June 20, 2005: Headlines: Figures: COS - Dominican Republic: Politics: Congress: Chicago Sun-Times: Chris Dodd held out the prospect of ending the filibuster against Bolton and quickly confirming him, if only more information were given Democratic senators. Yet, in the same speech, he reiterated his unequivocal opposition to the conservative Bolton, not discussing competence or ideology but personality
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June 20, 2005: Headlines: Figures: COS - Dominican Republic: Politics: Congress: Chicago Sun-Times: Chris Dodd held out the prospect of ending the filibuster against Bolton and quickly confirming him, if only more information were given Democratic senators. Yet, in the same speech, he reiterated his unequivocal opposition to the conservative Bolton, not discussing competence or ideology but personality
Chris Dodd held out the prospect of ending the filibuster against Bolton and quickly confirming him, if only more information were given Democratic senators. Yet, in the same speech, he reiterated his unequivocal opposition to the conservative Bolton, not discussing competence or ideology but personality
Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic in the 1960's.
Chris Dodd held out the prospect of ending the filibuster against Bolton and quickly confirming him, if only more information were given Democratic senators. Yet, in the same speech, he reiterated his unequivocal opposition to the conservative Bolton, not discussing competence or ideology but personality
Crafty Dodd performs a charade
June 20, 2005
BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
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'We are not on some fishing expedition here at all to derail the Bolton nomination," Sen. Christopher Dodd, with his customary half-smile in place, told the Senate on Thursday. But that is exactly what the crafty Democrat is doing -- with success so far. He has maneuvered John R. Bolton's confirmation to be U.S. ambassador into desperate straits.
Dodd's unreported speech to an empty Senate before it adjourned for another long weekend was classic senatorial misdirection. He held out the prospect of ending the filibuster against Bolton and quickly confirming him, if only more information were given Democratic senators. Yet, in the same speech, he reiterated his unequivocal opposition to the conservative Bolton, not discussing competence or ideology but personality.
All this is a charade. Opposition to Bolton has become a party matter, where his possible Democratic supporters have been brought to heel. The cloture vote to end the filibuster scheduled for 6 p.m. today is unlikely to collect the necessary 60 votes. That effectively would end the confirmation struggle. President Bush then would face the dilemma of either sending Bolton to the United Nations on a recess appointment that will be reviled by Democrats as extra-constitutional, or accepting defeat. This outcome hardly seemed possible two months ago when Dodd, long seeking improved relations with Fidel Castro's Cuban dictatorship, renewed an old complaint about Bolton's disclosure as undersecretary of state of Castro's bioweapons development. Sen. Joseph Biden, ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee who seldom shuns a confirmation fight, eagerly joined Dodd.
Not much has been said lately about Cuba or Bolton's conservative outlook, neither of which is good grounds for denying confirmation. Dodd still complains Bolton is hard on subordinates ("Mr. Bolton was a very driven individual when he sought to get his way with underlings," the senator said Thursday).
Seeking a way to justify preconceived opposition, Dodd and Biden seized on the executive branch's refusal to give the Senate what it wanted. The issue, so obscure it is difficult for the non-senatorial mind to grasp, goes to Bolton having requested intelligence intercepts. Dodd demands the names of U.S. officials listed there whom Bolton might have intimidated.
Sen. Pat Roberts, the Intelligence Committee chairman, reviewed the intercepts and reported to Dodd they were "vanilla" and did not affect the confirmation fight. Roberts originally thought his Democratic vice chairman, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, agreed. But that was before Democratic leaders got hold of Rockefeller and turned him around.
Roberts, trying to settle the matter Wednesday, reported that seven officials whose names were raised by Dodd were not in the intelligence intercepts. In his Thursday response, Dodd again showed himself one of the Senate's fiercest partisans behind a smiling face. He criticized Roberts for revealing five of the names (though they were drawn from public statements by Democrats) and demanded the intercepts be made available to search for 36 officials.
This baffling process becomes intelligible only in terms that Dodd and Biden want to hold together the Democrats on grounds of senatorial prerogative in demanding information. Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat who often removes the veils from his party's strategy, conceded that this trumped-up issue unified the caucus as it had in opposing Miguel Estrada's failed judicial nomination. Sen. Mark Pryor, a freshman from Arkansas who cannot decide whether he wants to be an independent moderate or a party stalwart, last week used the claimed denial of documents to justify withdrawing his support for cloture.
Biden sat down with Bolton for an hour and a half Thursday, trying to work out the demand for access to intelligence. They noted they both went through this dispute in 1986 when William Rehnquist was nominated for chief justice. It was thought then that Rehnquist might not be confirmed until Biden and Bolton, then an assistant attorney general, worked out a compromise on release of documents.
Dodd walked in for the final 20 minutes of last Thursday's negotiations, but how much he is interested in solving the intelligence disclosure problem is questionable. From the first, his priority was keeping Bolton out of Turtle Bay. Dodd will lose if he now must give up the charade of protecting Senate prerogatives.
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Story Source: Chicago Sun-Times
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Dominican Republic; Politics; Congress
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