Alert

In the first chance at bi-partisan cooperation, President Bush threw sand in the faces of the Democrats by attempting to get John Bolton confirmed a U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Mr. Bolton has been serving as U.N. Ambassador under a recess appointment made after a Republican controlled Senate could not muster sufficient support for him. Bolton is one of the most contentious people in the administration, a person for whom even Republican senators have only lukewarm feelings.

Bolton is a neoconservative and was and remains a champion of the invasion of Iraq. He was accused of being a terrible manager who bullied and harassed his staff to the point of being a public spectacle. Mr. Bolton is a partisan Republican, and his nomination flies in the face of the president’s conciliatory words to the incoming leaders of both Democratically controlled chambers of congress.

This eleventh hour nomination which is likely to fail does not bode well for true cooperation between branches of government and makes the President’s opening to the incoming leaders appear false and hollow. Given the timing of the announcement – two days after the election and on the day of Mr. Bush’s lunch with incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi - this nomination looks like a gauntlet being thrown down before the Democrats by the President.

Clearly, this is a bad omen for the next two years. The President has not heard the voices of the people and that is extremely regrettable. The Republicans in the Senate better throw this nomination out the window.

Blog on!

Wild Bill