Bolton nomination looks to be in jeopardy

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

There's 18 members on the committee (10 Republicans and 8 Democrats). Voinovich said he didn't feel comfortable with voting for Bolton. Lugar put the vote off for a few weeks.

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../w141035D76.DTL

 

Republicans hold a 10-8 majority on the panel, and Lugar had sounded confident early in the session that he had the votes to prevail.

 

But Republican Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and George Voinovich of Ohio, both expressed reservations about a quick vote — as did a solid phalanx of Democrats.

 

This is my prediction on the main comments on this

 

"Yay! Bolton is lousy and he should use Just for Men on his moustache. Good job Dems"

 

"Boo! The Dems are obstructing here!"

 

Has any major appointment (to the Cabinent or UN Ambassador) been killed in a committee?

 

If the vote is 9-9, that means that Bolton doesn't make it out of committee (iow, "b0rk3d")

[Guest MikeSC]

Gee, Chuck Hagel voting against the GOP. Gee, NEVER happens. What a fucking opportunist. I suppose he thinks being the darling of the NY Times will equal him ever being a candidate for serious office.

 

I just loved that so many of his critics are bitching that he doesn't "respect" who he "works for" (referring to the UN), ignoring that, if he is our ambassador, he doesn't work for the UN.

 

Yeah, the left thinks the UN needs some reform --- but screw nominating anybody who might force the issue...

-=Mike

[Guest Vitamin X]

You know, the more I've thought about it, the more I've gotten used to liking the idea of Bolton being the ambassador to the UN.

 

Of course, as it often seems, if I like someone being in office, they get voted against.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Boo Voinovich, you're better than that...

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

They really need to get Bolton through. You can't buy the entertainment he'll bring.

[Guest MikeSC]

Boo Voinovich, you're better than that...

No, he probably isn't.

-=Mike

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

When I was in Ohio he didn't seem that bad. Better than that butthole Taft anyway...

[Guest MikeSC]

When I was in Ohio he didn't seem that bad. Better than that butthole Taft anyway...

Sounds like the classic "Well, testicular cancer is better than the Bubonic Plague" line of thought...

-=Mike

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Pretty much so, much like the PA Senate race this year between Wacky Arlen and Joe Hoffel...

[Guest MikeSC]

Pretty much so, much like the PA Senate race this year between Wacky Arlen and Joe Hoffel...

I said Bush was going to regret supporting Arlen "Scottish Law is About as Good as American Law" Specter over Pat Toomey.

-=Mike

...BTW, does anybody know if Arlen's "Scottish Law allows you to find a case 'not proven'" is actually true? I never saw anybody verify that he didn't simply make that shit up...

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Taft isn't so bad especially when you have to deal with the mayor of Columbus.

[Guest MikeSC]

Taft isn't so bad especially when you have to deal with the mayor of Columbus.

Does the mayor rape kittens?

-=Mike

...I'm not saying Taft did. Just implying that he might have...

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Our mayor just sucks because he's basically untouchable because he's the first black mayor of Columbus. So he's essentially bankrupted the city despite all the incoming businesses and done nothing to address the gang problems in large parts of the city. But no one will say a bad thing about him because he's the first black mayor of Columbus.

[Guest MikeSC]

Our mayor just sucks because he's basically untouchable because he's the first black mayor of Columbus. So he's essentially bankrupted the city despite all the incoming businesses and done nothing to address the gang problems in large parts of the city. But no one will say a bad thing about him because he's the first black mayor of Columbus.

Man. That sucks.

 

Could be worse. He could smoke crack, be nailed doing it, and STILL get re-elected mayor like the mayor of a city that was once allowed to govern itself did.

-=Mike

[Jobber of the Week 0]

He could sweep floors with that damn mustache.

[Guest MikeSC]

He could sweep floors with that damn mustache.

'STACHE-IST!

-=Mike

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

BTW, does anybody know if Arlen's "Scottish Law allows you to find a case 'not proven'" is actually true?

Does it really matter at this point?

 

What I loved about that whole ordeal is a week or so after saying that, he said that Clinton should be impeached for something else he did...

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

He could sweep floors with that damn mustache.

'STACHE-IST!

-=Mike

Yeeeeeeeeeah!!!

 

They make Just for Men for moustaches, Bolton would look better if he tried it.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Our mayor just sucks because he's basically untouchable because he's the first black mayor of Columbus.  So he's essentially bankrupted the city despite all the incoming businesses and done nothing to address the gang problems in large parts of the city.  But no one will say a bad thing about him because he's the first black mayor of Columbus.

Man. That sucks.

 

Could be worse. He could smoke crack, be nailed doing it, and STILL get re-elected mayor like the mayor of a city that was once allowed to govern itself did.

