Hawkeye Republican

BOLTON RECESSED; VOINOVICH'S TEARS FLOOD SENATE FLOOR: Glad to see that President Bush spent some of political capital on the recess appointment of John Bolton to be Ambassador to the UN. In fact, had Bush not given Bolton a recess appointment in the face of the Senate Democrats' obstruction, I would have been disappointed. Bolton is qualified for the job. He has experience. He will serve the president's interests. Sure, he's criticized the UN, but we should not lament the criticism of an institution that deserves criticism. After all, liberals, John Kerry built an entire presidential campaign on criticizing the current administration. Does that mean he hates the office of the presidency and could not have held the office? Of course not; his criticism was at the actions of the current administration, just as how Bolton's UN criticism wasn't geared toward the institution per se, but rather toward the way it's currently run.

Then there's the issue of using a recess appointment. Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, Joe Biden, and others call Bush's recess appointment an abuse of power. However, the recess appointment is specifically mentioned in the Constitution; their favorite delay tactic, the filibuster, is not. As such, the recess appointment is no less an abuse of power than is the filibuster. If the Democrats don't want to play fair by giving a candidate an up-or-down vote, then they should not cry when the president uses a recess appointment.

There's still no word yet whether George Voinovich's "kids and grandkids" he cried about when he criticized John Bolton were taken from their homes because of the Bolton announcement.