Revoltin' Bolton
Unbelievable: a man as contemptuous of the UN as John Bolton considered for ... ambassador to the UN. Even more unbelievable, he'll be confirmed.
 

April 12 2005
Counterbias.com
Steve Horowitz


I don't like black people.

I mean, I really don't like them. I have a record of writings and public statements making that very clear. I've suggested that we could lose a quarter of them in one day and it wouldn't make a bit of difference. I've also said there's no such thing as a black race. And that political and economic leadership should be left to whites, the only super-race. And that we should realistically expect blacks to play only a limited role in domestic affairs for the foreseeable future.

So imagine my surprise when I was asked to lead an outreach program that might help my company recruit more African-Americans. Naturally, I'm eager to get started and promise to do a great job.

Now you understand the utter insanity of nominating John Bolton to be our ambassador to the United Nations.

I watched most of the Bolton hearings on C-SPAN, and was struck by by what a slippery, oily eel he is. He tried to get intelligence analysts transferred not because they wouldn't subvert facts to fit his assumptions, he said, but because he had "lost confidence" in them.

They "weren't straight" with him, he said.

And we all now how important being straight with people is in the Bush administration.

Unless he blows up and starts swearing at Barbara Boxer (who asked the best question of the day: Why would someone with such disdain for the UN want to work there?), this bad-tempered, terminally angry, decidedly undiplomatic diplomat will soon be representing our country at the UN. It's simple math, and the numbers in the Senate favor the belligerent, world-hating radical right.

{Think I'm resorting to incendiary rhetoric and name-calling? Well, of course I am. It's what I do. Even so, check out the web site of one of Bolton's strongest supporters -- MoveAmericaForward.org. Just to the left of their plea for funds to keep their pro-Bolton ad on the air is a link to their petition calling for:

1. Removal of the United Nations Headquarters facilities from New York, relocating it outside of the United States and any of its territories.

2. A thorough review of the US financial contributions to the UN with a goal of a more equitable payment schedule. Until that review is concluded, eliminate all the payments made by the United States to the United Nations.

The reason for these drastic steps, the petition explains, is that the UN is "an accessory to terrorist crimes." (No similar outrage, apparently, about America's responsibility for the deaths of at least 18,000 Iraqi civilians.)}

In his opening statement, Bolton talked about the need to "restore confidence" in the UN. Which is a lot like me, an unapologetic racist who's spent his adult life insulting and denigrating African-Americans, talking about the need to restore confidence in them.

Let's be honest. John Bolton, the man who nominated him and the hatemongers who support him do not want to bring even an iota of confidence or credibility to the UN, the International Criminal Court or any other international forum. America's unrivalled power makes them feel masculine, and they don't want it limited by pesky foreigners. They like what Bolton stands for: the belief that we should "use" world bodies when -- and only when -- it advances our own interests.

Kind of like the way I support civil rights when it allows me to schedule a Klan march through the middle of town.


Just to clarify: The racist remarks in the opening of this piece were based on statements by John Bolton about the United Nations. Similarly, the hate-blacks/hate-UN comparisons in the rest of the column were made solely for dramatic and illustrative effect.

---