I had the opportunity to see John Bolton in action, as I was in Europe earlier this year, where the UN receives considerable coverage. Over in Europe, they seem to love the sight of pompous bureaucrats waddling in and out of expensive eateries.
Libertarians opposed Bolton’s nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for, as far as I could tell, ideological reasons. They were rankled by his neoconservatism. Nevertheless, what I saw of the man, who has been serving as our envoy to the U.N. under a temporary “recess appointment,” surprised me (I had accepted libertarian arguments for his rejection out of hand ). He was tough, intelligent, and focused. He did the US’s bidding very effectively.
I was quite surprised at the discrepancy between the derogatory description of Bolton (here for example) and what I saw of him in the course of his duties at the UN. He did not appear to be acting as an ideologue, but as a shrewd, tough diplomat.
Category Archives: Democrats
The Worst has Become the ‘Best’
Democrats, Human Accomplishment, Intelligence, Iraq, Neoconservatism, The Zeitgeist, War
I watched Wonkette (or is it “Wonkette Emerita”) on Joe Scarborough. Unlike Tucker and Olbermann (good for them), he seems intent on parading airheads on his show (the segment “Hollyweird” comes to mind). Chris Matthews also invited this woman on his show to roll the words off her tongue, as she does with such affectation. In any case, she called Jim Webb a pumpkin head. The dictionary says that’s “a slow or dim-witted person.” Webb is nothing of the sort. When I first began writing about Iraq on WND.com, Webb e-mailed me in approval a few times, sending his editorials along. You have to be a complete wombat (“Waste Of Money, Brains, And Time”) like Wonkette to call Webb slow. A thought I recently shared with an interlocutor popped into my mind:
When I was young, the world was more merit based. It made more sense then. I could still be the best in the class. Now, the worst has become the best. Standards have been inverted. Nothing makes sense (except that one has to stick to one’s principles and be true to the truth). The awakening came when I first got to Canada and attended some course. A woman opened up her mouth to speak, and I thought, “Shame, she’s retarded.” Later it transpired she had degrees from McGill and other Ivy-league schools. I was in for an education. The woman wasn’t Wonkette, but came close…
The Worst has Become the 'Best'
Democrats, Human Accomplishment, Intelligence, Iraq, Neoconservatism, The Zeitgeist, War
I watched Wonkette (or is it “Wonkette Emerita”) on Joe Scarborough. Unlike Tucker and Olbermann (good for them), he seems intent on parading airheads on his show (the segment “Hollyweird” comes to mind). Chris Matthews also invited this woman on his show to roll the words off her tongue, as she does with such affectation. In any case, she called Jim Webb a pumpkin head. The dictionary says that’s “a slow or dim-witted person.” Webb is nothing of the sort. When I first began writing about Iraq on WND.com, Webb e-mailed me in approval a few times, sending his editorials along. You have to be a complete wombat (“Waste Of Money, Brains, And Time”) like Wonkette to call Webb slow. A thought I recently shared with an interlocutor popped into my mind:
When I was young, the world was more merit based. It made more sense then. I could still be the best in the class. Now, the worst has become the best. Standards have been inverted. Nothing makes sense (except that one has to stick to one’s principles and be true to the truth). The awakening came when I first got to Canada and attended some course. A woman opened up her mouth to speak, and I thought, “Shame, she’s retarded.” Later it transpired she had degrees from McGill and other Ivy-league schools. I was in for an education. The woman wasn’t Wonkette, but came close…
You say Foley; I Say Iraq
Florida Rep. Mark Foley, a Republican, “abruptly quit Congress on Friday after reports surfaced that he had sent sexually charged electronic messages to boys working as pages,”reports the Washington Times. Foley is under the FBI’s criminal investigation, although it’s not clear what federal or state laws, if any, he has violated. (The Law Against Lowlifes in Politics?) It appears the agency is searching for that law. (The country’s journalists are incapable of writing a news lead, much less properly fleshing out a story.)
Foley, like Debra LaFave, another paragon of the public-sector, claimed one of those bogus illnesses: alcoholism (at the root of the diseasing of behavior is the eradication of good and bad). To quickly establish the presence of mitigating factors, Foley checked himself into a rehab facility. However, he doesn’t have slut appeal; so it probably won’t work.
If Democrats weren’t so dumb, they’d comment tersely on this sordid affair, and then move on post haste to the real corruption: Iraq. (Condi Rice—as fleet of foot as ever in evading responsibility for anything, really—has used the distraction to deny her contribution to the lack of preparedness for the 9/11 onslaught. She’s resurrecting the same excuses I deconstructed in “Hold their Feet to the Fire.”)
The Republicans don’t deserve to govern because of Iraq (and immigration), not Foley. But neither do the Democrats (a pox on both their houses). As for traditional conservatives, (as opposed establishment Republicans), at the very least, they ought to consider President Bush’s positions on mass immigration and the national identity, the debt, and the growth in the size and power of government inimical to conservatism. However, they rarely pipe up these days about the accretion of the state under Bush. If only their concept of good government extended beyond pious homilies to family values, faith and fetuses.