Bolton As McCain's Secretary Of State?

Would embattled former UN ambassador John Bolton have a place in John McCain's presidential cabinet?

The idea was brewing beneath the veneer of Bolton's address to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday.

Revealing information that he said had never before been made public, Bolton discussed how McCain secretly tried to shepherd his nomination to the United Nations -- a nomination that was held up in Congress over Bolton's controversial anti-UN statements and policies.

"He was very active behind the scenes," said Bolton, who was ultimately sent to the UN via a presidential recess appointment. "He thought I was the type of ambassador that ought to represent the United States at the United Nations."

Addressing an audience already skeptical of McCain's presidential nomination, Bolton offered a defense of the senator. Mostly, however, his argument amounted to criticisms of the Democratic contenders, Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

"The person who takes office on January 20, 2009 has to be prepared to be commander-in-chief immediately," said Bolton. "We cannot have a president who needs on-the-job training, nor a president who has problems dealing with a little bit of stress."

Even prior to the speech the possibility of a Bolton cabinet position was being batted around. The introductory speaker, Ken Timmerman, referred to the former UN Ambassador as both a "warrior of light," and "our next Secretary of State."

But Bolton himself hinted at gaps between his and McCain's outlook on foreign affairs. Without addressing the Arizona Republican by name, he warned against the ratification of the International Criminal Court, a policy anathema in conservative circles but to which McCain has offered tepid support. And after his speech was over, he deflected questions about serving as a McCain adviser or cabinet officer.

""I really don't think about that and really shouldn't think about that. The first thing we need to do is win the election," said Bolton. "I think, from talking to people here, he has a lot of work to do... in terms of bringing everybody on board."

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Comments

[WaspMan]

03:12 PM on 02/10/2008

Yet another sensational headline with little basis in reality, and unsupported by anything.

[AnotherDayInParadise]

11:01 AM on 02/10/2008

Typical neo-con/zionist. For more insights into a McCrazy administration one only need to view ZOA (Zionist Organization of America, JINSA, PNAC, AEI, CFR, etc.)

Of course Bolton would never hold Israel responsible for all the UN violations nor would he want the International Criminal Court in the Hague to begin the war crimes tribunals for he and the Bush administration would surely be hung for treason.

[AnotherDayInParadise]

11:04 AM on 02/10/2008

"Armaggedon Man"... AIPAC's choice.

[Birdman]

09:20 AM on 02/10/2008

"He thought I was the type of ambassador that ought to represent the United States at the United Nations."

As usual McCaim got it wrong again. Just like his, "americans do not care if we are in Iraq 10,000 years" comment.

[AxelDC]

09:11 AM on 02/10/2008

Diplomats are supposed to avert wars, not start them. Did John McCain go to the Marx Bros. school of foreign policy?

Bolton is the scariest man this side of a film screen. Putting him in charge of US diplomacy advances the nuclear clock to nearly midnight.

[Meah]

11:45 AM on 02/10/2008

Hey, I can see Groucho doing better than any one of the chickenhawks in diplomacy. He might flirt with the wives, but don't insult the Marx Bros like that!

[jpshotwheels]

08:37 AM on 02/10/2008

You can be assured a War with Iran, then he will say bomb all the Palestinian Terroritories, lets not forget Syria and Lebannon. This man could die his hair black, shave his mustache a little on each side, and there would stand Hitler.

[Plowboy]

08:36 AM on 02/10/2008

If it isn't that dispicable chickenhawk Bolton,.. it will be something else that smells the same.
But no McCain, perhaps(!) no such problem.

[MajorKong]

04:58 AM on 02/10/2008

John Bolton is probably the worst example of the American Enterprise Institute school of foreign policy that's been running the country these last few years.

[realpolitic]

06:52 PM on 02/10/2008

Are there any good examples?

[adzeman]

03:49 AM on 02/10/2008

Besides being dumber than a bag of hammers, he might be the most belligerent person I've ever seen. Why this chickenhawk fancies himself a diplomat I don't know.
If McCains objective is to infuriate the world further with America, then he's the one. After all things are going so well, we don't need any friends do we?

[realpolitic]

10:31 PM on 02/09/2008

Bolton is another super-hawk that avoided service in the Vietnam War. "I confess I had no desire to die in a southeast Asia rice paddy. I considered the war already lost," Bolton wrote in a 25th law school graduation reunion yearbook. I am sure others also would have liked to sit the conflict out based on their assessment of the war.

