Maybe Nobody Will Notice

I believe that John Bolton would have been fired if he’d worked for a major corporation.... Mr. Chairman, it is my opinion that John Bolton is the poster child of what someone in the diplomatic corps should not be.
— Sen. George Voinovich, R-OH

The president did the right thing by sending Mr Bolton to the UN. He is a smart, principled and straightforward candidate and will represent the president and America well on the world stage.
— Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist R-TN

It seems that the President was hoping nobody would notice. In a calculated move to avoid more bad publicity for a lame duck President down in the polls, Bush used a loophole to directly appoint John Bolton to be the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Congress supposed to debate and discuss this stuff? That’s why we elect these guys, right? Bush doesn’t think so. He slipped it past while they are all out of session.

“Yeah, so what,” you say. “why shouldn’t the President get his choice?”

Well, there is the itty bitty fact that this guy despises the U.N. If I wanted a job I probably wouldn’t bad-mouth the organization during my interview. Not Bolton. He was quoted during hearings as having said that if the UN building “lost 10 storys today, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference.” Doesn’t exactly sound like the guy who’s gonna get the job, does it? He also said America is the world’s “only real power” and said UN nation-building projects should “be relegated to history’s junk pile.” Sounds more like he was trying not to get the job to me.

And judging by Frist’s comment supporting a loophole appointment, he must have the same attitude. Maybe he’s trying not to be President.