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:
. . .you don’t have to be a global-governance visionary, or even a big U.N. fan, to oppose Bolton’s nomination.
Common-sense patriotism — the intelligent championing of national interest — will do. Hence the many Republican moderates who are uncomfortable with this nomination. And if there’s a sense in which ardent U.N. aficionados are a problem, it’s not because they’re on the verge of squashing America’s sovereignty, but because sometimes, in their enthusiasm, they give rhetorical ammunition to the David Brookses of the world.
Bob does a nice job in the article of deconstructing Bolton’s views as expressed in commentary he made about the United Nations in 1994. Click here to watch the three minute video.
What is interesting about this video is that proponents and opponents both agree that the John Bolton they see on this video clip is the REAL John Bolton — not the newly converted “multilateralist” we heard from in his confirmation statement given under oath before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
For those interested, StopBolton.org is a good site to see what the activists in this cause are up to and how you might help.
More later.
— Steve Clemons