-=Mike

His best was he spent something like 10 million to do landscaping in all of the bad parts of town. So you can guess how long it took for the graffiti to ruin that.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

He could sweep floors with that damn mustache.

'STACHE-IST!

-=Mike

I just picture that stache as comically large, and him walking down the hallways of the UN swishing his lips from the left to right side of his face, causing the massive stache to clean up the shiny marble floors of the UN Secritariat that Kofi installs with oil for food money, usually on the same day that he bitches about the US not giving enough to Africa.

[Guest MikeSC]

BTW, does anybody know if Arlen's "Scottish Law allows you to find a case 'not proven'" is actually true?

Does it really matter at this point?

 

What I loved about that whole ordeal is a week or so after saying that, he said that Clinton should be impeached for something else he did...

That would be for when Clinton stole WH furniture.

His best was he spent something like 10 million to do landscaping in all of the bad parts of town. So you can guess how long it took for the graffiti to ruin that.

But weren't the lawns pretty?

-=Mike

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

Mr. Bolton, give me the stuff you use for your hair

[Guest MikeSC]

Mr. Bolton, give me the stuff you use for your hair

Couldn't he just hit his son up for some Iraqi oil?

-=Mike

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

Mr. Bolton, give me the stuff you use for your hair

Couldn't he just hit his son up for some Iraqi oil?

-=Mike

Is it Coe-jo Annan or Coo-jo (like the dog Cujo) Annan?

 

Either way.. I'm sure that if oil could be like Just for Men, Texan men would be very happy with that

[Highland 0]

He should get rid of the toupee.

[Vyce 0]

Our mayor just sucks because he's basically untouchable because he's the first black mayor of Columbus.  So he's essentially bankrupted the city despite all the incoming businesses and done nothing to address the gang problems in large parts of the city.  But no one will say a bad thing about him because he's the first black mayor of Columbus.

Man. That sucks.

 

Could be worse. He could smoke crack, be nailed doing it, and STILL get re-elected mayor like the mayor of a city that was once allowed to govern itself did.

-=Mike

Mike, as a Washingtonian I would be remiss if I didn't bring up the fact that the fine gentleman to whom you are alluding to is, as we speak, an active member of the city council.

 

Ah, nothing says "stick it to the man!" quite like voting in a drug addict former drug addict.

[Guest MikeSC]

Well, it's not his fault. It's the CIA's or something.

-=Mike

...The CIA: Too busy giving crack to the inner city to even notice 9/11...

[The Czech Republic 0]

Columbusonians, if you're anything like Chicago, your first black mayor will become so overweight that he can't climb the stairs to his office at City Hall, and die from a heart attack.

[CheesalaIsGood 0]

I am very upset that I didn't make the first moustache joke. Damn, damn, and more DAMN!

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

File this under "Bolton, possible problems, not related to him being mean":

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/na...-home-headlines (registration required)

 

Testimony of U.N. Nominee Is Disputed

A former diplomat denies a claim he backed John Bolton's pointed 2003 speech on North Korea. He also describes an angry confrontation.

 

By Paul Richter and Sonni Efron, Times Staff Writers

 

WASHINGTON — A former U.S. ambassador to South Korea said Thursday that John R. Bolton, President Bush's choice for U.N. ambassador, might have misled the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about a provocative and controversial 2003 speech on North Korea.

 

The former ambassador, Thomas Hubbard, also described Bolton yelling and slamming down a telephone on him during a confrontation. It was the latest example of the allegedly confrontational behavior that had helped stall Bolton's nomination.

 

Hubbard has spoken with Foreign Relations Committee aides, who are expanding an investigation into Bolton's background after senators this week postponed a confirmation vote until mid-May.

 

In a sign of deepening White House concern about the fate of the nomination, Bush defended Bolton on Thursday while addressing a group of insurance agents about Social Security reform. A day earlier, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, traveling in Europe, staunchly endorsed Bolton.

 

But in a potentially troublesome development for the administration, former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who has had sharp disagreements with Bolton, has been speaking to Republican senators about the nomination, Powell spokeswoman Peggy Cifrino said Thursday.

 

Although Powell has not taken a public position on the Bolton nomination, his name was absent from a letter sent this month by a group of former Republican secretaries of State and other former officials urging Bolton's approval as U.N. ambassador. The letter was signed by former chief diplomats James A. Baker III, Henry A. Kissinger and George P. Shultz, among others.

 

Bolton, who has served since 2001 as undersecretary of State, has been hobbled by opposition to his critical views on the United Nations, his use of U.S. intelligence assessments in high-profile speeches and testimony, and his reportedly harsh treatment of intelligence analysts and others.

