Crying George Wakes Up

Who will ever forget the scene of Ohio Senator George Voinovich breaking down in tears during the confirmation hearing for John Bolton's nomination as UN Ambassador. The ensuing logjam in the Senate resulted in President Bush making Bolton a recess appointee, and the results have been as most of us expected: Bolton has done a terrific job at the Star Wars bar scene known as the United Nations (I keep waiting for him to pull a weapon and just blow one of those pompous ambassasdors away, but it hasn't happened yet).

Well, Crying George has now had a chance to see Mr. Bolton in action, and in a self-important op-ed in the Washington Post, has decided to endorse Bolton should he be renominated in January:

Ambassador Bolton's appointment expires this fall when the Senate officially recesses. Should the president choose to renominate him, I cannot imagine a worse message to send to the terrorists -- and to other nations deciding whether to engage in this effort -- than to drag out a possible renomination process or even replace the person our president has entrusted to lead our nation at the United Nations at a time when we are working on these historic objectives.

For me or my colleagues in the Senate to now question a possible renomination would jeopardize our influence in the United Nations and encourage those who oppose the United States to make Bolton the issue, thereby undermining our policies and agenda.

Should the president send his renomination to the Senate, I will vote to confirm him, and I call on my Democratic colleagues to keep in mind the current situation in the Middle East and the rest of the world should the Senate have an opportunity to vote. I do not believe the United States, at this dangerous time, can afford to have a U.N. ambassador who does not have Congress's full support.

For the good of our country, the United Nations and the free world, we must end any ambiguity about whether John Bolton speaks for the United States so that he can work to support our interests at the United Nations during this critical time.

Welcome to reality, Senator. The tissues will be waiting on the hearing table.