Is Bolton going to get confirmed?

[Seeing Red]

What do you guys think? At this stage, all things considered, are they going to go through with it or might they redeem themselves after all?

[gademocrat7]

1. I sincerely hope he does not

[applegrove]

2. How embarrassing if he does. More and more Americans are against

the war in Iraq.

[saltpoint]

3. There are enough whores in the Republican side of the Senate to --

-- push him through, I imagine, and we might lose Lieberman (?), both Nelsons, (??), and Landrieu. (?)

I hope not. I do not like Mr. Bolton and I think he's there to dismantle the United Nations and not "reform" it.

Someone like John Bolton does not represent the better nature of the United States and its people.

[POAS]

4. All signs point to Yes......dammit

[zulchzulu]

5. Bolton will get confirmed...and we'll use it as an issue in 2006

Bolton will get the nod after all this crap and will further make an ass out of himself (and thus the US) in time to use it as an issue in 2006.

I firmly hope he doesn't get nominated, but he in fact will.

[JNelson6563]

6. Yes and many here will blame Dean

Anyone wanna bet me?

:toast:

[napi21]

7. Why blame Dean? Last I heard, he was slamming Bolton! n/t

[fujiyama]

9. That would make no sense

and while I've seen irrational attacks against him (as well as Kerry for that matter), I haven't seen anyone blame him for the fact that Dems have failed on most major legislative issues.

[JNelson6563]

16. Look again my friend

Ho wmany times a week do I see someone at DU pissing and moaning cause Dean isn't making (insert pet cause) the main focus of all dialogue. It's irrational, it's unreasonable and it's damn sad.

Julie

[zulchzulu]

11. Dean would have NOTHING to do with Bolton's nomination

It's the Repugs and a couple possible Demo turncoats that will push Bolton into his rightful PNAC position and keep the project perfectly in place...

Dean has been fighting hard to make sure that the Democratic message is firmly to be against Bolton.

Unless some people think that Dean has some magical mind-melding powers that can make Repugs go against their Rove-driven marching orders, it's not Dean's fault.

If I were Dean, I'd make sure to use the Bolton nomination as a large issue for fundraising for the 2006 races. After all, that's Dean's job as DNC chair...not swaying Repugs to open their eyes...

[JDPriestly]

8. My wild guess.

If I were to write a novel on this. My plot would be as follows:

Bolton gets appointed, making Bush appear the political hero of the right for the moment. The plan backfires on Bush when Bolton meets his match in a self-appointed sleuth who works in a lowly position in the diplomatic brotherhood that runs the UN behind the scenes. The sleuth discovers that Bolton has committed egregious fraud over and over with regard to evidence of WMDS in various countries and, at great peril to himself, and after many harrowing experiences and nail biting setbacks in various mysterious spots in the third world reveals the truth about Bolton to us all. As a result, the web of deception created by the Bush administration is made plain for the whole world to see. Oh, and during the novel, the sleuth falls in love with one of Kerry's wonderful daughters and, at the end, gets to marry her. Oh, and they live happily ever after.

LOL

[salin]

10. missing detail

bush appoints him as a recess appointment - those are always controversial as it is clear that it is completely at the will of the pres - due to lack of support - bush starts out looking weak... and ends up looking awful.

[dchill]

15. Your novel...

That would be found in the "Historical Fiction" section, right?

[Sooner75]

25. damaged goods

Heard one pundit say that even IF Bolton gets confirmed, he's damaged goods at this point. Everyone on the planet now knows what a piece of work this guy is....that he's the ineffective choice of a lame duck president.

If he goes off on a tirade at the UN, I think the "blowback" will hurt Bolton, Bush, and, fo course, us as well. Bolton was nominated to hurt the UN, but I think it'll happen the other way round.

As noted earlier, Bolton is a GREAT campaign issue in 2006 and 2008.

[nevergiveup]

12. Yes, he is going to be confirmed but

as dangerous as this nomination is, it is nothing compared to what we are going to face with SCOTUS. Hopefully some of the moderates who vote for Bolton have saved a little courage for the battle to come. Don't count on it but we can pray.