Imagine how service in Vietnam would have changed Bolton's views. Soldiers who see combat are rarely such unflinching warhawks and as content to send others to die in rice paddies or in deserts for ideological reasons. Bolton lives for ideology only because he did not see combat and did not have to hold dying friends in his arms.

[MajorKong]

04:52 AM on 02/10/2008

"I confess I had no desire to die in a southeast Asia rice paddy. I considered the war already lost,"

I'm sure my uncle thought the same thing. Except he didn't get to go to law school. He was just a working-class kid from rural Pennsylvania. His name's on the wall in DC.

[realpolitic]

06:58 PM on 02/10/2008

Yes, the death of your uncle and so many of our country's finest was a tragedy. It seems to escape Bolton that only the privileged can choose to sit out a war. Ironically, Bolton now so easily constructs militaristic policies that will lead others to their deaths for wars which only serve to confirm the false ideology ha has constructed.

[realpolitic]

10:17 PM on 02/09/2008

Boltan is as American as apple pie. Apple pie that is dropped from 50,000 feet and explodes when you take a bite out of it.

[fourex]

07:14 PM on 02/09/2008

Elliot Abrams and Scooter Libby should get a shot as current felons. Bolton has only potential in criminal behavior.

[FlowerGirl]

05:46 PM on 02/09/2008

When you sell your soul to the devil, he always gets the best of the bargain. McCain wanted to be president too much, so he grovelled to the Neocons who own Bush, promised to do whatever they demanded, so they let him have the GOP nomination. But note that those same Neocons take no chances they can avoid. Using the same MSM and the same money sources, they planned to make another soul selling politician the Democratic nominee. She would win -- and do their bidding -- or he would.

But something totally unexpected happened. The least likely kind of candidate showed up, one they could ignore, as they have ignored the needs and desires of most Americans. Maybe he will beat them. One candidate has been fighting our fight against the PACs, the MSM, the established pros, and all those elite who think it their right to own us. He hasn't been doing it with dirty politics, cheating, or by sliming his opponents. He wants to unite the country, heal its divisions. Politics as usual won't do that.

We can stop fighting needless wars, stop stealing from working people to fatten the parasitical rich. Patriotism is good when it is the love of our own country and not something else, something frankly criminal.

Earned wealth is good. But too often excess wealth is accumulated by means other than honest earning. And too much of that kind in now deep into our government.

Defense is good. But what are we doing in so many countries that most Americans know nothing about and have no interest in? What do we facilitate by bullying those others? Global corporate looting?

And since corporate earnings are up, and CEO takings are sky high, and the cost of living is ever increasing, why are the wages of American workers not rising? Why are retirement funds shrinking? Is that why we must spend more than the rest of the world entirely on "defense"?

Only one candidate took NO lobbyist or PAC moneys, and therefore owes them NOTHING. Only one can say that he belongs solely to AMERICA.

[rollingdivision]

05:45 PM on 02/09/2008

Bolton, now come on, first crying wolf at this point in the election campaign in disingenuous. Second, did McCain actually say Bolton would be his secretary of state? Third, you thinking Bolton would get through a senate committee confirmation vote let alone a floor vote? And fourth, is John Bolton really the bogeyman? Maybe you should try substituting Bush in place of Bolton! Secretary of State Bush would be even juicier red meat for the masses.

[MajorKong]

08:36 PM on 02/09/2008

"And fourth, is John Bolton really the bogeyman?"

Short answer - Yes.

[realpolitic]

10:15 PM on 02/09/2008

Well, Rove is the bogeyman, but Bolton's mindless aggression is not far behind.

[realpolitic]

04:35 PM on 02/09/2008

Bolton is supposed to be a smart guy. Apparently he did well at a top school. It is really difficult to tell how smart these ideologues are because they so rarely seem to think for themselves. Bolton's opinions, as are Scalia's, are always highly predictable and show little influence by real world events. These ideologues only speak to one another.

[swift goat pet for truth]

12:50 AM on 02/10/2008

For a smart guy he sure is stupid.

[realpolitic]

07:00 PM on 02/10/2008

I agree and on talk shows it is difficult to see at all that he is intelligent. I did read he did well in school somewhere. Now that that affects the damge he and others like him have caused.

[Boris]

04:15 PM on 02/09/2008

Bolton...the American Asshole the world loves to hate! If anything shows McCain is suffering from dementia, it has to be this. This is his 'sop' to the GOP fascist wing to prove his 'conservative' values? If Bolton shows up anywhere after the election, he will be lucky to escape without being tarred and feathered.
Does 'conservative' these days mean a conscience free, hateful self absorbed jackass? Well, Bolton is your man.