Committee Approves Bolton on Straight Party Line Vote

  • CactusPat's picture
    CactusPat
    Want to meet our members? Click 'Join' above!

Looks like the hammer was dropped on stray Repubs on the Sen. Foreign Relations Committee as Bolton was approved by 10-8 vote. Makes you wonder what kind of heat was brought to bear? Intimidation, bribes... ? Both AP and Reuters are reporting...

(AP) reports "Panel Sends Bolton Nomination to Senate" "A divided Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday sent the nomination of John Bolton to be U.N. ambassador to the full Senate. But it took the rare step of refusing to endorse the blunt-speaking conservative. The move kept the contentious nomination alive, leaving its fate in the hands of the GOP-run Senate. By not recommending that senators approve Bolton's nomination, the committee delivered a slap at President Bush in one of the first big battles of his second term. (Intersting twist, eh? A slap in Smirk's face... Guess it's all those questions raised in the past three weeks of investigation...) "It doesn't appear that Mr. Bolton has the confidence of the majority of this committee," said Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, the senior Democrat on the panel. "And I would suggest that it may be worth the president's interest to take note of that." The panel acted after a pivotal Republican member, Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, voiced opposition to the nomination, calling Bolton arrogant and bullying. Yet Voinovich broke a committee impasse by agreeing to let the full Senate vote rather than joining Democrats' effort to kill the nomination in committee..."

In a separate report AP has more on the GOP dust-up, guess the body-snatchers haven't gotten to Voinovich just yet...

(AP) - GOP Senator Breaks Ranks, Attacks Bolton For a grindingly tense moment, John R. Bolton's U.N. prospects dangled in the balance. Republican George Voinovich of Ohio was laying out a case against Bolton for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, calling President Bush's nominee to be the next United Nations ambassador "the poster child of what someone in the diplomatic corps should not be." After weeks of deliberation by the committee, interviews with 29 past and present U.S. officials and examination of thousands of pages of documents, "I have come to the conclusion that the United States can do better than John Bolton," he said in a low voice. Democrats, yearning for Republican support, leaned forward. It seemed the 10-8 Republican majority might disintegrate and be replaced by a 9-9 tie that would stop the nomination. Perhaps Voinovich would touch off an avalanche that would bury the blunt-speaking undersecretary of state. But Voinovich suddenly hesitated, put his prepared statement aside and changed the course he had seemed to be on - enough to keep the nomination alive and possibly ensure its approval by the full Senate. "Mr. Chairman," Voinovich said, "I am not so arrogant to think that I should impose my judgment and perspective of the U.S. position in the world community on the rest of my colleagues. We owe it to the president to give Mr. Bolton an up-or-down vote on the floor of the U.S. Senate... Afterward, Voinovich said he would vote against Bolton on the floor..."

Now that's political kabuki at its finest! For more check AP's "Quotes From Bolton Nomination Hearing"

Comments

You can help ditch Bolton!

  • BenBurch's picture
    BenBurch
    Want to meet our members? Click 'Join' above!

Friends,

The action item here is DIRECT ACTION. You get a zillion pieces of Spam daily, but just this once I want you to send some. Please read the following and send it as an email to each and every one of your email contacts. This is most urgent. I can see no other way to ensure that this man's career ends NOW.

PLEASE!

---------- CUT HERE ----------

Friends,

An evil man named John Bolton is about to be approved as UN Ambassador.

Larry Flynt has the goods on him, but the Media will not cover it.

But YOU have the power to prevent this travesty by forwarding this note to ALL of your email contacts and asking them to do the same.

If you do this, by tomorrow afternoon, Bolton will have to withdraw his name.

Here is Larry Flynt's Press Release;

-----

http://www.larryflynt.com/bolton/

John R. Bolton Court Divorce Records Show His First
Wife Fled Home When He Was Traveling Abroad

Publisher Larry Flynt's Questions Posed to State Department Regarding Corroborated Allegations that First Wife was Forced into Group Sex go Unanswered

May 11-LOS ANGELES-Court records concerning the divorce of John R. Bolton, the Bush administration's nominee to become the next ambassador to the United Nations, show his first wife fled the couple's marital home when he was traveling abroad in mid-August 1982. The records further show that she took most of the couple's furniture.

Corroborated allegations that Mr. Bolton's first wife, Christina Bolton, was forced to engage in group sex have not been refuted by the State Department despite inquires posed by Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt concerning the allegations. Mr. Flynt has obtained information from numerous sources that Mr. Bolton participated in paid visits to Plato's Retreat, the popular swingers club that operated in New York City in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

"The first Mrs. Bolton's conduct raises the presumption that she fled out of fear for her safety or, at a minimum, it demonstrates that Mr. Bolton's established inability to communicate or work respectfully with others extended to his intimate family relations," said Mr. Flynt. "The court records alone provide sufficient basis for further investigation of nominee Bolton by the Senate." (Click here for court records; http://www.larryflynt.com/bolton/court_records.html). Mr. Flynt continued, "The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations must be free of any potential source of disrepute or blackmail."

Mr. Flynt has contacted the State Department asking that they confirm or deny the allegations of Mr. Bolton's prior conduct concerning his wife and the alleged paid visits to Plato's Retreat. He has also called upon the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to conduct an inquiry into the very serious evidence concerning his first wife's fear of him.

Neither the State Department nor the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has yet responded to Mr. Flynt's inquiries.

The Hustler magazine publisher demanded an immediate response from Mr. Bolton. Mr. Flynt has personal knowledge about sources corroborating the allegations of nominee Bolton's misconduct, and he has called upon these persons to publicly come forward with their information.

