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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2005-08-01

This Is Out There, Even For The NYTimes

The New York Times Editorial Page seems to be channeling all sorts of insider information and ability to discern motivations out of thin air. Check this one out:

If there's a positive side to President Bush's appointment of John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations yesterday, it's that as long as Mr. Bolton is in New York, he will not be wreaking diplomatic havoc anywhere else. Talks with North Korea, for instance, have been looking more productive since Mr. Bolton left the State Department, and it's hard not to think that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's generally positive performance in office is due, in part, to her canniness in dispatching Mr. Bolton out of Washington.

Well, at least she's getting credit for "canniness." Pretty impressive how the Times can divine her motivation for that move. By the way, where has Bolton been? Last I checked, he's been hanging out around the Senate a lot, and actually plans to keep his primary office at the State Department, rather then at Turtle Bay.

But then--THEN--it gets positively laughable.

But the appointment is, of course, terrible news for the United Nations, whose diplomats have heard weeks of Senate testimony about Mr. Bolton's lack of respect for their institution and his deeply undiplomatic, bullying style of doing business. Senator George Voinovich, the Ohio Republican who became one of Mr. Bolton's strongest critics, said yesterday that he planned to send the new ambassador a book on how to be an effective manager. It couldn't hurt, but this may be the first time a world superpower has used its top United Nations post as a spot for the remedial training of a troublesome government employee.

Yep, the man who laid the groundwork for the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and who has been crucial in many internal Washington debates, is nothing more than a troublesome government employee. And if ANYBODY is in a position to give advice on management, it would certainly be George Voinovich.

Perhaps the Times should be more forceful about asking about remidial accounting personnel at the United Nations.
Posted by: Michael / 8/01/2005 11:46:00 PM

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