A Tragic Loss

This is bad news, no matter how you dice it:

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton announced on Monday he will step down and give up his bruising fight to convince enough Senate opponents to back him for a post they said he was ill-suited to fill.

And the proof they offer is...what, exactly? No proof is given, save for the Democrats craven desire to oppose anything and everything Bush:

When Bolton turned out to be far less of a lightning rod than expected, Bush tried again to gain Senate confirmation for him, but the opposition largely remained and the Democratic takeover of the Senate in November elections made the path even more difficult.
Bush blamed "shallow politics of the Senate" and said Bolton had done a fine job despite his critics.
"He proved the critics wrong, I mean flat wrong," Bush told the Fox News Channel in an interview. "They weren't even close as they characterized John Bolton, as they anticipated his office, what he would do in office."

W. is right, of course. It is impossible to point to any defeat at the UN (like it matters anyway) and lay it at the feet of John Bolton. Too bad the Democrats can't take their own advice and "look at the facts on the ground" - 'cause the only fact they know is our position has to be anti-Bush, right or wrong. Can't wait to see what the Democrats will try to do to national security - our current policies may have kept us terror-free in the homeland for over five years, but hey! It's a Bush policy, so we gotta overturn it and institute the opposite!
And what is the opposite of vigilence? Just ask Bill Clinton...

Some more from Bush on Bolton:

Iam deeply disappointed that a handful of United States Senators prevented Ambassador Bolton from receiving the up or down vote he deserved in the Senate," Bush added. " They chose to obstruct his confirmation, even though he enjoys majority support in the Senate, and even though their tactics will disrupt our diplomatic work at a sensitive and important time. This stubborn obstructionism ill serves our country, and discourages men and women of talent from serving their nation."

Atlas adds:

Anybody happy about this is an America hater.

Indeed. Bolton understood that the UN is not a place for the world's nations to come together in peace and harmony (alas), but an arena where despots and zealots fight to protect their ill-gotten positions, and gain sanction for it. Bolton stood tall for the United States and its values, and took no quarter with the bald-face lying from the mealy-mouth representatives of evil who sit in positions of power at the UN.

Multilateralism can occur in Turtle Bay, but only within groups of nations within the UN, not with the body as a whole. John Bolton understood that, and built different coalitions for different ends; one group to thwart Iran, for instance, and another to stop the madness of Kim Jung Il. This is diplomacy backed with the iron fist of unrelenting values and moral clarity, and it is successful. Nevertheless, he must go because...he is Bush's man.

This is a tragic loss at a critical point in America's history. Our enemies, emboldened, are openly rising against us; and the most effective negotiator on our behalf is tossed aside because of partisan ideology. We are in trouble, folks - and wait until we see the appeaser that Bush must appoint in order to pass Democratic muster. Better to leave the post open.....

Nice roundups of the Bolton affair (with more links) at Right Truth and Atlas Shrugged - oh, and don't forget The Rosett Report:

Cold comfort indeed, but the upside of John Bolton resigning as ambassador to the UN is that the UN does not deserve to be dignified by ambassadors of the stature of John Bolton. His presence there endowed the place with a seriousness it has not earned.