He wasn’t frog-marched out of U.N. Headquarters in shackles, but I’ll take it. John Bolton has told the President that he will resign as ambassador as soon as Congress formally adjourns. No more Mr. Mustache as our chief diplomat.
I’m very pleased that the Senate held firm and refused to accept Bolton, especially after he was recess appointed by Bush in act of sheer contempt for the Senate’s role in advising and consenting.
However, the fact that the administration fought so long and hard for John Bolton means that any likely replacement will probably be equally popular with the neo-conservative and hard-line Likudist crowd that so loves Joe Lieberman, Jane Harman, James Woolsey, etc. The Democrats beat back Bolton by criticizing his demeanor, his temper, and his documented contempt for the U.N. But he was worse than that. He was one of the true believers. We can’t afford another one. Joe Biden should make sure Bolton’s replacement comes from (at least) the realist school of foreign policy. Neo-conservatism is dead, and we should keep it dead.
