My colleague Robert Wright, who authored the acclaimed Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny, penned a very smart op-ed on the currents of thinking around John Bolton’s nomination to the U.N. in Slate today. Here is an excerpt from the piece: . . .

. . .so reports Vicki Allen in a new Reuters report. Here is the opener: Senate Democrats back from a weeklong recess said on Tuesday they were holding firm against allowing a vote to confirm John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations until the Bush administration turns over more information on him.

On Face the Nation in an interview with Bob Schieffer, Senator Frist states that the filibuster is legitimate if used to obtain more information. SCHIEFFER: “…why did you vote to filibuster Judge Richard Paez when President Clinton nominated him to the 9th Circuit?” Sen.

Senator Leahy is opposed to John Bolton but seems to want to convey that in the end John Bolton is going to squeak through.

Senators Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, and other members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — including Senator Lugar for that matter — have winnowed down evidence requests from the administration several times.

Today, I will be on the Al Franken Show on Air America Radio at 1 p.m. discussing John Bolton and the state of play over his nomination at this point. Then at 1:30 p.m.

Senator Frist isn’t going to co-mingle judges and John Bolton again. This week he is pushing to judicial nominations: Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor.

I only have a few moments as I have to meet an important source shortly on Capitol Hill. However, I want to make a couple of quick points. First, the White House is attempting to get reporters to parrot the line that the stand against cloture on Bolton is weak.

John Bolton so irritated British negotiators who were working on a resolution to Libya’s WMD programs that they asked the American team on Libya to remove John Bolton from the case. Bolton was dropped.

This weekend, Senator Joseph Biden was quoted as saying that the Dems probably did not have enough votes to block John Bolton’s nomination — but he also said that they were going to keep insisting that the White House turn over requested documents.