If President Bush sends John Bolton to the U.N. with a recess appointment, he is sending two signals that are really quite dramatically bad:
1. Bolton will hold one of America’s highest profile diplomatic portfolios without the validation of American citizens behind him. He will not have the Senate stamp of legitimacy on his Ambassadorship and thus will be perceived at home and abroad as without “weight.”
2. During this era of preaching “democracy” throughout the world — which means not just “electocracies” or “ballot box democracies” but rather a system of checks and balances, respect for minority rights, and rule of law — sending John Bolton to the U.N. is a lesson that legislatures can be ignored and minority rights in government trampled by the demands of the Executive Branch.
America is undermining its message to the world with this highly visible post — but, of course, that has been the problem with John Bolton since the beginning.
— Steve Clemons
