Bolton hearing NOT HAPPENING - !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[whometense]

on c-span3 starting at 9:30am.

Should be interesting, to say the least...

[whometense]

1. Another link here:

http://foreign.senate.gov/hearing.ram

They haven't started yet.

[whometense]

2. WOW

Getting other business out of the way first - everything that doesn't require a roll call vote.


Lugar removing Bolton from today's agenda!!!!!!!!!!! ("after conferring with some senators")

That must mean they knew he wouldn't get through!

[ProSense]

9. Not exactly a good time to

focus on the "Katrina foreign policy"

Failure On A Grand Scale Overseas
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2808138&mesg_id=2808255


For example, the Arabs themselves, in the UN Development Program- sponsored Arab Development Reports, have identified the deficits of freedom, knowledge and women's empowerment as requiring urgent attention. Without trying to impose a U.S.- sponsored form of democracy on Arab states, America should be directing its assistance and support to Arab efforts to address these deficits.

The above is from an article (on withdrawing from Iraq) by Daniel Kurtzer, a professor of Middle East policy studies at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, is a former U.S. ambassador to Egypt and Israel.

[babylonsister]

3. Not, or now? And something this important should be

televised imo.

[TayTay]

4. Wow!

I had a meeting and didn't know this. I think you are right, Bolton doesn't have the votes and the Repubs have decided not to push this because it doesn't help them with the midterms.

[whometense]

6. Miracles can happen.

In practical terms, I have no idea what this means. Do they wait till after the election and hope they keep control of the Senate?

After Hillary and Schumer voted YES! for cluster bombs yesterday (WTF was that about???) I was worried they might consider filibustering Bolton as bad for their centrist cred.

[karynnj]

8. Bayh. Biden and Dodd did too!

This is a sick way to get national security credentials. (What I really don't understand is Lautenberg - why on earth he voted for this is beyond me.)

I remember in the wake of the Afghanistan(I think) bombing, a NYT story where they spoke of how deadly these were. How even after a battle, there were some that never exploded that acted as landmines. They mentioned that the color of them - I think, yellow - was unfortunately the color of the care packages dropped by the US to feed people.

[whometense]

5. Lugar just

made a statement at the beginning of the meeting - VERY low key - it was sort of obvious how big it was by the quiet way he slipped it into his statement about the agenda.

He didn't say anything about a reschedule.

[babylonsister]

7. Here's an article addressing the postponement:

Still no reason...


(Thanks, kpete)

Senate Postpones Vote On Bolton Nomination Updated at 9:58 AM

WASHINGTON A Senate panel postponed a vote scheduled for Thursday on the nomination of John Bolton as U.N. ambassador.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar, a Republican, gave no reason for the delay and did not say when the vote would be held. Bolton, nominated by President George. W. Bush, had been opposed by many Democrats, but he was expected to be confirmed by the Republican-led panel.

Lugar said he removed the nomination from the agenda of Thursday's committee meeting after conferring with several senators.

Bush temporarily installed Bolton as U.N. ambassador on Aug. 1, 2005, while Congress was in recess. The U.S. constitution allows presidents to bypass the Senate by making appointments during a recess. The recess appointment expires in January.

more at:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/07/america/NA_GE...

[whometense]

10. from this CNN piece

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/07/bolton.nomination.ap/

it sounds like they had all the republican votes in line.

Kos has a diary up here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/9/7/12146/70181

He thinks they've postponed the vote to help out Chafee before his primary next week.

[karynnj]

11. The NYT article says Chaffee has "questions"

that he has no answers to - not that it's political. The political argument seems weird - a "no" vote would fly BETTER in the primary, but kill him in the election. Would this mean they will delay until after the election? The Republican leadership would be more likely to delay to get the vote they want - not the vote that could kill Bolton.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Bolton-Nomination.html

[wisteria]

13. I think that is what they will do. Bolton conjures up bad memories of

Iraq and other failings. His appointment doesn't expire until January, so it seems they decided to not rock the boat. They must be sure they will retain the Senate after November.Oh, and they can always count on Lieberman to vote with them.

