John Bolton vs. the Moral Cowards

Once again the dems and leftists in the Senate engage in character assasination in the John Bolton nomination hearings. They are not content merely to oppose this nomination, but seem determined to destroy the reputaion of the man. Never mind that Mr. Bolton has served this country well and had been confirmed for three other posts by the Senate over the years. It becomes obvious that the dems are desperate to block this nomination and since they cannot make thier case with factual information, they resort to the smear. Otto Reich, who has worked with Bolton over the years, has a few comments.

"The Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on the nomination of John Bolton to be U.S. ambassador to the U.N. publicly unmasked the campaign which has been underway to discredit him and derail his nomination. They also demonstrated once again the need to reform the Senate confirmation process, which has become so politicized that it is not serving its constitutional purpose. I have strong opinions on the Bolton hearings in particular--and Senate hearings in general--since in the past two decades I have been confirmed twice by the Senate and smeared once."

Indeed any of these Senate confirmation hearings have become a political circus. If the dems want people they prefer in these positions, then all they need do is get their candidates elected. As always, the dems seem to feel the need to smear those they oppose.

"It was stated repeatedly at the hearings that Mr. Bolton and I tried to get an intelligence analyst--referred to as "Mr. Smith"--fired, or tried to block his promotion or to get him transferred. I cannot speak for Mr. Bolton (though having known him since 1981, I can attest to his integrity). But I can speak for myself: In 2002, after consulting with many of my interagency colleagues about how to handle the loss of confidence in Smith's judgment, I most certainly did complain to Smith's supervisor about the consistently unacceptable quality of his work. My actions are now being distorted and attributed to Mr. Bolton in order to harm his nomination."

Looks like if you have an issue with the work of some one and complain about it, it is grounds for some in the Seante to oppose your nomination and a free pass to smear you. Not to mention the fact that John Kerry, et al, exposed the actual name of this CIA operative.

"John Bolton has served our nation well in many posts under three presidents. He deserves to be confirmed. But regardless of the outcome of the hearings, he has provided another valuable service: he has revealed Senate hearings to be the weapon of choice of vicious and anonymous staffers and their narcissistic bosses to engage in character assassination and ideological vendettas. But more important to our national security in this time of war, he has uncovered a dangerous willingness by some senior intelligence officers to protect underlings who have been promoted to their highest level of incompetence. The intelligence community is our first line of defense against today's enemies. In seven different government positions, I have worked with hundreds of these skilled and brave officers and have witnessed their unselfish dedication to our nation. Practically any of them could make much more money working for a private consulting firm and thus provide a more comfortable life for his family than the inadequate government salary allows. When a bad apple is allowed to spoil the barrel of intelligence information, then not only does the reputation of good officers suffer; so, too, does the security of our nation. "

I find it interesting that the very same dems that have whined and cried about intelligence failures, want to smear a man that has exposed incompetence in the intelligence communtity. John Bolton is the right man to be at the UN. He should be confirmed forthwith. - Sailor