Where Left Is Right / The Old Site

Yes, it's legalistically true that The Weasel "has the power to fill vacancies without Senate approval while Congress is in recess." Hell, he's got the power to do lots of stuff (much to the chagrin, now and finally, of most Americans). But having the power to do something, and having a reason to do it, do not necessarily both accompany a decision to do it. And a recess appointment of Bolton, as now seems likely, is pretty scummy even by W's low-expectancies standards.

Some entries in the "case against Bolton" library, in case you've forgotten what the fuss is about:

• Voinovich's statement. Excerpt:

  ...there is no doubt that Mr. Bolton has serious deficiencies in the areas that are critical to be a good ambassador. As Carl Ford said, he is a kiss-up and kick-down leader who will not tolerate those who disagree with them and who goes out of his way to retaliate for their disagreement.
  
  As Ambassador Hubbard said, he does not listen when an esteemed colleague offers suggested changes to temper language in a speech. And as I've already mentioned, former secretary of state Powell's chief of staff Lawrence Wilkerson said he would be an abysmal ambassador.

• Slate's Fred Kaplan states his version of the case -- one of several.
• Polliana offers a neat summation.
• The Economist weighs in.

It comes as no surprise that The Weasel may demonstrate hard-headed high-handedness on this issue; Lord knows he's got a track record on others. But winger support for him starts to seem ever more grounded on wishful thinking, than on the (always flimsy) "Hey, he won the election!" arguments.

Update (10:00-something): Yep. Spoiled bastard.