Under his powers under Article 2, ?2, ?3 of the Constitution, the president granted a “recess appointment” to John Bolton as Ambassador to the United Nations. We’re already hearing gripes from the usual suspects but even as he expresses some reservations about the appointment, Ohio Republican Senator George Voinovich, whose late opposition to Bolton’s nomination likely prevented that good man’s confirmation said he “will do everything in [his] power to support Mr. Bolton as he takes this new position.” This blogger for one thinks the president did the right thing as Democrats prevented the Senate from voting to confirm Mr. Bolton–although a majority of Senators favor his confirmation.
As terrorists attack Egypt and the United Kingdom and as the U.N. faces it own crises, we need a strong voice there, a man who the confidence of the president and of Secretary of State Rice. John Bolton is such a man and will serve our nation well.
Way to go, Mr. President.
UPDATE: Other bloggers weigh in on Bolton:
In addressing the issue of Bolton’s temper, Malcontent accurately observes that anyone with firsthand personal experience with senators realizes that it is hypocritical in the extreme that they should expect senior-level Washington appointees to be absent tempers or egos.” He concludes:
Democrats have endeavored to unduly drag out virtually every Bush nominee, including the utterly noncontroversial SCOTUS nominee John Roberts, in the hope that the delay itself will create some vague whiff of controversy that would sink the nomination and, in turn, add ancillary taint to the Bush presidency. They have had more than sufficient time to discover anything that could fairly disqualify Bolton, and they have failed to do so.
It is long past time to send him to Turtle Bay.
Exactly.
Powerline offers thoughts and links here. Via Michelle Malkin, Mark Coffey offers Top Ten Leftist Reactions To The Bolton Nomination. Roger Simon hopes Bolton is not a nice guy. Captain Ed notes how Massachusetts’ junior Senator “gets it wrong yet again” when that onetime Democratic presidential nominee claims the Senate rejected Bolton’s nomination. Read whole thing, it’s a great piece on the Bolton appointment.
UPDATE #2: From Best of the Web:
Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut told Fox News yesterday, “He’s damaged goods; this is a person who lacks credibility. . . . That’s not what you want to send up, a person who doesn’t have the confidence of the Congress.” Of course, the only way to find out whether Bolton has the confidence of Congress is to hold a vote, and Dodd has led the effort to prevent that from happening.
UPDATE #3: Polipundit’s Lorie Byrd weighs in here, concluding:
With all the stories in the news of the Oil for Food scandal and the rapes of young girls in Africa by U.N. “peacekeepers”, and on and on, do Democrats really think the public is hankering for someone to go to the U.N. and just go with the flow?
Now, go read the whole thing as she offers good insights and links on president’s bold move.