John Bolton's Senate Face-Off

Fire of Liberty

Today is the first round of Under Secretary of State John Bolton's confirmation hearing for the US Ambassador to the UN. As usual, you had all the various Sunday shows and various news stories in the print media trying to paint John Bolton as a "right-wing" fanatic because he has spoken his mind about the UN and its shortcomings. I could have sworn that the gaggle of MSM types wanted our Secretary of State to be an independent thinker from the White House but I guess when the individual is against the much sainted UN, they should toe the administration's line and be a quite diplomat. Expect all of this same hot air this morning on C-SPAN at 9:30. With people like Chris Dodd (Supporter of Castro, Chavez and Ortega), John Kerry (still sore from '04), Barbara Boxer (remember her nuttiness during Secretary Rice's confirmation, SNL does) and Barack Obama, expect some fireworks today.

Anyway, Under-Secretary of State Bolton still has his admirers who feel that the dilapidated UN could use someone who can do some heavy lifting in reforming the World body. One area that should be fixed is the rampant corruption that has infected the UN in the past decade. As the Pittsburgh Tribune Review columnist D.C Dateline notes in his most recent column, Bolton has struck a cord of fear amongst the various talking heads and executives in the UN who have run amok throughout the World ignoring or complying to various scandals without fear of being punished. If Bolton is approved, he will enter this body as a reformer in the same manner that Teddy Roosevelt dealt with the corruption and scandals of his day, which is head on. While various Senators and members of the UN might call Secretary Bolton crass and abrasive in his rhetoric, he still represents the much needed kick in the pants that World body has been lacking for years under the leadership of people like Boutros-Boutros Ghali and Kofi Annan. After reading this from D.C. Dateline's column you can understand why the UN needs a hard-nosed reformer like Bolton:

What scares Turtle Bay's denizens most about John Bolton is the fear that -- whether publicly or quietly -- corruption will stop.

On the 30th floor roves Carina Perelli of Uruguay, the boss of the Electoral Assistance Division. She has become the subject of an investigation. The Washington Post, citing a confidential management review by a Swiss consulting firm, says Perelli "presided over a department whose leadership tolerated sexual harassment, misused office funds and engaged in favoritism."

A rising star in the U.N. universe, she has an outspoken manner and offered a typical response: "There's nothing they can do to me. I'm the youngest D2, a woman from a developing country," reported The New York Times, citing the same Swiss review. A "D2" is the highest-ranking director status.

Lord, the US Foreign Relations Committee needs to push the confirmation of Secretary Bolton. With a powerful voice like John Bolton sitting in for the US at the UN, their won't be much problems in getting rid of the various scandal/corruption cobwebs and getting meaningful results from the UN. It's about time that the UN gets serious about itself so they can get back to their mission of feeding starving kids, fighting the spread of malaria/HIV in Africa, ending genocide in Sudan and quelling terrorism (Don't know if UN has fortitude for this one.). That's what the UN was made for and should be their chief goal.

Along with D.C. Dateline's column, I'd like to point you to a good piece on Secretary Bolton by Bill Kristol in The Weekly Standard. In this piece, Kristol demolishes all of the various fanatical myths and accusations that are being floated by George Soros and his friends. You'll hear all of these today but be rest assured that Bill Kristol has adequately defended this great defender of the US. Along with Bill Kristol, I'd like to offer my support for the future US Ambassador to the UN.