has not ruled out the possibility Bush could appoint Bolton to the post during an upcoming congressional recess.
A recess appointment for Bolton would allow him to serve as ambassador until a new Congress is seated in January 2007. But it could anger Republicans and Democrats alike for going around established procedure.
Democrats are demanding that the White House release information they say is important to the Senate's review of his fitness for the job. They want to know whether Bolton, the top U.S. diplomat for arms control, misused intelligence and bullied analysts who did not conform to his hard-line views.
Bush has said Bolton is needed in the U.N. job to push for reforms.
White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card talked on Monday to Sen. Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record) of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about providing additional information on Bolton, but they came to no agreement.
"We've continued to make a good-faith effort. The Democrats clearly aren't interested in more information," McClellan said.
The issue is whether Bolton is competent or not. If he went after analysts that gave honest answers instead of kowtowing to Bolton's twisted agenda, then he isn't competent. It is the Republicans, the Bush White House, that is refusing to release that information. Blaming the Democrats doesn't wash here.
he other issue is that Bolton is openly hostile to the UN. He is not a reformer, he is a destroyer. He is petulant, childish, and mean. He has no concept of diplomacy or multilateralism.
If Bush appoints Bolton in recess, Bolton goes in as damaged goods. He will still have to face Senate approval when the recess ends too. If he doesn't get it, that will further embarrass Bush.
he other issue is that Bolton is openly hostile to the UN. He is not a reformer, he is a destroyer. He is petulant, childish, and mean. He has no concept of diplomacy or multilateralism.
If Bush appoints Bolton in recess, Bolton goes in as damaged goods. He will still have to face Senate approval when the recess ends too. If he doesn't get it, that will further embarrass Bush.
It's not a message, it's an attempt at a hostile takeover that will ultimately fail and further destroy US credibility out side of the Jesusland states, but not before it greatly damages the ability of the UN to function.
If Bush wanted UN reform, he would back the reform package that Kofi Annan put forward. Bush doesn't want reform though, he wants to unilaterally dictate policy to the world, so he's trying to destroy the UN.
If Bush wanted UN reform, he would back the reform package that Kofi Annan put forward. Bush doesn't want reform though, he wants to unilaterally dictate policy to the world, so he's trying to destroy the UN.
HaHa, suck it up scuzz ball
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WASHINGTON - President Bush is left with few options for reviving his stalled nomination of John Bolton to be U.N. ambassador. And all carry potential political liabilities, including what might be his last resort: an end run around the Senate with a recess appointment.
Increasing pressure on Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist for an up-and down vote, as the president did on Tuesday, seems unlikely to pay off and could keep the Senate bogged down.
"He asked that we continue to work," Frist said after lunch with the president. "And we'll continue to work."
Yet there was no indication Bush or Frist could pick up support to end the Democratic blocking tactics. Instead, the trend seemed heading the other way.
Republican Sen. George Voinovich (news, bio, voting record) of Ohio, who voted last month to break the filibuster, sided with Democrats on Monday's 54-38 vote. That was six short of the 60 required to break a filibuster.
Bush could bow to Democratic demands and turn over more material on Bolton. But that would be seen as a stinging concession by the president — and there's no guarantee Democrats would drop their delaying tactics.
Or Bush could circumvent the process and give Bolton a short-term recess appointment to the post — as early as the approaching Fourth of July congressional break. This could be the path of least resistance.
But while it would let Bush seat Bolton at the United Nations with the stroke of a pen, he could serve only to January 2007, when the current Congress adjourns.
Sen. Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record), D-Del., a leading Bolton opponent, said Wednesday the president would be making a mistake if he installed Bolton as a recess appointment. "I think that would be a mistake, but we couldn't stop them," Biden said on NBC's "Today" show.
Labeled up front as a short-timer and lacking the backing of the Senate could hamstring Bolton in the eyes of the international community and further polarize Congress.
"You want to send someone there that has the confidence not only of the president but also the Senate," said Sen. Christopher Dodd (news, bio, voting record), D-Conn., a leading Bolton critic.
Republicans are mindful of this. That's one reason the administration and its allies on Capitol Hill are not mentioning recess appointments — just yet. Bush and his advisers are taking pains to make sure they don't signal such an intention and further fan partisan fires.
"We've got lots of options," Bush chief political adviser Karl Rove said in an interview with MSNBC when asked about a Bolton recess appointment. "Let's, though, stay focused on the main and most important option ... and that is to have an up-or-down vote."
Democrats have held up Bolton's nomination by demanding that the administration check a list of 36 U.S. officials against names in secret national security intercepts that Bolton requested and received. They also want documents related to the preparation of testimony that Bolton planned to deliver — but ultimately never gave — in the House in July 2003 about Syria's weapons capability.
The Constitution allows a president to fill vacancies while Congress is recessed. The provision harkens back to an era when members took days to get to the national capital, and when recesses routinely stretched for months.
