Bolton again...and Chafee's enlightenment

John Bolton: the media gift that keeps on giving. I'll leave it to you to remember the excitement of these highlights.

Chapter One: The numerous hearings on the Senate Foreign Relations Comittee. The pressure on Chafee to turn on the Republicans and keep the vote there. Then a shocker...Vionovich decides that Bolton isn't going to make a good UN secretary. He defers to the White House and allows a referal to the senate without reccomendation (as opposed to a positive reccomendation), and further says that he intends to vote against the nomination on the floor. Biden, the ranking Democrat, says he doesn't really think the UN position is all that big a ball of yarn, but gets righteously pissed off that the State department has refused to give the committee documents it had requested.

Chapter Two: The Senate vote. Never actually occurs because Democrats fillibuster it. Their reason/pretext? The Executive branch is still refusing to provide information that was requested. Bolton appears dead in the water, unless there is some sneaky back-door temporary appointment action.

Chapter Three: Early July. Bush passes up an opportuity to install Bolton over a short recess. Just after, a supreme court justice retires. In the midst, there is finally a series of leaks in the two-year-old Plame case and the vultures start circling over Rove. But this is chapter three of another story isn't it?

Chapter Four: In the course of the same federal investigation that has everyone wondering about Rove, it suddenly comes out that Bolton had been called in to answer questions about the faulty intel at the heart of the Wilson fiasco. Was he or was he not involved in the faulty Nigerian intel? What did he omit from the forms the senate required and was it consciously ommitted or just "forgotten"?

and now!

Chapter Five: Bush poised to appoint Bolton over recess next week.

Whatever you think about the executive denying papers to the senate, Whatever you think about Bolton's personal arrogance, or the arrogance it took to nominate him, and whether you think this link between the two scandals is a flock of dirty birds coming home to roost or a completely irrational leftist conspiracy theory, you gotta admit: this is good soap-opera-type material.

Says Chafee:

Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee said he would vote against Bolton — if given the chance — and would oppose a recess appointment if it is accurate that Bolton’s form was originally incorrect. “Any intimidation of the facts, or suppression of information getting to the public which led us to the war, absolutely should preclude him from a recess appointment,” said Chafee, of Rhode Island

Like a Greek tragedy, realization of the fatal flaw comes too late. Way too late.

UPDATE: Speaking of fatal flaws....I've corrected mispellings of 'Chafee' which I had not only spelled incorrectly but also differently in every occurrance. It was far beyond my casual disrespect for spelling, typing, and grammar. As a penance I agree to proof-read all my posts. No, really, I don't. But I will admit my shame in this update.