Bolton Appointment Comments
It's all over
UN Ambassador John Bolton has resigned from his recess appointment. Undoubtedly the White House pulled the plug on the try for a permanent appointment with the current (retired) or next Senate. The position of Senator Joe Biden and other members of the Senate who adamantly oppose a permanent appointment made confirmation impossible as a practical matter. The Bolton saga was blown out of its practical proportion in the long run - but was used as example of the arrogance of President Bush in defying the confirmation process. It was more significant politically that historically - most other Presidents have made interim appointments and several have made many more than Bush. For Bolton's own part - the withheld confirmation was surely a function of his policy positions on the United Nations - but more probably his arrogant and mouthy approach to UN issues. Historically - if anybody really cares - his personality probably had more to do with his problems with the Senate than his policy. His appointment ends with the expiration of the Congress. (December 11 2006)
Sneaking around the back rooms
The White House is trying to sneak UN Ambassador Bolton - who is serving under an interim appointment until the new Congress convenes - in as an Asst Ambassador or other guy in NY who won't require Senate confirmation. Nothing new - but instructive to watch - its a way to force somebody the Senate won't approve into a powerful position. Senator Biden says it won't happen. In an administration where disuse of the Constitution is the norm, this is no surprise. November 19 2006
Ambassador Bolton - Again!
UN Ambassador Bolton - serving on an interim appointment until the new Congress comes into being - has irritated enough Senators that he is still unlikely to be confirmed in the new session in 2007. While interim appointments are not uncommon throughout US history, The Pres has managed to polish the arrogance of his appointment - actually exercised simple contempt for the Constitutional structure - per his usual conduct. There is nothing much new about the way the Conservatives have operated over the years - but this appointment is an interesting illustration of how tyrants work - fortunately the rest of the system tends to put it check. We'll see in January whether than system - that Constitutional thing - raises its head against the arrogance of the Bush Imperial Court.
Ambassador Bolton's interim recess appointment as Ambassador to the United Nations has plenty of precedent and actually is reasonably unimportant politics at the moment. The Democrats in the Senate have made their point - they don't like this guy Bolton - and proved to the President they could block an unpopular appointment. The President has "shown those b...........s who is boss - i.e., the got his man past them - and all that sort of silly politics is behind us.
Ambassadorial Control at UN
The Representative of the United States as Ambassador to the United Nations is under extraordinarily tight control of the White House through the the National Security Council or through the Assistant Secretary of State for International Affairs - the Ambassador rarely has any independent authority beyond his taste in drinks at the many receptions and events he must attend. This process is a practical necessity for all administrations because of the intense attention the UN gets worldwide, and because all of the decisions are national policy. Whatever policy is stated in the UN by any US representative comes straight out of Washington. The is just common sense - and is always the case in all administrations. Occasionally - the style of the Ambassador makes a difference - such as the Adlai Stevenson statements when confronting Russia on the UN floor during the Cuban Crisis in the Kennedy Administration.
UN Acceptance of Bolton at the UN
The United Nations is extremely sophisticated at determining the personal influence of Ambassadors to the UN - in the last sixty years they have confronted every sort of national representative. The UN is expert at separating true national policy of a nation like the US from the personal judgments or thoughts of any representative. UN staff and other personnel from most nations can put up with personality issues of any representative - it is just part of the diplomatic exercise which has always existed between governments. A jerk Ambassador is ignored - a very able and affable representative is accepted in direct proportion to his decency and diplomatic skill. If any representative, including Bolton, embarrasses the United States - Washington will snap him out of the UN immediately. A part of the power - and the charm - of the United Nations overall is in its complex set of representatives of all sorts compelled to operate together to some extent in UN activities. Bolton will do little harm - and find the puppet string from Washington frustrating - however good that idea is for this country.
Impact on the President
The world and the US is accustomed to Bush's hip-shot style - and fully aware that he is a short timer in office - this sort of a defiance of the Senate is in line that sort of cowboy technique - and does little harm to anyone - except perhaps to his own place in history - which can hardly be important based on this conduct so far as President.
In the Long Run
Presidential appointees such as this one come and go - and this one will go not later than January 2007 when the next new Congress convenes. The President is re-submitting the appointment in the Lame Duck Session in December, with the various sides politicking the appointment with all sorts of support and criticism. Given Senator Joe Biden's statement that it won't happen, it probably won't happen. Bolton would conceivably be appointed without compensation, direct or indirect from the government. It is a reasonable bet that the Ambassador himself has had enough of it and will work somewhere else in the government that doesn't require Senate confirmation - or move back into the private sector.