Another Round of Bolton
Senator Voinovich has changed his mind. He now thinks UN Ambassador Bolton has done a heckuva job and should be renominated for the post and the Senate should confirm him. Bolton's original nomination ran into trouble the first time around when Mr. Voinovich made it clear he would not vote for him. The Emperor waited for the first Congressional break and then made a recess appointment which runs out at the end of the year. The NY Times fills in a little of the detail:
Now a former Republican critic of Mr. Bolton has changed his mind, giving the White House impetus to try again to get the Senate’s endorsement. Senator George V. Voinovich, Republican of Ohio, urged the Senate on Thursday to approve Mr. Bolton’s nomination, saying the United States needs a fully sanctioned United Nations representative in the tumultuous world climate.
...Andy Fisher, a spokesman for Mr. Lugar, whose committee would oversee the nomination, said the White House had already filed paperwork for Mr. Bolton’s nomination months ago and it was now up to the Senate to push it through. Mr. Fisher said that Mr. Lugar could have hearings on Mr. Bolton’s nomination by the start of the Congressional August recess — though, he said, nothing was officially set yet. [Emphasis added]
Why the change of heart, and, more importantly, why the rush? Look to the calendar for the answer: it's an election year, and November is only four months away. Michael Roston of tpm cafe's Bolton Watch posted a pretty sound analysis of what the Republicans have in mind and what the Democrats should do about it this time around.
As a nervous Republican power base in the US Senate looks to November, they see a new round of Bolton hearings as an opportunity to take the Democrats to the cleaners, painting them as best buddies of the appeasers of tyrants and enablers of corruption at the United Nations. Voinovich, with his talk of sending the wrong message to the terrorists, is just the tip of the spear. The Senate Republican leadership clearly sees this circus as an opportunity for some of their weaker co-conspirators to run over Democrat challengers on national security when Election Day rolls around back home.
If the Democrats are going to keep the Bolton re-nomination from being a boondoggle, they need to run on something smarter than the strategy we saw in the spring and summer of 2005. They must concentrate on Bolton’s record as a diplomat over the past year. ...
In the area of UN diplomacy, Democrats should ask why Sudan's allies have checkmated us on almost every move related to the genocide in Darfur? Additionally why are we so incapable of getting the UN Security Council to take strong positions against the missile and nuclear programs of North Korea and Iran? Moreover, has Bolton succeed[ed] in keeping states that complicate American interests off of key bodies like the Security Council?
When it comes to UN reform, it is not clear that Bolton has succeeded either. What ever happened to Bolton’s proposal to change the formula used to determine which states pay for most UN activities? Are we any closer to the priorities for UN reform outlined by Senators and Representatives in the past year? Why did the US proposal for an improved human rights body at the UN fail? And, will the US get a candidate for Secretary-General that it can work with? [Emphasis added]
These are all excellent questions which the Democrats must ask during the committe hearings, and they must push for answers rather than engage in long meandering soliloquies. Without Mr. Voinovich's vote on the committee, the chances are Bolton will head to the Senate floor with a recommendation for approval if the Democrats don't do their homework. Just as bad, without a strong showing of concern on the issue of international security and its impact on our national security, the Democrats will once again played into the GOP hands.
Get with the program, ladies and gentlemen.
Now a former Republican critic of Mr. Bolton has changed his mind, giving the White House impetus to try again to get the Senate’s endorsement. Senator George V. Voinovich, Republican of Ohio, urged the Senate on Thursday to approve Mr. Bolton’s nomination, saying the United States needs a fully sanctioned United Nations representative in the tumultuous world climate.
...Andy Fisher, a spokesman for Mr. Lugar, whose committee would oversee the nomination, said the White House had already filed paperwork for Mr. Bolton’s nomination months ago and it was now up to the Senate to push it through. Mr. Fisher said that Mr. Lugar could have hearings on Mr. Bolton’s nomination by the start of the Congressional August recess — though, he said, nothing was officially set yet. [Emphasis added]
Why the change of heart, and, more importantly, why the rush? Look to the calendar for the answer: it's an election year, and November is only four months away. Michael Roston of tpm cafe's Bolton Watch posted a pretty sound analysis of what the Republicans have in mind and what the Democrats should do about it this time around.
As a nervous Republican power base in the US Senate looks to November, they see a new round of Bolton hearings as an opportunity to take the Democrats to the cleaners, painting them as best buddies of the appeasers of tyrants and enablers of corruption at the United Nations. Voinovich, with his talk of sending the wrong message to the terrorists, is just the tip of the spear. The Senate Republican leadership clearly sees this circus as an opportunity for some of their weaker co-conspirators to run over Democrat challengers on national security when Election Day rolls around back home.
If the Democrats are going to keep the Bolton re-nomination from being a boondoggle, they need to run on something smarter than the strategy we saw in the spring and summer of 2005. They must concentrate on Bolton’s record as a diplomat over the past year. ...
In the area of UN diplomacy, Democrats should ask why Sudan's allies have checkmated us on almost every move related to the genocide in Darfur? Additionally why are we so incapable of getting the UN Security Council to take strong positions against the missile and nuclear programs of North Korea and Iran? Moreover, has Bolton succeed[ed] in keeping states that complicate American interests off of key bodies like the Security Council?
When it comes to UN reform, it is not clear that Bolton has succeeded either. What ever happened to Bolton’s proposal to change the formula used to determine which states pay for most UN activities? Are we any closer to the priorities for UN reform outlined by Senators and Representatives in the past year? Why did the US proposal for an improved human rights body at the UN fail? And, will the US get a candidate for Secretary-General that it can work with? [Emphasis added]
These are all excellent questions which the Democrats must ask during the committe hearings, and they must push for answers rather than engage in long meandering soliloquies. Without Mr. Voinovich's vote on the committee, the chances are Bolton will head to the Senate floor with a recommendation for approval if the Democrats don't do their homework. Just as bad, without a strong showing of concern on the issue of international security and its impact on our national security, the Democrats will once again played into the GOP hands.
Get with the program, ladies and gentlemen.
posted by Diane at 4:11 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home