Thune Willing to Sacrifice Bolton for Air Base

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,158465,00.html

Thune Willing to Sacrifice Bolton for Air Base

RAPID CITY, S.D. — John Bolton's (search) nomination to the United Nations may not seem to have much to do with a proposed base closing in South Dakota, but the state's junior senator is seemingly drawing a connection in order to keep a promise to voters who sent him to Washington.

Ellsworth Air Force Base (search) is home to the B-1 bomber, one of the most powerful weapons in America's military arsenal. But officials at the Pentagon want to close Ellsworth.

Sen. John Thune (search), a self-described loyal Republican, said he's considering using his most powerful weapon — his vote on the U.S. Senate floor — against President Bush's nominee for U.N. ambassador, a notable break with the administration that is tied to his displeasure over the base-closing proposal.

"My loyalty in this particular matter is with the people of South Dakota, always has been, always will be," Thune said.

Thune won his U.S. Senate seat last November in a tight race against former Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle. The victory was aided by the endorsement of Bush.

<</SNIP>>

[gratuitous]

1. Putting the people of South Dakota ahead of Chimpy, Mr. Thune?

Enjoy your one term, you nitwit.

[babylonsister]

3. Regardless of his motivation, this is a good thing! nt

[ET Awful]

6. I agree.

He's a slimeball and he's using a pretty scummy methodology, but in the long run it helps us.

[gratuitous]

8. The intraparty warfare is good

No doubt about that, but there IS the question of why the country needs an air base in South Dakota. Unless those Red Chinese bastards have found a way to drill through earth and send their fighter jets through the tunnel to destroy the Corn Palace or Wall Drug.

[Jo March]

2. That makes no sense to me

Why vote against Bolton? How is doing that going to save the base? I would think that swearing loyalty to * and all of his appointees would insure that the base would be safe.

:shrug:

[ET Awful]

4. He's trying to bribe them with his vote. The base is one that the

administration wants to close. He's telling them if they don't remove the base from consideration for closure, he won't support Bolton.

He's simply trying to bribe them, nothing more, nothing less.

[Jo March]

18. Ah, yes. That makes sense now

I have to tap into my "inner evil" to figure out what these guys are doing.

[Jara sang]

5. Welcome to Bushworld.

Where up is down, black is white and war is peace.

[asjr]

12. The whole base closing idea does not make sense to me. Only

if I don my tinfoil hat, which is glistening right now, can I make any sense of it. We are in a war and closing bases makes no sense. It will put many people out of work and make the unemployment insurance line grow longer. Is this a move by the administration (Karl Rove) to blackmail congress people into voting for whomever they want to put in as ambassadors, cabinet ministers, etc? It comes down to the WH saying You give us what we want and you can keep your military installation. Then they can use the excuse of many people out of work for stopping closure. I am just about to go off the deep end with trying to figure out this WH, except that I know they have ruined this country for many years to come.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

17. Get out your tinfoil, here's one theory I've heard:

Rumor has it (I don't know if it's true) that Busholini wants to get rid of the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits military forces from participating in domestic law enforcement. And he's also closing military bases that are mostly in the northern half of the country. This might lead one to suspect that southern-based (Red) military forces could be used against Blue state civilians if there's another really scary Terra Lert and martial law is declared. Sounds nuts, but with this crowd in charge, who knows?

[AndyTiedye]

24. The Blue States Have the Cities, And The Red States Have The Nukes

If it comes to that sort of thing, we're toast anyway. :nuke:

[NV Whino]

19. My take on the base closing is this

W's closing all the bases in the US of A, but we won't be losing any bases per se. They will just be relocated in the Middle East.

[n2doc]

13. Loyalty to * didn't get him squat

So maybe he is seeing the light? Perhaps the Senate Pukes will stop being a rubber stamp. These idiots don't seem to understand the first rule of power- if you never use it, it isn't any good. Rubber stamping everything * wants is the fast track to obsolescence.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

7. It's a set up to make Thune look good

This is the first time that Thune has done anything "for the people of South Dakota". Tom Daschle served his state for 24 years and either authored or co-sponsored over 200 bills (or was it 400...I'm quoting from a friend of my parents' back in Sioux Falls) that directly affected his home state. He was a bad Senate Majority Leader, but for South Dakota, he was the right person for the job.
Thune sat on his ass in the House for six years and didn't author a single damn bill. This is all a setup to make Thune look like the "hero" when he "defies" the Bush administration to "save" Ellsworth.

Just wait. Thune will save the base, and be branded a "hero" for his actions.
:puke:

[tk2kewl]

10. so obvious

:puke:

and he gets to say he only voted for Bolton to save the base, but thinks Botlon is the wrong man

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

14. Exactly.

And the South Dakotans will eat it up.
I hate what my home state has become. I really, really hate it.

[MADem]

20. I thought they were just going to realign Ellsworth

And by realign, I mean SERIOUSLY realign. It would not close, but eighty percent of mission would go away, along with eighty percent of those paychecks....

Hell, they should slap a wind farm up there....but that might be ecologically responsible...provide renewable energy...and create LOCAL jobs. Can't have that!

[Jack Rabbit]

9. What a dolt

I'd almost rather see him vote to confirm Bolton than see him do such a petty thing.

[sellitman]

11. If he follows thru.....will Bolton not have the votes?

Does anyone know?

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[wakeme2008]

16. The Air Force Officers LOVE their GOLF.....

They want to close this base and move south.

This is just BS..... Bush will "take" Elisworth" off the list only as long as he has too to get Thune vote on Bolton then surprise surprise.......

[Doctor_J]

21. Too bad he won't vote against him because he's a lying,

incompetent criminal. It would be nice for a Senator to show some principles, instead of just political loyalty.

[sabra]

22. excellent point!

[Supersedeas]

25. Wonder how the people of SD appreciate their WAR President now

[central scrutinizer]

23. This is how far we have sunk

Bushco has made corruption as normal as breathing so now pols openly sell their votes and don't even care if it makes the front page. It is not as if the comatose lapdogs of the press are going to call them on it. But hey - here's some positive spin: Bushco has taken the corruption, bribery, vote selling, extortion and logrolling out of the backrooms and made it a centerpiece. Bagmen can now stroll proudly in the front door with heads held high, not slink around to the service entrance.

[WeRQ4U]

26. Here's an idea....

The administration included tons of bases in their original plans to close and "reallign" them. This list includes many bases in republican-held states, ex. South Dakota.

Wouldn't it be all too conveniant for all of the Democratically-held states to lose their bases and select republican states to retain theres, by whatever means? Wouldn't the people of South Dakota be ever so happy if they got to keep their based and not have it close, AND realize that their guy is going to the mat for them (EVEN THOUGH IT'S A SHAM!)

Just my take.

Edit for the proper use of "to" and "too".

[necso]

27. I trust that the Senator

understands that this threat really only carries weight if his vote can make a difference in the confirmation.

I wonder if there are other pugs with a similar situation on their hands (or needing other policy leverage). There are many bases being closed, I understand.