Lugar: Bolton Will Be Confirmed

From the Washington Post:

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said yesterday that he expects John R. Bolton, the contentious nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to win a party-line vote in the committee this week.

"Republicans, I suspect, will vote in favor of John Bolton; Democrats, I suspect, will vote unanimously against him," Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) said on CBS's "Face the Nation." That would send Bolton's nomination to the full Senate on a 10 to 8 vote when the GOP-led committee meets Thursday.

Sadly, I agree with the senator's assessment; I think Bolton will be confirmed.

Is Bolton an extremely bad choice? Absolutely.

Not because he was very "difficult", or "demanding", or "wanted intelligence changed to meet his conclusions". While that's all true, that isn't the chief concern by some. Those are just the charges that have made prime time.

Indeed, Bolton is a horrific choice for such a sensitive position. But he's not the first bad candidate to go to the U.N., although he might be the most outrageous (at least, that I'm aware).

Far more troublesome is Bolton's behavior in the last few years. Appearing in Israel and announcing that America should basically attack whatever country Israel told it to attack, for example. He's very much an advocate of the pillage-and-burn mentality that makes up Mr. Bush's foreign policy.

If you want a U.N. ambassador who is there to undermine the checks-and-balances the UN offers, Bolton's a good choice.

If you want a U.N. that can do nothing but stand back helplessly when Mr. Bush takes us into countless more, no-end-in-sight wars, Bolton's the man.

If you want your sons and daughters to go to war without sufficient cause, without sufficient care, the man to send to the U.N. is Bolton.

And with all that said, Bolton will be passed. Cheney has already said that - in the best case scenario, there's a tie because a brave Republican steps up to say no - he will be there to break the tie. Cheney doesn't need additional info. He knows how awful Bolton is because he proposed him.

If you're a constituent of Mr. Voinovich or Mr. Lugar or other GOPers, call them. Tell them no on Bolton.

But even then, Congress is no longer about representing us. It's about the power game the Bushies, Tom DeLay, and Bill Frist have put in place.