Redstate

Keeping A Good Man Down

By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Featured Stories | Foreign Affairs — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Deroy Murdock has a good review of the accomplishments of John Bolton at the United Nations and ends his review with the obvious question regarding Bolton's not-rejected-and-yet-not-accepted nomination: Why won't the United States Senate confirm Bolton for the U.S. Ambassador's position and allow him to get back to work? (Read on.)

The reasons are mystifying, and rarely proceed beyond the usual ad hominem attacks that one would expect from empty suits. Bolton has had over a year on the job as President Bush's recess appointment. He has performed impressively, as Murdock shows in his review and has won the praise of his counterparts at the U.N.; something that we weren't supposed to have expected from someone who supposedly "doesn't play well with others" and needs "anger management counseling" in the words of one of Bolton's less witty detractors. In effect, Bolton was given a trial period at the U.N. and has passed with flying colors. He has done everything that one could expect of a diplomat. Not only has Bolton been excellent about receiving and implementing instructions from Washington, he has done so with unusual intelligence and vigor; all of which are hallmarks of his character and personality.

I can't help but notice the following line from this story about the nomination of Robert Gates as Defense Secretary:

"Presidents ought to get the Cabinet they want," said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.

And this line from the Murdock story:

"He's been a very ineffective bully," Senator Chris Dodd (D., Conn.) said September 6.

The latter line is not all that clever and is divorced from reality. The former line is admirable, but apparently not to be put into practice when it comes to a tried-and-true member of the Bush Administration. Of course, if Senator Dodd and others like him want to remain impervious to reason even after having witnessed Bolton's success at the U.N., then that is their business. But every reasonable effort was made to convince people like Senator Dodd that their opposition to Bolton was mistaken. It is to be hoped that President Bush will appoint Bolton to a lesser State Department position that does not require Senate confirmation and simultaneously announce that Bolton will serve as acting U.N. Ambassador. I know that this will upset Congressional grandees, but quite frankly, I don't care. When every reasonable effort has been made--as indeed, it has--to demonstrate that Bolton is a worthy American representative to the U.N., and when his critics refuse to be reasonable in response, it does not and should not follow that the Bush Administration and the country at large should take an unreasonable course as a consequence.

PS: More Bolton reviews can be found here.