Bolton nomination thwarted - by a Republican
While the cable channels' legions of pundits talked of a new "bipartisan era," Dubya renominated John Bolton today. (Props to Daily Kos.)
As many have noted in the alternative media, the only way for the right wing to avoid being labeled failures, which they are by any objective historical standard, is to declare that the fault lies not with their rank and file but with Bush.
Knowing the Bush family, that could get interesting.
UPDATE: Partisan gridlock, indeed:
A new Democratic majority is in power. The people have spoken. They've had it with "stay the course". If Dubya thought dismissing Donald Rumsfeld was good enough, he was wrong. Democrats will hold the administration accountable and restore our system of checks and balances.
That's not gridlock. It's democracy in action.
The White House resubmitted Bolton's nomination to the Senate today in a last-ditch effort to get him confirmed before the new Congress takes power.Exactly what purpose it served Bush to do that is beyond me. Playing to the conservative base? Does Bush not understand that conservatives are busy on C-SPAN and elsewhere exhuming Ronald Reagan?
Bolton's long-stalled nomination was already blocked by the current Republican-led Senate after President Bush nominated him last year. His chances looked dead in the water after the new Democratic-led Congress convened in January.
As many have noted in the alternative media, the only way for the right wing to avoid being labeled failures, which they are by any objective historical standard, is to declare that the fault lies not with their rank and file but with Bush.
Knowing the Bush family, that could get interesting.
UPDATE: Partisan gridlock, indeed:
The President's and new Speaker's comments before the press started at 1:04 pm today and concluded at 1:08 pm.Wait a second - Lincoln Chafee isn't a Democrat! (Okay, maybe he's decided he wants to be one. But he's still a Republican for now).
At 1:22 pm, the White House sent John Bolton's controversial nomination to serve as US Ambassador to the United Nations back up to the Senate.
Luckily, Lincoln Chafee would have none of it -- suggesting that such a nomination is clearly not in the spirit of what happened electorally in this country this week. By 2:15 pm, Chafee put an end to the Bolton confirmation process by formalizing his previous "informal" opposition to Bolton in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
A new Democratic majority is in power. The people have spoken. They've had it with "stay the course". If Dubya thought dismissing Donald Rumsfeld was good enough, he was wrong. Democrats will hold the administration accountable and restore our system of checks and balances.
That's not gridlock. It's democracy in action.