[CityDem]

14. This is what I see

Bush will nominate a conservative to replace Rehnquist. The dems in the senate will make a little noise to placate their base. The nominee will be approved by 60+ votes because he/she will not change the progressive/conservative balance in the Court. I can't think a justice who is more conservative on a consistent basis than Rehnquist. We might actually luck out and get a new justice that is more progressive than Rehnquist. In any case, the dems will not take the fight all the way (filibuster) until AWOL nominates a conservative to replace O'Connor or Stevens.

Regarding Bolton, he will be approved by 52-55 votes and people the average person will not hear about him again until he is arrested in 2009.

[housewolf]

13. I think the pendulum is still in motion

I don't believe it's swung decisively one way or the other yet.

The only Dem wavering is Ben Nelson, I believe all the other Dems are committed to voting against Bolton.

From the Republican side, I believe we have Voinovich and McCain. We need at least 5 more from the Repub side. I think some are still sway-able.

Many repubs really don't like this appointment but whether they can be persuaded to vote against him is still in play.

It's also unnkown how the Dems will handle "non-filibuster filibuster" and the request for the NSA memos and other documents that the WH is refusing to provide.

The WH could easily move this nomination forward by releasing the information. If there's nothing there, as they claim, then no problem, Bolton gets approved. Their refusal to release the information is a telling point in their participation of the hold-up of the nomination.

[karynnj]

19. Unless he said something in the last week,

McCain made a Senate floor speech where he supported Bolton. I would love to hear that he has changed.

[housewolf]

22. McCain has inserted himself into the documents process

He's working on trying to get the documents from the WH, so I'm not positive on how he'll vote.

According to Steve Clemmons of "The Washington Note," (thewashingtonnote.com) a long-time Washington foreign policy insider who's done yoeman's work tracking all the ins and outs of this Bolton process, some repub senators are looking real hard for a reason to NOT vote for Bolton.


We have Voinovich and Thune. Steve Clemmons says Arlen Specter is so uncomfortable with Bolton that he left town to avoid the cloture vote. Voting against Bolton would give Hagel an opportunity to show some leadership. Hagel was in New Hampshire last month and when asked about Bolton, expressed major concerns (as seen on c-span). Susan Collins is trying to get some base closing documents from the Pentagon (she & Lieberman are considering issuing a subpoena for the documents she wants). It's possible she could make the admin's withholding of documents into a cause worth fighting for.

And then there was that new article that came out today about Bolton firing someone over WMD data.

It's not over till it's over, and until then we still have a chance to effect the outcome of this by continuting to call senators expressing our concerns about Bolton.

[LunaC]

23. Thanks for your excellent summary

I was wondering where all the Players were standing these days.

You give me hope.....

[annabanana]

17. I think it depends on how much we can push the

new Bolton revelations...and tie him to the DSM, intelligence fixing business. There's been a bunch of print publicity... and we have congress people to reach...

[Olney Blue]

18. I don't think it is a done deal.

The committee (controlled by Repubs) sent him forward without a recommendation.

Several republicans have reservations.

More bad press about Bolton over the weekend- its NEVER good.

There is the smell of a slowly roasting lame duck, basted with Frist sauce.

[Finder]

20. I hope not...

but since nobody out there in average american land seems to even be aware of the issues surrounding him...

[corbett]

21. Senator Boxer Has Him By The Short Hairs

Senators Boxer and Kerry are all over this one. Voinovich left a lasting impression with his misty please and Daschle's rightie successor is tipping against Bolton. It's still a toss-up but every day matters look worse for Bolton.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050601/the_key_to_impeachment.php

[TheFarseer]

24. Yes

It's a lost cause. Only Voinovich will vote against him. I'd bet a few dems will support him to. This will be on the lines of 58-42 or close to that.

[UnityDem]

26. Snowe/Collins will probably

vote no along with Voinovich to make it 3 no Repubs (we need 6). Think all 44 dems plus Jeffords will vote no. Only defection might be Nelson of Neb, but think he holds.
That will make it 52-48 for confirmation.

[truthisfreedom]

27. i don't think he will. i have a feeling he'll step down as a nominee

without explanation, and bushco will have a few days of uninterrupted regret and braying about Democratic fillibustering, and then we won't hear from him for another few years until the next thug prez is in place thanks to deebuld.