*sniff*
John Bolton at the U.N. makes Baby Jesus Voinovich cry.
After a long speech about what he called the loss of U.S. credibility in the world and Bolton's harsh management style, Voinovich choked up and struggled to hold back tears as he asked for Bolton's defeat. He said too many senators didn't seem to understand how crucial the U.N. job was to America's image abroad.
Gee, you'd think if the Bolton nomination were that damn important to him, maybe he shouldn't have voted him out of committee, huh? His one vote could have prevented that. Or at the very least, maybe he could have actually bothered to show up for Bolton's testimony?
(Hat tip: K-Lo)
Comments
Voinovich has been a success as a mayor, governor, and now Senator. He led Cleveland out of bankruptcy and in the Senate has been an advocate for fiscal sanity, something that has been sorely lacking IMO over the last four years.
You may pride yourself on being a really, really tough guy because you like really, really tough guys like Bolton. Voinovich has a different view and is standing up to his party in expressing that view.
So he gets upset. Mock him if you want. It doesn't make you right.
Posted by: PE | May 26, 2005 10:16 AM
PE, if Voinovich was so very concerned about Bolton, he might have made an effort to attend the hearings when Bolton himself was testifying wouldn't you agree?
He didn't as you recall. Rather he arrived late to one of the last sessions and had to be brought up to speed.
Posted by: mal | May 26, 2005 01:24 PM
LOL, now PE is defending a GOP Senator.
Any port in a storm, eh? ;)
Posted by: CRB | May 26, 2005 03:48 PM
I'm with Voinovich on this one. Thank god that some members of the GOP still have a brain/conscience. I would weep too at the idea of Bolton representing my country. Why? Because we can do much better than him or Bush.
Posted by: Jay | May 29, 2005 08:25 AM
There are plenty of Republican Senators that I admire. McCain, Lugar, Hagel, Hatch.. to name a few. Moreover, I have voted for Republicans both for the Senate and for the Congress.
I grew up with the idea that we vote for the man/woman first and the party second. If, however, all Republicans are required to vote the same regardless of their conviction.. hell we might as well not elect men and women to the Senate. We could just send electors who vote according to party dictate and forget the fact that these men and women answer to all of the voters in their state first and their parties second.
As far as Voinovich missing the hearings, I don't know his reason, only that Senators do have to multitask. In any case, I reckon that he has had opportunity since to review Bolton's merits and frankly I see this as a talking point to repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat. (Yes, I know. He missed the hearing.)
Posted by: PE | May 30, 2005 07:51 PM
Or to put it another way. From listening to Joe Lieberman, I suspect that Lieberman will end up voting for Bolton's confirmation. If he does and even if he turns out to be the deciding vote, I am not going to start wailing about how Lieberman betrayed his party. Lieberman has his own judgment and I respect his integrity, even when I disagree with him. (And yes, I understand, that not all Democrats agree with that.)
Posted by: PE | May 30, 2005 08:25 PM