Democrat Obstructionism: 1, Bipartisanship: 0

I just love how the Democrats try to claim that they are going to practice bipartisanship and fairness when they assume leadership of the House and the Senate. Their actions to date, however have been anything but. The Democrats have scored a "great victory" (if you can call it that) since John Bolton announced that he will step down from his position as United States Ambassador to the United Nations when his recess appointment expires very soon. It makes me sick to my stomach that a then minority group of Senators (the Democrats) with the aid of a handful of renegade Republicans can torpedo the nomination of a man who was probably the most qualified person to lead a reform effort at the un-United Nations. Bolton enjoyed majority support in the Senate, but the opposition of two prominent Republicans gave the Democrats just what they needed to stymie his nomination for more than a year and forced the President to put Bolton in the position by a recess appointment which was temporary and would last only for the duration of the current Congress. As mentioned in an article on CNN and in another on Human Events.com(http://www.humanevents.com/rightangle/index.php?id=18553&title=the_gop_killed_john_bolton) the adamant opposition of liberal Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R. RI) prevented the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from reporting Bolton's nomination to the full Senate for an up or down vote. But it was not just due to Chafee's efforts alone. Sen. George Voinovich (R. Ohio) expressed his unease about Bolton and this let the Democrats hamstring the Senate into inaction. All those who opposed Bolton were whining and moaning that Bolton was too "brusque" and too "combative" to be an effective diplomat and public servant for the US at the un-United Nations. They even dredged up accusations from people who worked for or with Bolton in the past that labeled him a "bully". Bolton's performance at the UN proved his detractors wrong and he even managed to make some progress (all things considered), but still Chafee vowed to oppose his nomination even after Chafee was defeated November 7th by Sheldon Whitehouse (a Democrat who would most likely oppose Bolton's nomination as well). Sen. Joe Biden (D. Delaware) the incoming chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee is quoted as saying he saw "no point in considering Mr. Bolton's nomination again." But as the article in Human Events points out, blame can also fall on the Republicans and the President for failing to properly push Bolton's nomination. CNN reported that Bolton's relations with the Secretariat at the UN was "strained". Of course it was. He was doing his job, pushing for reform within a corrupt organization, currently led by a corrupt man - Kofi Annan. Bolton made progress on getting international consensus on resolutions dealing with North Korea and Iran, and now thanks to a lack of will by the Administration and its supporters, partisan politics promulgated by the Democrats, and the fact that Bolton would not practice the "touchy-feely", feel-good, policy-of-surrender style of diplomacy favored by the current Democrats, his nomination has permanently collapsed and whatever good he may have accomplished over the next two years is wasted. Add to this the fact that with the Democrats assuming control over the Senate in January, it is fairly certain that if President Bush appoints any consciencious, strong, well qualified conservative to any appointed office that requires confirmation by the Senate, especially if that appointment is to any of the Appeals Courts (or God forbid, the Supreme Court) then that person(s) nomination is doomed to languish in committee, never coming to a full yah or nay vote by the Senate. To the members of the US Senate I say: Well done - mission accomplished. You have totally corrupted and abused the "Advice and Consent" function envisioned by our Founding Fathers when the Constitution was written. I hope you are proud of yourselves. When Election 2008 comes about, lets THROW DA BUMS OUT!