President BushThe obvious problem with this statement by Bush is that the objections to Bolton seem not to be especially political. Bolton has a record of opposing the UN, and Bolton has a record of being particularly poor in terms of interpersonal relations, a skill that's important for an ambassador.urged the Senate on Thursday to 'put aside politics' and confirm embattled John Bolton to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
This seems to typical of Bush. Instead of dealing with the objections to Bolton, he accuses the objectors of playing politics. Of course he does this all the time. Instead of letting the government issue scientific and economic reports compiled by neutral observers, he politicizes them and suppresses what he doesn't like.
Bush seems to be incapable of dealing with issues on the level at which they are raised and instead twists everything into an attack on the person or group with whom he disagrees. What I don't know is whether he knows that he is doing this. Is he an intellectually dishonest current-day Machiavelli, or is he just intellectually incompetent, i.e., a natural-born politician.
For anyone who is interested, here is an article from the Washington Post that discusses Colin Powell's position on Bolton.
Those who know Powell best said two recent events provide insight into his thinking. Powell did not sign a letter from seven other former U.S. secretaries of state or defense supporting Bolton, and his former chief of staff, Lawrence B. Wilkerson, recently told the New York Times that Bolton would be an 'abysmal ambassador.'
On two occasions, he has let it be known that the Bolton nomination is a bad one, to put it mildly.
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