Our cowboy president defied the U.S. Senate this morning and went ahead and appointed the cowboy John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations while Congress is in recess, a move sure to piss off George W. Bush’s enemies here and around the world.

The appointment ends a months-long standoff between the White House and Senate Democrats who deem Mr. Bolton unfit for the job. They have been holding up his confirmation, the New York Times reports.

“I chose John because of his vast experience in foreign policy, his integrity and his willingness to confront difficult problems head on,” Mr. Bush said in making the announcement at the White House.

Balderdash.

Thirty-six out of 100 senators signed a letter to the president last week saying Mr. Bolton was “not truthful” while answering questions by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in March, and that he should not be given a recess appointment. Even some key Republicans have raised questions about Mr. Bolton over his history of criticizing the U.N., and over charges that he has tried to influence intelligence assessments to conform to his views.

That’s all we need. More political manipulation of intel.

While Bolton’s nomination has the support of the majority of senators, the number is less than the 60 needed to forestall a filibuster, which Democrats had threatened until Mr. Bolton answered certain questions, particularly about his use of classified intelligence about conversations involving administration colleagues. Democrats were also seeking more documents from Mr. Bolton’s past service, a request denied by the White House and deemed unnecessary by some Republicans.

Somehow is it difficult to understand how Bush thinks he scores any points at all in the government or political game by this appointment. But then, you never know what’s going on in Karl Rove’s brain. The language of the appointment was classic Rove attacking Democrats.

The president said, “partisan delaying tactics by a handful of senators,” had denied Mr. Bolton “the up-and-down vote that he deserves.”

The point is, the guy didn’t deserve an up or down vote because he is a liar and an asshole who will do nothing at the U.N. but further erode America’s standing in the world. But that’s not Bush’s concern. He only cares about his standing among conservatives and the profits of his oil company buddies.

Guess which story got buried this morning by Bush’s announcement?

Oil Prices Pass $61 on Saudi King’s Death

This entry was posted on Monday, August 1st, 2005 at 9:17 am and is filed under United Nations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.