By Lee Cullum, KERA 90.1 commentator
Dallas, TX –
Those who say that the president will be lucky if John Bolton's nomination as ambassador to the United Nations never gets out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are right. Others who suspect that Secretary of State Condi Rice would be happy to move him out of her immediate domain may be right as well. And those who put Mr. Bolton in the same league with former U.N. Ambassadors Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Jeanne Kirkpatrick are blind to the qualities of the people in question.
Mr. Moynihan, later a U.S. senator from New York, had a fine and subtle mind that expressed itself with startling wit, originality and elegance. Ms. Kirkpatrick had (and still has) such penetrating clarity of thought that President Reagan relied heavily on her judgment, often to the chagrin of the men in the cabinet. Neither hesitated to defend forcefully the interests of the United States, but they did it in a way that did not put their colleagues permanently on edge. Both maintained a high level of disciplined courtesy.
None of this can be said about John Bolton. His agitated relations with people trying to work with him, his persistent search for trouble where it cannot be found (he insisted that Fidel Castro was researching biological weapons when the truth is that Cuba has a very good pharmaceutical industry) and his belligerent treatment of other nations (he insulted North Korea in a way that only made a bad situation worse) suggest that he belongs in elective politics, where shoot-from-the-hip populism can be devastatingly effective, but not in diplomacy which requires nuance, patience and, sometimes steely restraint.
Mr. Bolton also has a potential problem in some of his affections. He is devoted to Taiwan, an impressive and energetic place, but this could put him at cross purposes with China and produce retaliatory, unnecessary vetoes in the Security Council.
Some fear that President Bush will be damaged politically is he loses this battle. Not at all. Did Bill Clinton suffer when Zoe Baird or Kimba Wood faltered in their quests to be attorney general? Or when Lani Guinier was withdrawn from consideration for assistant attorney general for civil rights? Or when Bobby Inman abruptly changed his mind about becoming secretary of defense? Of course not. Mr. Clinton's attention was drawn immediately to other matters and so was that of the nation.
Democrats and moderate Republicans, such as Colin Powell and some on the Foreign Relations Committee, might cluck for a day or two if John Bolton is forced to step aside or loses the vote May 12, but they would be quickly overwhelmed by the cacophony of other voices. There is always a new sensation, crowding out the old.
The president made excellent appointments to the U.N. in John Negraponte and John Danforth. Surely someone of their caliber and temperament can be found now. There's no question that Mr. Bush can do better. So can John Bolton.
Lee Cullum is a contributor to KERA and to the Dallas Morning News. If you have opinions or rebuttals about this commentary, call (214) 740-9338 or email us.