"First wife Christina Bolton has understandably remained silent on what led her to flee her husband of 10 years and to take the family belonging with hers. A full inquiry would necessarily involve meetings with Mrs. Bolton to uncover the circumstances of her flight and the Committee should subpoena her in private session," Mr. Flynt said.

Mr. Flynt has no further comment at this time, except to ask that the press examine the attached court document pertaining to Mrs. Bolton flight from her home.

Mr. Flynt is awaiting further leads regarding Mr. Bolton's private behavior, at which point he will have more information to convey.

Power and Money Changes Votes

  • travelbavaria's picture
    travelbavaria
    Want to meet our members? Click 'Join' above!

Nothing new about the dynamics of the 10-8 vote to pass the Bolton train wreck to the Senate for a vote.

The few Republicans who have any sense of values are scared to do anything based on anything other than maintaining the good graces of the Pit-Bull, Karl Rove.

Kudos..Barbara Boxer

  • Veritas2020's picture
    Veritas2020
    Want to meet our members? Click 'Join' above!

5/13/05
Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer "put a hold on the nomination" of Bolton as US ambassador to the United Nations, her spokeswoman Natalie Ravitz said without indicating how the process could be delayed.

The move is intended to either force further negotiations or ultimately to prevent his nomination from reaching the Senate floor.
www.drudgereport.com

Full Answers Elude Senators On Bolton's Requests for Names

  • CactusPat's picture
    CactusPat
    Want to meet our members? Click 'Join' above!

WaPo rports "Full Answers Elude Senators On Bolton's Requests for Names

One of the most intriguing issues raised by the John R. Bolton nomination -- his 10 requests to learn the names of U.S. citizens mentioned in intercepted communications -- appears likely to fade away without conclusive answers, congressional officials said yesterday.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which Thursday sent Bolton's nomination to become U.N. ambassador to the full Senate without endorsement, had sought to learn the details of Bolton's requests, including the names. But the National Security Agency this week agreed only to brief the two top senators on the Select Committee on Intelligence on the intercepts that had prompted Bolton's requests -- and even then would not provide the names.

State Department officials said Bolton sought the names to better understand the context of the intercepts he was reading. But opponents have speculated widely about possible motives. Under U.S. law, references to U.S. citizens, U.S. companies or even foreign citizens visiting the United States must be censored from the intercepts and can be disclosed to analysts and policymakers only under specific circumstances...

So the NSA refuses to divulge the names on the intercepts Bolton requested to spy on fellow Americans and government employees? I'd like to know exactly who annointed the frigging NSA God? Doesn't CONGRESS have the authority to oversee the NS-friggin'-A? Or is the NSA an autonomous secret government all unto itself?

Dems Move to Block Bolton

  • CactusPat's picture
    CactusPat
    Want to meet our members? Click 'Join' above!

(AP) "Democrats Move to Slow Action on Bolton"
Senate Democrats opposed to President Bush's nomination of John R. Bolton to be U.N. ambassador are trying to delay a Senate vote with a legislative maneuver that ultimately could lead to a filibuster. As a result, Senate consideration of the nomination is unlikely before the end of the month...

The WH has taken the position Bolton was needed badly and promptly at the UN to work on reform of the institution. But Sen. Barbara Boxer of California said Democrats were holding up the nomination to compel the State Dept. to provide more information... At the State Dept., spokesman Richard Boucher indicated the Democrats' demands for more Bolton documents would not be met. "We think that we have provided everything that is relevant to this nomination..."

Boxer told AP on Friday she would use procedural delays until Democrats receive the requested information. "It is not fair to bring this nomination to the floor for debate and a vote until all the information has been delivered,"... Boxer said the Democrats want to know if Bolton sought the names of U.S. officials whose communications were intercepted by U.S. intelligence, details on the private business activities of a Bolton assistant, Matthew Friedman, and the circumstances of a tough Bolton speech on Syria.

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., who is leading the drive to scuttle the nomination, is backing Boxer's request for a hold, a legislative device to keep the Republican leadership from beginning debate... Asked to assess Bolton's chances of being confirmed, Boxer said, "I think we can definitely beat John Bolton because, I think, the American people are going to weigh in and make their views known..."

Bolton Never Prepared for Nuke Conference

  • dinamic's picture
    dinamic
    Want to meet our members? Click 'Join' above!

Bolton was shockingly unprepared for the conference and apparently took credit for work done by his second in command Robert Joseph.

I am getting the feeling that this is another vitally important international problem that the BA is not interested in! Could it be that Bush wants to attack Iran one way or the other.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-1610011,00.html

A Nuclear Blunder?
Critics say U.N. Ambassador-designate John Bolton didn’t properly
prepare for a key nonproliferation conference, which could be a serious
setback in U.S. efforts to isolate Iran.

Even more intense - Bolton was the one who spearheaded the effort to reverse the resolution by the UN General Assembly that Zionism was racism, and some said he did it by bullying some country reps and just nagging others into voting to reverse it.

This guy does not belong in the UN or anywhere else but in his home retired.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7817986/site/newsweek/

Proud member of the reality based community.

During the hearings,

  • CitizenJane's picture
    CitizenJane
    Want to meet our members? Click 'Join' above!

I got really irritated with Biden for tutoring Bolton in the process of getting a speech approved, instead of having him recite the process and it's sequence.

I have long since come to believe that people never mean half of what they say, and that it is best to disregard their talk and judge only their actions.  Dorothy Day