Quotes of the Morning: The Mustache Rides Into the Sunset

“Unable to win Senate confirmation, U.N. Ambassador John Bolton will step down when his recess appointment expires soon, the White House said Monday.
Bolton's nomination has languished in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for more than a year, blocked by Democrats and several Republicans.”
-Associated Press, December 4, 2006

“Oh no! John ‘The Mustache’ Bolton isn’t going to be our Ambassador to the United Nations anymore. Fearless Leader must be furious.”
-Skippy

“President Bush posed for pictures with Bolton on Monday and commented curtly on his departure. ‘I received the resignation of Ambassador John Bolton. I accepted. I'm not happy about it. I think he deserved to be confirmed.’
‘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,’ Bush said earlier in a written statement. ‘This stubborn obstructionism ill serves our country, and discourages men and women of talent from serving their nation.’"
-Associated Press, December 4, 2006

“Actually he did NOT have majority support in the Senate. If he did he would have been confirmed as Ambassador. You see, though Fearless Leader often gets the big things wrong (like nominating Bolton) he also manages to screw up the fine details too. I guess we won’t have John Bolton to kick around anymore. Let’s take a look at some of his greatest hits.”
-Skippy

“The White House said today that it would seek confirmation of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s successor in the lame duck Congress that is about to reconvene, and that it would seek confirmation of United Nations Ambassador John R. Bolton as well.”
-New York Times, November 9, 2006

“President George W. Bush has nominated John Bolton, a blunt long-time critic of the United Nations, to be U.S. ambassador to the world body in a move that raised doubts about Bush's new emphasis on diplomacy.”
-Reuters, March 8, 2005

"The president and I have asked John to do this work because he knows how to get things done. He is a tough-minded diplomat. He will be a strong voice for reform."
-Condoleeza Rice, March 8, 2005

“John Bolton: Chosen one of the Administration...”
-Skippy

“His nomination is likely to be seen by many at the UN headquarters in New York as an aggressive move by Washington. Mr Bolton has made clear he is no friend of the UN. He once said: ‘There is no such thing as the United Nations. There is only the international community, which can only be led by the only remaining superpower, which is the United States.’”
-The Times (UK), March 8, 2005

“The [U.N.] Secretariat building in New York has 38 stories. If it lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference,"
-John Bolton, 1994

"Moreover, many Republicans in Congress - and perhaps a majority - not only do not care about losing the General Assembly vote but actually see it as a ‘make my day’ outcome. Indeed, once the vote is lost, and the adverse consequences predicted by the U.N.'s supporters begin to occur, this will simply provide further evidence to many why nothing more should be paid to the U.N. system."
-John Bolton, as reported in the Washington Times, October 28, 1998

“Kim Jong Il, of course, has not had to endure the consequences of his failed policies. While he lives like royalty in Pyongyang, he keeps hundreds of thousands of his people locked in prison camps with millions more mired in abject poverty, scrounging the ground for food. For many in North Korea, life is a hellish nightmare.”
-John Bolton, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control, July 31, 2003

“And a superb diplomat..”
-Skippy

"We know that there are several hawks within the present U.S. administration but have not yet found out such rude human scum as Bolton. What he uttered is no more than rubbish which can be let loose only by a beastly man bereft of reason. […] such human scum and bloodsucker is not entitled to take part in the talks."
-North Korean Foreign Ministry, August 3, 2003

"John Bolton, President Bush's nominee for U.N. ambassador, mistakenly told Congress he had not been interviewed or testified in any investigation over the past five years, the State Department said Thursday.
Bolton was interviewed by the State Department inspector general in 2003 as part of a joint investigation with the Central Intelligence Agency into prewar Iraqi attempts to buy nuclear materials from Niger, State Department spokesman Noel Clay said.
The admission came hours after another State Department official said Bolton had correctly answered a Senate questionnaire when he wrote that he has not testified to a grand jury or been interviewed by investigators in any inquiry over the past five years.
The reversal followed persistent Democratic attempts to question Bolton's veracity just days before Bush may use his authority to make him United Nations ambassador after Congress adjourns for its summer recess. For months, Democrats have prevented the Senate from confirming the fiery conservative to the post.
'It seems unusual that Mr. Bolton would not remember his involvement in such a serious matter,' said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee."
-Associated Press, July 28, 2005

“Oh Johnny-boy, we hardy knew ye.. (and I’m kind of happy about that). Farewell John Bolton. May you lead a long and happy life telling kids to get the heck off your lawn.”
-Skippy

“Why should I have to change my name? He's the one who sucks”
-Michael Bolton, Office Space