In a column that appears in the Washington Post today, Senate Republican from Ohio, George V. Voinovich urges confirmation of John Bolton as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations when his nomination comes up again this fall. Voinovich was not effusive in his praise.
My observations are that while Bolton is not perfect, he has demonstrated his ability, especially in recent months, to work with others and follow the president's lead by working multilaterally. In recent weeks I have watched him react to the challenges involving North Korea, Iran and now the Middle East, speaking on behalf of the United States.
I believe Bolton has been tempered and focused on speaking for the administration.
In an opinion piece that sounds more like a student progress report, Voinovich implies that Bolton acquired a great deal of self control in little over a year. It was in May of last year that the Senate first considered the Bolton nomination, choosing filibuster over confirmation. It was a staged by Democrats and calculated to weaken President Bush. Two Republicans joined the Democrats in their effort. John Thune of South Dakota was one, Voinovich was the other. It seems Voinovich felt Bolton lacked the proper emotional balance having spoken harshly to a subordinate once.
After a long speech about what he called the loss of U.S. credibility in the world and Bolton's harsh management style, Voinovich choked up and struggled to hold back tears as he asked for Bolton's defeat. He said too many senators didn't seem to understand how crucial the U.N. job was to America's image abroad.
"I know some of my friends say, 'Let it go, George, it's going to work out.' I don't want to take the risk," Voinovich said. "I came back here [to the Senate] and ran for a second term because I'm worried about my kids and my grandchildren.
All that's changed now. John Bolton has had opportunities to demonstrate his diplomatic skills and he's done that. George Voinovich now demonstrates that there may be functioning brain cells somewhere in his head. In his column today he says,
For me or my colleagues in the Senate to now question a possible renomination would jeopardize our influence in the United Nations and encourage those who oppose the United States to make Bolton the issue, thereby undermining our policies and agenda.
Too bad ol' George hadn't figured out that undermining our policies and agenda was the entire point of last year's filibuster. Voinovich still doesn't think all that highly of Bolton, even now. Judging by the tone of his article, he seems to think pretty highly of himself though, doesn't he.
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