AS CONFUCIUS SAID, IF BOLTON IS INEVITABLE....:

Bolton and U.N. Are Still Standing After His First Test (WARREN HOGE, 9/18/05, NY Times)

When President Bush greeted Secretary General Kofi Annan on Wednesday, he gestured toward John R. Bolton, the United States ambassador, and asked, "Has the place blown up since he's been here?"

The internal United Nations television sound boom that picked up the jest did not record any response from the Secretary General, who simply smiled.

But the same question, in less explosive form, has been posed repeatedly around the United Nations since the Aug. 1 arrival of Mr. Bolton, who famously once said that the headquarters building was filled with such sloth and incompetence that it would not matter if 10 of its 38 floors were lopped off.

In response, his fellow ambassadors say they are impressed with Mr. Bolton's work ethic, his knowledge of his brief, his clarity in declaring it and his toughness as a negotiator.

Sad day when the UN striped pants set is more mature about such matters than the Democrats.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 18, 2005 1:36 PM