Such conditions, of course, no longer apply. But the constitutional authority does, and both Bush and Democratic predecessor President Clinton have used it selectively — annoying the other party in the process.
In 2001, Bush gave recess appointments to Eugene Scalia, son of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, as solicitor of the Labor Department and to former Reagan White House aide Otto Reich as assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere.
He has also temporarily seated several federal appellate court judges blocked by Democrats, including Charles Pickering of Mississippi and William Pryor of Alabama. Pickering has since retired. Pryor was renominated and won Senate confirmation just last week.
Clinton gave recess appointments to William Lann Lee as assistant attorney general for civil rights and gay activist James Hormel as ambassador to Luxembourg after both were denied confirmation votes by the GOP-run Senate. In 1996, Clinton recess-appointed Wyche Fowler, a Democratic former senator from Georgia, as ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Bush has yet another option, of course. He could withdraw Bolton's name and nominate someone else.
But there's absolutely no hint that he's interested in that course.
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WASHINGTON - President Bush is left with few options for reviving his stalled nomination of John Bolton to be U.N. ambassador. And all carry potential political liabilities, including what might be his last resort: an end run around the Senate with a recess appointment.
Increasing pressure on Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist for an up-and down vote, as the president did on Tuesday, seems unlikely to pay off and could keep the Senate bogged down.
"He asked that we continue to work," Frist said after lunch with the president. "And we'll continue to work."
Yet there was no indication Bush or Frist could pick up support to end the Democratic blocking tactics. Instead, the trend seemed heading the other way.
Republican Sen. George Voinovich (news, bio, voting record) of Ohio, who voted last month to break the filibuster, sided with Democrats on Monday's 54-38 vote. That was six short of the 60 required to break a filibuster.
Bush could bow to Democratic demands and turn over more material on Bolton. But that would be seen as a stinging concession by the president — and there's no guarantee Democrats would drop their delaying tactics.
Or Bush could circumvent the process and give Bolton a short-term recess appointment to the post — as early as the approaching Fourth of July congressional break. This could be the path of least resistance.
But while it would let Bush seat Bolton at the United Nations with the stroke of a pen, he could serve only to January 2007, when the current Congress adjourns.
Sen. Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record), D-Del., a leading Bolton opponent, said Wednesday the president would be making a mistake if he installed Bolton as a recess appointment. "I think that would be a mistake, but we couldn't stop them," Biden said on NBC's "Today" show.
Labeled up front as a short-timer and lacking the backing of the Senate could hamstring Bolton in the eyes of the international community and further polarize Congress.
"You want to send someone there that has the confidence not only of the president but also the Senate," said Sen. Christopher Dodd (news, bio, voting record), D-Conn., a leading Bolton critic.
Republicans are mindful of this. That's one reason the administration and its allies on Capitol Hill are not mentioning recess appointments — just yet. Bush and his advisers are taking pains to make sure they don't signal such an intention and further fan partisan fires.
"We've got lots of options," Bush chief political adviser Karl Rove said in an interview with MSNBC when asked about a Bolton recess appointment. "Let's, though, stay focused on the main and most important option ... and that is to have an up-or-down vote."
Democrats have held up Bolton's nomination by demanding that the administration check a list of 36 U.S. officials against names in secret national security intercepts that Bolton requested and received. They also want documents related to the preparation of testimony that Bolton planned to deliver — but ultimately never gave — in the House in July 2003 about Syria's weapons capability.
The Constitution allows a president to fill vacancies while Congress is recessed. The provision harkens back to an era when members took days to get to the national capital, and when recesses routinely stretched for months.
Such conditions, of course, no longer apply. But the constitutional authority does, and both Bush and Democratic predecessor President Clinton have used it selectively — annoying the other party in the process.
In 2001, Bush gave recess appointments to Eugene Scalia, son of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, as solicitor of the Labor Department and to former Reagan White House aide Otto Reich as assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere.
He has also temporarily seated several federal appellate court judges blocked by Democrats, including Charles Pickering of Mississippi and William Pryor of Alabama. Pickering has since retired. Pryor was renominated and won Senate confirmation just last week.
Clinton gave recess appointments to William Lann Lee as assistant attorney general for civil rights and gay activist James Hormel as ambassador to Luxembourg after both were denied confirmation votes by the GOP-run Senate. In 1996, Clinton recess-appointed Wyche Fowler, a Democratic former senator from Georgia, as ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Bush has yet another option, of course. He could withdraw Bolton's name and nominate someone else.
But there's absolutely no hint that he's interested in that course.
Ummm...this is completely off-topic, but could somebody please tell me why paragraphs now consist of only one or two sentences? I realize that most of this stuff is only written on a grade 8 level, but I remember grade 8 and paragraphs were longer then. Also, the girls were incredibly obliging, but that's even further off topic...