John Bolton's Tribal Wars Inside the Bush Administration

There are many including this writer who have been documenting the internal decision-making divisions inside President Bush's White House.

The response that tends to be offered back is that we are misreading the situation, or that all of President Bush's people are pulling together even if there are serious differences in the debate when policy is being hammered out.

But yesterday, I learned of something that John Bolton did during the first George W. Bush term that reflects the deep hostility between warring factions in the Bush machine.

On a White House orchestrated conference call, a number of officials had been discussing a national security matter. One White House official in the phone conference apparently was supposed to go off the call before then Under Secretary of State for International Security and Arms Control John Bolton came on -- but the White House operator forgot to disconnect him (or her).

When the moderator of the meeting stated that the portion of the call with "X Person" had ended and the discussion with John Bolton would begin, Bolton allegedly said:

I want to tell everyone on this call now, do not trust [that person]."

Well, the person was still listening, in utter shock. The person quickly hung up the call.

This is yet another indication of Bolton's divisive 'with him or against him' tactics in the administration.

When Bill Frist and George Bush kept saying "Bolton is a good man" during his failed UN confirmation process, it really turned the stomachs of many inside the White House.

Now Bolton is lobbying against Bush's Law of the Sea policy. He's been trying to undermine virtually every serious project at the Department of State -- from efforts to redirect Iran, the Six Party talks with North Korea, and the coming November Israel/Palestine Summit.

Bolton is the hardest working person in Washington now trying to undermine global stability, in much the same way he has been trying to undermine his former colleagues who serve the same President he served.

-- Steve Clemons publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note

Comments

[1will]

The UN's "Law Of The Sea" should be undermined. This is yet another great sounding plan to turn control over to the UN. You might remember the UN's unofficial slogan, "Screw the USA."
Read up on the the "Law Of The Sea" before you complain about Bolton working against it.

[EllisGill]

How did this proWar lunatic Bolton ever get UN diplomacy post. Oh wait, we have lying chickenhawk Lieberman back in Senate, after the "dem" leaders basically gave it to Lieberman. Bolton & Lieberman, more proof of Iraq scam , etc.

[glesslib]

I can only shake my head in dismay when I look at the total mediocrities the Bush administration has employed at every turn.

Mr. Bolton is just one more example. This is what happens when personal loyalty is the only test one has to pass to get a job. Right Karen Hughes? Right Condoleeza? Right Brownie?
Oh, and right, Laura?

[LIR]

Bolton is a walking disaster...thank God he got tossed out of his position at UN. Universally despised by anyone with a rational mind.

[GenericBlogger]

Bolton is a neocon other neocons deserve to have.

[twofish]

So Person X hung up the phone when Bolton said not to trust him/her? Man, I'd have turned on my tape recorder at that point.

[LightningJoe]

My thought exactly, though I'm decent enough that my own first reaction might have been to hang up too. I don't generally want to know things that someone else doesn't want me to know.

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Kill your TV, and free your mind.

[sqweels]

The pallindrome of "bolton" would be "notlob".

[LightningJoe]

OT, but that's not a palindrome. A Palindrome is a word or phrase that reads the SAME backward or forward, like "Madam, I'm Adam"

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Kill your TV, and free your mind.

[connski]

Led if cigar, too tragic, Fidel

[Doofus]

You could be on to an important link here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A691076

"This is the little-known second half of the 'Dead Parrot Sketch', in which John Cleese's customer travels to an identical pet-shop in Bolton to find a suitable replacement for his parrot. After that, things get so silly that only Graham Chapman's Colonel can end it..."

-------

"Is this Bolton or isn't it?!"
"Yes it is how can I help ya?"
"But I was just in here an hour ago and you said this wasn't 'Bolton'"
"No, no, no. That was a pun"
"What kind of a pun is that?"
"No, no. I-its one of those words that are spelled the same forwards and backwards."
"A palindrome?"
"Yes that's it!"
"But that's not a palindrome! The opposite of 'Bolton' is 'Notlob'!"

