Bolton May Turn Into a Pumpkin--Kamen--WaPo

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/20/AR2006062001320.html

Rumblings are that the White House is looking for ways to keep controversial U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton in his post well beyond the expiration of his recess appointment at the end of this year.

One possibility is to bring his nomination up for vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next month. Bolton supporters on the Hill first want to pass the defense appropriations bill before they leave for the August recess and say they did everything needed for the troops -- body armor, equipment and such -- before they turned to the nomination. Senate Republicans don't want wait until the fall and risk a potential loss right before the midterm elections.

On the other hand, sources on both sides of the aisle say even if Voinovich supports Bolton, it appears most unlikely the nominee would get the 60 votes needed to overcome a Democratic filibuster.

Bolton's recent dust-up with U.N. Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown , who had criticized the United States for lack of support for the organization, may not have helped the equation. The fight rallied the Senate's conservative base, one source said, but it may have alienated moderates because Malloch Brown is a Brit and a de facto member of the coalition of the willing. Now, if he had been French . . .

The White House can re-recess-appoint Bolton. But federal law would bar him from being paid. He could work for free, though. And some Bolton supporters are taking a hard look to see if there's wiggle room in the federal law, we hear, along with other alternatives. Seems difficult, some observers say, but don't sell the pro-Bolton forces short.

MORE LITTLE TIDBITS IN THIS COLUMN FOR YOUR PLEASURE AND INFO

The world will have to end for the Democrats to filibuster anthing, at which point, it will be too late, anyway.

branches of government, it's hard to believe they would filibuster Bolton, who is merely an unqualified mentally unstable asshole.

radical nominees. Is it the democrats don't have the power or the will to stop the bleeding?

Fool me once, shame on ... CAN'T GET FOOLED AGAIN!

bubble!!!!! And he's STUPID, and CLUELESS...but we knew that already....



Bush Gives Frist the Nod -- for Reelection
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Bush, speaking to Republicans at the gala President's Dinner on Monday night, encouraged the crowd to support GOP candidates this fall. "If you want your taxes low, keep Denny Hastert and Bill Frist as leaders of the House and the Senate."

Bush later said: "I want to thank you for helping make sure that Denny Hastert and Bill Frist remain in their positions in the Senate and the House. . . ."

Of course, Frist is leaving the Senate in six months.

and, as are his inherent dictatorial powers as commander-in-chief in time of war in hidden clauses in the Constitution that only Dick Cheney or Alberto Gonzales can find, he has the authority to appoint Bolten without a Senate vote.

Condi is there to keep chimpy entertained.