"Dear Leader," appoints a sexual harassing, egomaniac, to represent us to the world:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Ending a five-month standoff over a controversial nomination, President Bush on Monday used a recess appointment to name John Bolton the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

"This post is too important to leave vacant any longer, especially during a war and a vital debate about U.N. reform," Bush said from the Roosevelt Room at the White House.

The move bypasses the confirmation process in the Senate, where Democrats had blocked the nomination in a dispute over documents and accusations that Bolton lacks the temperament to hold the U.N. post.

"A majority of United States senators agree that he's the right man for the job," Bush said. "Yet because of partisan-delaying tactics by a handful of senators, John was unfairly denied the up-or-down vote that he deserves."

Senate GOP leaders twice failed to muster the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster and move Bolton's nomination to a floor vote.

Although the split was largely along party lines, one Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, joined Democrats in opposing Bolton's nomination.

Under the Constitution, the president has the power to make temporary appointments without Senate confirmation when Congress goes into recess. Lawmakers began their current break Friday.

A recess appointment puts Bolton at the United Nations through the end of 2006.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bolton planned to take the oath of office and head to U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday.

Standing beside Bush on Monday, Bolton said he was "profoundly honored."

"I am prepared to work tirelessly to carry out the agenda and initiatives that you [Bush] and Secretary [of State Condoleezza] Rice direct," Bolton said. "We seek a stronger, more effective organization true to the ideals of its founders and agile enough to act in the 21st century.

"It will be a distinct privilege to be an advocate for America's values and interests at the U.N."

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, criticized the recess appointment.

"The abuse of power and the cloak of secrecy from the White House continues," Kennedy said in a statement.

"It's bad enough that the administration stonewalled the Senate by refusing to disclose documents highly relevant to the Bolton nomination. It's even worse for the administration to abuse the recess appointment power by making the appointment while Congress is in this five-week recess. It's a devious maneuver that evades the constitutional requirement of Senate consent and only further darkens the cloud over Mr. Bolton's credibility at the U.N."

My response... What credibility? We haven't had much of that with the rest of the world since we decided to declare war on Iraq. For a President who stole his first election, and likely the second one as well, Bush has gonads the size of basketballs.

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» http://strangethingsafoot.com/index.php/2005/08/01/329/ from StrangeThingsAfoot.com
So John Bolton has been recess apponited as ambassador to the U.N. And, wow, are the Democrats whining. Rob Huddleston says to hear the Democrats tell it, you would think Bush invented the recess appointment. Funny, the Democrats didn’t think... [Read More]

Tracked on August 1, 2005 10:10 PM