NYT: Ambassador Bolton

[fryguy]

IMO - Bush's use of the recess appointment here, while technically legal, is insulting and demonstrates the extreme arrogance and myopic view of the world hallmarked by his administration. I can think of no worse person to represent the US at the United Nations....and clearly I'm not alone...


From the NY Times:

http://nytimes.com/2005/08/02/opinion/02tue1.html

Published: August 2, 2005

If there's a positive side to President Bush's appointment of John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations yesterday, it's that as long as Mr. Bolton is in New York, he will not be wreaking diplomatic havoc anywhere else. Talks with North Korea, for instance, have been looking more productive since Mr. Bolton left the State Department, and it's hard not to think that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's generally positive performance in office is due, in part, to her canniness in dispatching Mr. Bolton out of Washington.

But the appointment is, of course, terrible news for the United Nations, whose diplomats have heard weeks of Senate testimony about Mr. Bolton's lack of respect for their institution and his deeply undiplomatic, bullying style of doing business. Senator George Voinovich, the Ohio Republican who became one of Mr. Bolton's strongest critics, said yesterday that he planned to send the new ambassador a book on how to be an effective manager. It couldn't hurt, but this may be the first time a world superpower has used its top United Nations post as a spot for the remedial training of a troublesome government employee.

Mr. Bush had been unable to get Mr. Bolton's nomination confirmed by the Senate, so he waited until Congress left town and used his constitutional power to make recess appointments. This is a perfectly legal tactic, though one that has seldom been used to fill this kind of position. A recess appointment is particularly dicey for a major diplomatic post, where a good nominee should carry an aura of personal gravitas and legitimacy.

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[JRob]

1. 85% believe that the appointment was wrong according to a CNN poll

[whistle]

2. No kidding, how many responded to that CNN poll?

[JRob]

3. this was by 11AM yesterday

So by the evening it was probably a lot more...

Do you agree with President Bush's decision to use a recess appointment to install John Bolton as U.N. ambassador?

Yes 30% 16311 votes

No 70% 38115 votes
Total: 54426 votes

[fryguy]

4. now...

Yes 29% 43668 votes
No 71% 104833 votes

Total: 148501 votes