 

In July 2003, Bolton attracted widespread attention with a speech in South Korea in which he leveled repeated personal attacks on North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Some U.S. diplomats feared the speech would lead North Korea to pull out of international talks on its nuclear weapons program.

 

In testimony last week, Bolton implied that Hubbard, former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, had approved of the speech in advance and that he had thanked Bolton for his comments afterward.

 

But Hubbard, a career diplomat who was Bush's ambassador to South Korea from 2001 to 2004, contradicted Bolton, saying in an interview that he had not expressed gratitude for the speech and that he had disapproved of it.

 

"I didn't approve personally of the tone of the speech, and had urged him to tone it down," said Hubbard, now retired from the foreign service.

 

Bolton testified that the night before the speech, Hubbard had "reviewed it one last time and made a few more changes." After the speech, Bolton testified, Hubbard had praised him.

 

"And I can tell you what our ambassador to South Korea, Tom Hubbard, said after the speech," Bolton said under questioning by Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.). "He said: 'Thanks a lot for that speech, John; it will help us a lot out here.' "

 

Hubbard disputed Bolton's testimony.

 

Before the speech, Hubbard said, he had urged Bolton and his staff "to tone it down, on grounds that it would be counterproductive to getting the North Koreans to the negotiating table."

 

But Bolton "rejected that suggestion," Hubbard said.

 

He said that Bolton did agree to accept some recommendations on factual errors, and on some phrases that Hubbard "thought would be taken badly or misunderstood by the South Koreans." When he offered thanks, it was for those changes, Hubbard said.

 

"It's a gross exaggeration to elevate that to praise for the entire speech and approval of it," Hubbard added.

 

Hubbard, who served as U.S. ambassador to the Philippines during the Clinton administration, said he had spoken with several senators and Senate staff members to set the record straight about his views on the Bolton address. His disagreement with Bolton's testimony was first reported this week on Newsweek's website.

 

Chafee, who represents a key vote on the committee as an undecided Republican, has said discrepancies in Bolton's testimony about the speech bothered him.

 

In the 2003 address, Bolton described Kim as a "tyrannical dictator" and said life in impoverished North Korea was a "hellish nightmare." In response, the North Koreans denounced Bolton as "human scum."

 

Bolton insisted in his testimony that the speech had been "fully cleared within the appropriate bureaucracy." He did not specifically identify who had approved the speech.

 

Charles L. "Jack" Pritchard, the State Department's former senior expert on North Korea, refused to approve the address because it was "over the top," Pritchard said Thursday. But former Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage has said the speech was cleared at the State Department.

 

Hubbard described a separate encounter in which, he said, Bolton berated him for failing to set up a meeting with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, as Bolton had requested.

 

Hubbard said he told Bolton that seeking a meeting was unwise, because Assistant Secretary of State James A. Kelly had just met with the South Korean president to convey a message from Bush. In response, Bolton became angry and slammed down the phone to end the conversation, Hubbard said.

 

Foreign Relations Committee aides are investigating three incidents in which Bolton reportedly sought to remove or reassign intelligence analysts who disagreed with him, and several additional reports of Bolton having confrontations with subordinates. Bolton allegedly lashed out at two analysts for refusing to use their intelligence assessments to support his hard-line views. A third analyst refused to supply intelligence documents sought by Bolton.

 

Hubbard said his experience was slightly different.

 

"I was roughly a co-equal with Bolton, so I didn't feel he was kicking down," Hubbard said. "He was kicking sideways. But there was some kick in his manner."

 

Committee aides responsible for jointly conducting the remaining portion of the investigation of Bolton didn't agree Thursday on how to proceed. Democrats and Republicans agreed to hold a vote on Bolton's nomination in May but could not agree on a date.

 

Republicans are eager to hold a vote as quickly as possible, to get Bolton's nomination out of the committee and before the full Senate, where they hold a 55-45 majority. Democrats want to hold open the possibility of Bolton returning to testify again before the vote.

 

The two sides also must agree on which witnesses will be interviewed and on whether to subpoena government officials who do not want to testify out of fear their careers could be damaged by involvement in the nomination battle.

 

Bush, defending his U.N. nominee Thursday, addressed the confirmation fight in a speech on his Social Security proposals before an insurance group in Washington.

 

Bush called Bolton "a good man" whose "distinguished career and service to our nation demonstrates that he is the right man at the right time for this important job."

 

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said she saw a concerted campaign for Bolton in the comments by Bush, Rice and others.

 

"It seems like the White House is making a big push here," she said.

 

Although on thinking about it.. this does have something to do with El Toupee being mean.