The Domestic Bolton - another scandal brewing???

[housewolf]

From the American Prospect


The Domestic Bolton

Opposition to the UN nominee has centered on his international record. But it’s his history as a party hack that’s the real story.

By Michael Tomasky
Web Exclusive: 03.21.05

The first wave of protest against President Bush’s nomination of John Bolton to be his ambassador to the United Nations centered, plausibly enough, on Bolton’s international track record, and specifically on his long history of bellicose commentary about the world body.

But there’s a domestic Bolton, too. While the international Bolton gives cause for concern, the real problem is the domestic Bolton, and Democrats and moderate Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who have reservations about the nomination should be looking at the domestic Bolton’s background, because it suggests not mere rhetorical bellicosity but possible sleaze.

To cut to the chase: Did Bolton play any role in helping to conceal a foreign campaign contribution channeled to the Republican National Committee that may have helped the RNC prevail in the 1994 congressional elections?

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http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=9369

[housewolf]

1. John Bolton can be beaten

The Bolton Fights (Plural)
John Bolton's nomination is worth going to barricades -- especially because he can be beaten.

By Michael Tomasky
Issue Date: 04.08.05

<snip>

Bolton may well win confirmation, precisely because most Democrats don’t view a nomination fight as worth the political capital. Which brings us to the second Bolton fight.

His writings make clear what his top priorities will be:

First, a rejiggering of the UN to suit the conservative worldview. Bolton’s writings give France and maybe even England reason to be nervous about what a Bolton-inspired Security Council would look like. (Japan, meanwhile, may have reason to smile.) More broadly, the world body should prepare for major fights over American financial support.

Second, a push toward formal recognition of Taiwan. Bolton couldn’t make this happen; but it is something he has long advocated, and he would almost certainly use his new pulpit to push policy in this direction. In 1999, Bolton opined that the idea of China responding to such a move with force was “a fantasy.” The notion seemed far less fantastical, though, just a week after Bolton’s nomination, when China enacted a law authorizing the use of force against Taiwan if it moves toward formal independence, a status that U.S. recognition would obviously encourage.

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http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=9355

[applegrove]

2. Wishful thinking..but I'll give it a read! n/t