I’d like to thank Steve for inviting me in as one of his guest bloggers over the next few days. In my day job, I write for the New York Post. Previous stops include the Republican National Committee and former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s office. (Speaking of my ex-boss, readers may want to take a look at this column based on his UN reform Task Force report. Newt co-chaired the Task Force with George Mitchell and received a fair bit of praise from unlikely sources.)
Clearly, I am more on the right side of the political spectrum than most of Steve’s readers and collaborators here in the blog. However, Steve is one of the smartest people I know in the public policy world — particularly when it comes to international affairs — and I’m lucky to be his friend. We don’t agree on all issues, but we have some worthwhile intelligent conversations from our respective viewpoints.
I have also tipped my hat to him as being a (the?) worthy leader of the Bolton opposition.
Many of you may have gotten to know me when Steve graciously linked to my blog last week. “John Bolton, R.I.P.” managed to bounce around the left side of the blogosphere a few times. My follow-up post yesterday discussed some of the twist and turns involving Bolton’s apparently incomplete answer on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee questionnaire — and the fact that Bolton’s non-involvement in Fitzgerald grand jury could embolden the administration to go ahead with the recess appointment.
Based on statements from both the White House and the State Department over the last 24 hours, that looks to be the case. A few other guests have already discussed the ongoing controversy this morning.
Anyway, with an all-star cast of bloggers here, I won’t bother polluting the site with (too much) more of my — ahem — nutty right-wing views [Feel free to go to my personal space for that — plus discussions on comic books, improv comedy and other less-weighty matters]. However, in the spirit of Steve’s and my friendship, I will bring in some “foreign” insight. Steve and I first met on a couple of conferences sponsored by organizations devoted to enhancing communication between Europe and the US. So, I hope to introduce a few of the people I’ve been fortunate to meet in my excursions and get some insights on things going on in those countries.
Anyway, thanks for your indulgence and happy to be invited to the party!
— Robert George