[richw23]

Whe Bolton was on the Daily show he made it clear that the administration was only in the business of serving those who voted for Bush, and anyone who didn't understand that didn't understand the principles of democracy.

I guess because I'm so old and have heard so many unsavoury politicians over the years that would never dream of saying such a thing that I'm shocked that this current crop would make their intentions so clear.

[LightningJoe]

To them, this would be simple and self-evident. Democracy is really only for those rich enough to buy it, or smart enough to jump on the back of the truck. They don't understand the principles of good governance, and they don't care to.

Government is a resource to them. All they want is a foot in the door and a buyer on the line.

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Kill your TV, and free your mind.

[weddedgay]

I was taught way back in high school history that this view of voting was one of the most clear marks of a fascist. Anyone care to argue that Bolton/Bush/Cheney/Rove et. al. are not fascists?

[drkazmd65]

Apparently Mr. Bolton has a different dictionary than I do if he thinks that serving in a democracy is only serving those that voted for Bush,...

Does explain part of why he always seems to come off as some sort of ass,...

'Cause he is an ass.

[rich3324]

Bolton's Daily Show appearance really showed what a total dick he is.

[tsugury]

if you want to know what a real creep he is read about what happened with his first wife

http://rawstory.com/exclusives/byrne/larry_flynt_bolton_511.htm

[2lib4oh]

Bolton has been a creep for a long time. Twenty-five years ago I read about him when he was working at the UN and tried to get 3rd world counties to buy Nestle infant milk formulas. These folks didn't have ways to sanitize bottles, much less afford formula. It would have killed thousands of infants. He hasn't changed much , has he?

[plutorage]

Bolton looks and acts like Teddy Roosevelt (on foreign policy). The problem is that we are now in 2007, not 1907.

100 years ago the United States was trying to carve a place for itself in a planet dominated by colonial powers in a master/slave relationship with the rest of the world.

In 2007 the idea is to forge a framework for a small and interdependent planet which will be advantageous (not disadvantageous, anyway) for the USA. There is a 2.5 billion strong market coming on line in Chindia and we are wasting time over a hole in the ground in the mid-east. What for I don't know but I guess wherever there is war you will find Bolton and his types, regardless of the benefit to America.

[TTigerX2]

How is Bolton's crusade to invade Cuba doing now that he's gone free-lance?

Bolton had put Cuba on Bush's plate before the invasion of Iraq, but Cuba never made the axis of evil-doers list.

Things have changed since Bolton left the administration. Cuba now has new air defenses, courtesy of Russia and Hugo Chavez. Did I mention that Cuba now has large reserves of oil deposits being tapped by the Chinese and Russians?

[mrcontinental]

Bolton is completely insane and needs to be put out to pasture.

[charlietuna11]

THIS BEAVER LOOK ALIKE WAS ON THE PAT ROBERTSON SHOW SEVERAL MONTHS AGO.THEY HAD A MAP OF THE MIDDLE EAST OUT.THEY WERE POINTING TO A LOCATION IN SOUTHERN LEBANON WHERE THE IRAQIS HAD MOVED THEIR WMDS.I THOUGHT THAT IT WAS STUPID OF AMERICA NOT TO HAVE CHECKED WITH THESE TWO WHACKOS BEFORE WE HIRED 1400 INSPECTORS AND SPENT OVER ONE BILLION DOLLARS.I ACTUALLY MET A BORN AGAIN BIGOT AND FOLLOWER OF ROBERTSON WHO SAW THE SAME SHOW.OF COURSE SHE BELIEVES EVERY THING SHE SAW AND HEARD.THERE ARE MANY BOLTONS IN THE BUSH FAMILY.ALL FANATICAL AND LOVED BY THE FAUX FANS.

[LightningJoe]

Charlie, ease up on the CAPS. You're deafening my eyes.

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Kill your TV, and free your mind.

[Synoia]

Got any links to evidence of Bolton's recent acivities that you claim?

None of these people are savoury. All you have in your article are assertions of recent activity.

[realitytrumpsbull]

Bolton is an android from Altair VI....