President Bush, when he was running against Al Gore in the 2000 presidential race, said that he would run his office honorably, with humility. He said that he was going to be “straight” with the American people — and wouldn’t parse words and meanings like his predecessor was known to do.

There is a lot of turmoil around Washington on the Bolton recess appointment story that the Washington Post ran today.

The White House rethought its plan to appoint John Bolton as U.S.

A TWN reader just sent me this CNN Inside Politics transcript of an interview with Michael Isikoff. (I can’t hyperlink well from France so will try and do so later) CROWLEY: Right.

I was there this morning, and the bulls are very big, very fast, very feisty, and the horns are sharp. I didn’t get gored or trampled, though I saw about a dozen people get run over, three people tossed by horns, and witnessed one broken wrist.

TWN has posted a great deal in the past about James Woolsey and his personal enrichment in a network of national security-oriented firms, investment funds, and other activities.

I’m not one to pile on to stories, but the Valerie Plame case is one in which someone in the White House — and perhaps more than one person — committed a serious crime.

Reuters’ Donna Smith has filed a very good article on the role blogs are playing in the arena of political commentary and research. She notes that the last time there was a Supreme Court nomination, there were no blogs and consdiders their role in the upcoming battle.

TWN is on a transatlantic flight right now trying to deal with the fact that sleep is impossible for this writer on these planes. I have been giving some thought to the battle over John Bolton’s nomination as Ambassador to the United Nations — and the implications for other political battles ahead.

The next three weeks will be amazing. Stay tuned. John Bolton is now quite a low priority for the White House. Open thread.