Bolton' outa the UN

So, rather than be made to look as ridiculous as he is before the Senate, Ragin' John Bolton will leave his U.N. assignment when his term expires. Pardon a bit of artistic license in paraphrasing one of Ragin' John's most oft-quoted rants, redirected at the man himself:

"The United States needs the U.N. to work, and not just when it wants it to work. That is exactly the way it should be. And the only question, the ONLY question for the United States Senate was what makes you think you're so damn qualified. And if you don't like that, I'm sorry, but that is the fact."

Well, not to worry about our boy, Ragin' John will just ride off into the sunset and rejoin his fellow inmates at the Project for the New American (World Domination) Century (pronunciation note: "World Domination" is silent), and continue his important work of attempting to destroy the planet, exploring new methods of negotiation cleverly disguised as intimidation and military intervention. Too bad it's unlikely he'll consider anger management therapy -- before we all pay the price "in the form of a mushroom cloud", thanks to his concepts of diplomacy.


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Meanwhile, War Of The Words continued today, centered on Ragin' John's departure. On Google News, the following two items literally were next to each other (emphasis added):

From the Wall Street Journal:
Bush Statement on Bolton Leaving
"Below is the text of a statement from President Bush regarding John Bolton's resignation..."

From CBS News:
White House Contests Claim That Bolton 'Resigned'
"The headlines this morning announced that United Nations Ambassador John Bolton would be resigning from his position. CBSNews.com initially headlined its story 'U.N. Ambassador John Bolton Resigns.' The Washington Post went with 'Bush Accepts Bolton's U.N. Resignation.' MSNBC had this: 'John Bolton resigns as ambassador to U.N.' And CNN.com noted that 'U.N. ambassador Josh Bolton will resign within weeks after temporary term ends.'

"The White House quickly took issue with that characterization. 'It is not a resignation,' Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino told CBS News. She noted that Bolton would be leaving his post when his recess appointment expired at the end of the 109th Congress. After an email with Perino's comment was passed around CBS News, the headline on the Bolton story was changed to 'U.N. Ambassador John Bolton To Step Down.'

"Why is Perino stressing that the word 'resign' isn't right? Because, as we saw with the 'civil war' debate, there is a widespread belief that the words used to describe a particular situation can have an impact on public opinion. To 'resign,' in the minds of many, is to leave a post early, often for having done something wrong...
...It's no surprise, then, that Bush did not use the 'r' word in his statement today on Bolton."

OK, got it. He didn't actually resign...

...er, this just in from the White House web site:
President Bush Accepts Ambassador John Bolton's Resignation as U.S. Representative to the United Nations

?? Um, hello? Anyone home at the Press Secretary's office??

My word, these people aren't even competent enough to manage their own spin.


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Now let's move on to what El Presidente had to say about Ragin' John's confirmation process:

"I am deeply disappointed that a handful of United States Senators prevented Ambassador Bolton from receiving the up or down vote he deserved in the Senate. They chose to obstruct his confirmation, even though he enjoys majority support in the Senate, and even though their tactics will disrupt our diplomatic work at a sensitive and important time. This stubborn obstructionism ill serves our country, and discourages men and women of talent from serving their Nation."

Oh, puh-lease. "A handful of... Senators" may have blocked his confirmation last time, but if Ragin' John "enjoys majority support in the Senate", George, why isn't he going before the Senate for confirmation this time around? Because you know, and he knows, and everyone knows that your proclaimed "majority support" won't exist in January; it didn't really exist a year ago, either.

Also, Mr. President, I think your press office should consider terminology other than "stubborn obstructionism" as we close in on the release of the Iraq Study Group's report... or that White House of yours will become a glass house.