A Day at the Hearing

The agony of defeat...

That's what the Dems experienced at the John Bolton nomination hearing on Thursday. They tried their damnedest to bloody Bolton, and put on a brave face, but it was hopeless.

A little over a year ago, the Dems brutally attacked Bolton. They threw everything they had at him. And, they did manage to temporarily derail his nomination. President Bush, of course, responded by doing the right thing by appointing the right man to represent the U.S. at the UN.

Naturally, the Dems were horrified. What arrogance! Certain disaster awaited.

Poor George Voinovich was in tears.

What a difference a year makes!

Yesterday's hearing was an exercise in futility. There's no question that Bolton will be confirmed this time around.

Even George Voinovich managed to dry his tears and actually commend Bolton for a job well done at the UN.

Dana Milbank provides a play by play of Thursday's session.

The monotony of the rerun of the Bolton hearing was broken up by a broken hot-water pipe from two floors above the hearing room, sending water streaming down through the ceiling light fixtures and on to the proceedings.

The egomaniacal senators tried to one-up each other with cracks about the leaky ceiling when John Kerry put an end to the frivolity.

Milbank writes:

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) entered the room and declared in solemn tones that he would be making no remarks about the leak.

"All the comments have been made about the flood," he announced. That ended the fun before some of the best puns could be made.

Such as "Bolton's in hot water now."

In his account of Kerry's performance, Milbank left out the best part.

While Kerry was questioning Bolton on North Korea, this exchange took place:

KERRY: Well, the most that you seem to want is to go back to a six-party talk that isn't in existence.

BOLTON: No, no, quite the contrary. We said expressly...

KERRY: Are you prepared to go to bilateral talks?

BOLTON: Quite the contrary. We said expressly that what we wanted from North Korea was not simply a return to the six-party talks, but an implementation of the September 2005 joint statement from the six-party talks which would mean their dismantlement of their nuclear weapons program.

KERRY: But this has been going on for five years, Mr. Ambassador.

BOLTON: It's the nature of multilateral negotiations, Senator.

KERRY: Why not engage in a bilateral one and get the job done? That's what the Clinton administration did.

BOLTON: Very poorly, since the North Koreans violated the agreed framework almost from the time it was signed. And I would also say, Senator, that we do have the opportunity for bilateral negotiations with North Korea in the context of the six-party talks, if North Korea would come back to them.

How perfect, and how true!

Kerry held the Clinton administration up as the model for successful diplomacy and Bolton completely destroyed him by pointing out what a dismal failure the Clinton administration proved to be on North Korea.

Milbank did do a good job of exposing Russ Feingold's foolishness.

He writes:

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) appeared to be particularly agitated about Bolton. As he prepared to question the nominee, Feingold furiously scratched out items on a 24-point list, which he had scribbled on wrinkled yellow legal paper in black, red and blue ink. The list, which the senator later discarded, was entirely illegible.

But Feingold, too, was in the strange position of scolding Bolton for being insufficiently tough on Iran, North Korea and the U.N. Human Rights Council.

How funny that Feingold's multi-colored 24-point list was utterly pointless!

Apparently, Feingold thinks that pretending to have deep thoughts is just as good as actually having deep thoughts.

Watch Feingold try to look serious, tough, and presidential, then remember his scribbled fake notes.

Milbank makes no mention of the protester who disrupted the hearing.

This is getting to be commonplace -- more proof that the wacko Lefties are growing more desperate.

PROTESTER: (OFF-MIKE) from the District of Columbia. I have no representation on this panel or any say.

LUGAR: The committee will be in order. The committee will be in order.

PROTESTER: I oppose the nomination of this man, John Bolton, as U.S. ambassador. He is a disgrace to the United States. He is not...

LUGAR: The committee will stand in recess until police can restore order.

PROTESTER: He should not go to the U.N. He is not representative of our interests. The man will only...

LUGAR: The committee will continue the hearing.

Let me just mention that Assistant Secretary for International Organizations Kristen Silverberg is with us today. And I want to acknowledge her presence and we appreciate that.

I want to take a few moments of my time to read the letter that former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has written on behalf of the nominee.

He said: "Mr. Chairman, when John Bolton's nomination for the position of ambassador to the United Nations was before the committee, I wrote a letter, together with a number of other former secretaries of state, urging confirmation.

LUGAR: "I did so because I believe that the president should be given wide discretion in selecting his advisers. Since then, I've had the opportunity to observe Ambassador Bolton perform his duties under a recess appointment, skillfully and with dedication.

"He has had to deal with a wide range of issues, from Darfur to the recent resolution concerning North Korea's missile tests.

"He's handled these assignments effectively and with great articulances (ph). I've observed him at a number of official functions. This enabled me to note that his relationship with his colleagues has been professional and mutually respected.

"It would be unfortunate if he were to be prevented from continuing these tasks, especially as a new General Assembly is about to begin and a number of crises, such as the Middle East crisis and the Iranian nuclear weapons crisis, are on the verge of coming before the United Nations.

"For these reasons, I respectfully urge the committee to deal favorably with the president's recommendation and confirm John Bolton."

And it's signed, "With warm regards, Henry Kissinger."

PROTESTER: I object! I am a citizen of the United States of America!

LUGAR: The committee will be in order.

The committee will stand in recess until police can restore order.

PROTESTER: John Bolton does not speak for me or those who want to uphold justice! We are becoming (inaudible)! We are the powerless! We are (inaudible).

LUGAR: The committee will resume the hearing.

A broken water pipe, a lunatic protester, John Kerry and Russ Feingold's comic relief, AND the certain confirmation of John Bolton...

Who could ask for anything more?