Sisyphus, er, Bush still pushing Bolton up the Hill

W is still trying to get Bolton approved by the Senate. Gotta admire the moxie, but it also makes you really ponder Iraq. I mean if W can't face the fact that Bolton will no way no how get confirmed by the Senate, then it does make one wonder about his ability to deal with reality in Iraq.

My guess is that W's hoping for a kind of "parting gift" from the GOP Senate. But they're not real happy with the guy, and they don't want to go into the real session in January as the minority having pulled a final maneuver as the majority to get Bolton approved. He's not worth the capital.

Having said that, it's not like Bolton's been a disaster. Well, or great either, I mean who knows? With something like the UN it doesn't really matter who you send. You could send the best diplomat ever, or one of the worst, and the delta in performance, or quality, of the UN session won't be affected. All real relations with the other Security Council members (the only body in the UN that matters) is handled at a level well above the UN Ambassador, and relations with all the other nations are better served by the direct Ambassador. It's not like W's asking Bolton, "Hey did we get that vote on North Korea sanctions?" It's all decided by higher-ups in advance of any vote, and everyone knows the score. I think you could hold a national lottery for the position of UN Ambassador and not much would change.

So I say, give W his nomination. My feeling is that the President is the US' chief Ambassador and he should be able to pick his surrogates. Personally, I think this all started with Helms canning Weld's appointment of Ambassador to Mexico.