[karynnj]

14. They don't have to retain the Senate

They can call th evote with the old Senate in November. So, I guess they want Chaffee to win the primary and the election.

[wisteria]

16. I wasn't aware of that.

In a way, I am glad, because I would like to see the Senate revert back to Democratic control even though that will be difficult.

[wisteria]

12. That is my take also. n/t

[_dynamicdems]

15. This could backfire on Bolton's nomination.

The longer it is postponed, the more we get to see how ineffective he is at his job. Things are heating up and he's no diplomat.

IMO, Chaffee needs to make up his mind and show a little courage.

[saltpoint]

17. God, John Bolton is such a puke.

He is totally a puke.

He is the biggest puke who ever walked down the street.

What a puke.

What a puke, a puke, a puke, a puke, a puke.

[whometense]

18. can't dispute that.

a puke.

Can't even call him a man - too good for him. But HRC and Schumer may vote for him because he's "good for Israel"? He's good for nothing.

[saltpoint]

19. Hi, whometense. I hope Charles Schumer reconsiders.

Bolton should not be our Ambassador, and he's only there now on a sneak interim appointment.

[whometense]

20. Hi, Old Crusoe! New news from Steve Clemons:

Maybe the nomination wouldn't have made it to the Senate floor with a recommendation, after all:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-clemons/john-bolton-confirmation-_b_28965.html

JOHN BOLTON CONFIRMATION IS DEAD

Several well-placed sources close to the Bolton nomination process have reported to me that the Bolton confirmation process is now dead.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is "highly unlikely" to reconsider Bolton's confirmation again as things now stand.

One insider reported, as far as the Committee is concerned, "we consider the confirmation over. It's dead."

American diplomacy may get a boost in January. She's tough and not a darling of many progressives, but my vote is for Bush's next nominee to serve as US Ambassador to the United Nations is Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky.

Senator Lincoln Chafee gets this week's 'Conservative with a Conscience' Award for his principled stand on the importance of America's Middle East diplomacy and for making the Bolton confirmation process an appropriate vehicle to express his concerns.

Good for Chafee. I still hope he doesn't win re-election. I want to see that seat filled by a democrat. But still, you've got to give him credit for a principled stand on a really important issue.

[ginnyinWI]

22. well that's what happens when you have no political capital!

Chimpy's running a deficit about now. Nobody feels obligated to lift a finger to help him out any more. He's like a leper.

But the last one to know will be * himself. I think he's insulated himself so well from reality, and has this well-developed ability to just knee-jerk blame everyone or everything else that he still doesn't know how dead his presidency is.

[whometense]

23. This is interesting, too

from Arianna
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/bolton-update-is-vote-de_b_28903.html

Story Behind the Story: I'm hearing that the White House put a lot of pressure on Lugar to put all the business of the Foreign Relations Committee on hold so that it didn't look like the only thing being delayed was the Bolton vote, but that Lugar, in one more illustration of the weakened state of the White House, refused to go along with the ruse.

Result: Today's postponement, coupled with Chris Dodd's promise of a Democratic filibuster, means Bolton's chances of getting another go-round at the UN are looking Nicole Richie slim.

Did you happen to hear Dodd's speech about Bolton the other day? I stumbled across it by chance - it was during morning business. It was intense. He feels very strongly about this one, and clearly was going to battle to the death against Bolton.

[ginnyinWI]

24. "weakened state of the WH" is right on target.

No I didn't catch Dodd, but good for Lugar. The Republicans who still retain some integrity are waking up and remembering themselves.

I've read that LBJ held similar sway over members of Congress--what is this, some Texan thing? I'm beginning to develop a bias. There's also Delay, and others.

[saltpoint]

26. I think you're right. We have to root for a Democrat to take that

seat in RI but for the moment it appears Lincoln Chafee has done the nation a favor.

I hope Lugar continues to tell the Bush people to go jump in the lake.

Thanks for the Clemons post -- I love the idea of a spectacularly inappropriate nominee being told no. For a change.

And John Kerry and Joe Biden have done more than their share to oppose Bolton.

[wisteria]

21. LOL, yeah, he is a puke. n/t

[ProSense]

25. Woo Hoo!

Woo Hoo!