Recess-time in Congress

As I always say, it's recess-time somewhere, and for the next five weeks, it's recess-time in Congress! And what a great way to begin recess-time, than with a recess-appointment of John Bolton.

Our Preznit says that the "post is too important to leave vacant any longer, especially during a war and a vital debate about U.N. reform." However, a few short weeks ago, he felt differently when he refused to turn over some relevant documents regarding Bolton's work at the State Department, that the Senate wanted to see before voting on him.

Edward Kennedy says it best:
“The abuse of power and the cloak of secrecy from the White House
continues,” Kennedy said. “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.”

And even some Republicans chime in.
In a statement, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind. and chairman of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that “although I would have
preferred an up-or-down Senate confirmation vote ... the president's
appointment of Secretary Bolton was necessary to ensure our
representation at the United Nations and to provide momentum to the vital
process of U.N. reform.”

[...]

Republican Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio also said he was disappointed.
“I am truly concerned that a recess appointment will only add to John
Bolton’s baggage and his lack of credibility with the United Nations,” he
said in a statement.

“I plan to send Mr. Bolton a book that has served me very well throughout my career called the Heart and Soul of Effective Management by James F. Hind,” Voinovich added. “I hope that Mr. Bolton will read it and put it into practice.”

[...]

And let's not forget what Pat Roberts (R-KS), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said.
Recess appointments allow a president to temporarily seat a nominee
while Congress is out of session. They invariably ignite charges of
partisan abuse, and Democrats complained bitterly when Bush used recess
appointments to place nominees on federal courts in his first term.

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), a Bolton supporter, said a recess appointment
“would weaken not only Mr. Bolton but also the United States” because the international community would see the new ambassador as lacking bipartisan support.

So we the people, get to have this fellow, who hates the U.N., lied about testifying about prewar Iraqi attempts to buy nuclear materials from Niger, berates associates who challenge him, and selectively chooses intelligence to support his wildly incorrect assertions about the dangers posed by Cuba and other nations, as our very own Ambassador to the U.N. until at the very least January 2007.

It's just hard to fathom that we are only six short months into George W. Bush's second term. We have three and a half more years of this kind of crap. Strap yourselves in.