Bumped: Obama Referred to John Bolton as “Damaged Goods” after Bush Recess Appointment
Morgen on March 28, 2010 at 7:00 am
(3/28/10: This was originally published on Feb. 9, 2010. I’m republishing it since on Friday President Obama announced he was making 15 recess appointments, including controversial labor attorney Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board.)
All indications are that President Obama will utilize the upcoming congressional
break to make one or more recess appointments of nominees currently held up in the Senate due to GOP opposition. Perhaps even controversial nominee Craig Becker, whose nomination for the National Labor Relations Board was effectively blocked today by a filibuster which included two Democrats in addition to the newest Republican, Scott Brown. So expect to see the White House use the “obstinacy” of Republicans, and the “need to govern”, as justification for a forthcoming decision by the President to proceed unilaterally with one or more appointments.
Contrast this positioning with then Senator Obama’s reaction to the recess appointment of John Bolton to the UN by President Bush in 2005:
“To some degree, he’s damaged goods,” said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “I think that means we’ll have less credibility and, ironically, be less equipped to reform the United Nations in the way that it needs to be reformed.”
It appears that Obama did not invent this “damaged goods” meme, which was echoed by numerous liberal politicians and media outlets at the time. But he certainly had no problem deploying it to advance his argument that bypassing Senate confirmation reduced the credibility of the appointment.
And keep in mind that the situation with Bolton’s nomination was exactly equivalent to the current one, as Republicans held the majority in the Senate in 2005 and Bolton would have been confirmed had Democrats allowed an up or down vote. Obama could have expressed his opposition to Bolton by simply voting against him, but instead he chose to support the effective filibuster of his nomination by Senate Democrats.
Of course the worst part of this whole episode was that the attacks on Bolton were actually part of a coordinated strategy by liberal Democrats to undermine his assignment at the UN, if they could not block his nomination. At a time when we were actively seeking the support of other leading nations in dealing with the challenges in North Korea, Iran, and Afghanistan.
So I guess the only question is whether turn about is fair play, and conservatives should label any forthcoming recess appointees by the President as “damaged goods”? While it would be entertaining to watch the Administration defend against the President’s own words from 2005, I think the smarter play might be for Republicans to take the high road and continue to focus most of their efforts on opposing the extreme elements of the President’s policy agenda. With one exception.
If the President has the audacity to appoint Becker whose nomination is opposed even by members of his own party, then Becker is definitely “damaged goods”.
Category: Politics |
So? Undermining and opposing policies which you disagree with is a good and healthy part of democracy.
The GOP should do that with Mrs Communist when she’s appointed to the NLRB.
February 9, 2010 @ 6:44 pmC’mon Mitchell, it’s a slow news week.
I guess hypocrisy by politicians of either party is pretty much always a non-story, but in case there are any true believers of Hope and Change left, I thought it worthwhile to point out that the President engaged in exactly the type of petty partisan politics he wants to gripe about now.
February 9, 2010 @ 6:57 pmNo, I mean, it was a useful post overall, because it gives a little bit of a frame to view his next nomination in, but what I meant by my comment was that it’s not an outrage as much as it is just an interesting tidbit.
February 9, 2010 @ 7:30 pmEven “interesting tidbit” might be too generous. But since I fully expect Obama to make at least a couple of recess appointments, I thought I would put this tidbit out there first. The Washington Post article I linked at the beginning actually mentions the Bolton appointment for comparison purposes, but of course they failed to mention Obama’s criticism of it.
February 9, 2010 @ 7:37 pmSadly this highlights a flaw with the existing system, no matter who is in the White House.
The flaw is “Executive Branch Appointees are by default considered not to be confirmed”.
To fix this (i.e. remove the “not” in the above logic) would take a Constitutional Ammendment, so it probably will not happen. But if it did, I could see the following setup (written in English, not Legal).
Executive Branch appointees shall be entitled to take office upon nomination. Congress shall have a floor vote upon the nomination within a calendar year of the nomination. Failure to conduct the vote shall be considered positive Senate Confirmation. Should an appointee be voted down on the floor of the Senate, they shall be immediately removed from office, and forbidden from holding Federal Office for a period not to exceed one year.
Democrats and Republicans alike have been holding hostages in DC for too long. Time to set them free.
February 11, 2010 @ 10:43 amRumor has it that Obamanure will appoint Pee Wee Herman as his usher for the White House theater. Since Pee Wee was caught in a porn theater buttering his popcorn no Republican (and a few Democrats) would block his nomination to this new and vital post.
February 11, 2010 @ 5:57 pmJim Bob, give it up. Your attempts at humor are so lame.
February 12, 2010 @ 6:19 pmSpeaking of lame, how’s your life going bonehead.
February 13, 2010 @ 10:09 amGeez, Jim Bob, now I’m a bonehead. I’m not sure what a bone head is, but I’m sure it’s not nearly as bad as some of the names you have called me in the past. Does that mean that I’m getting better and that there is hope for me?
Oh, by the way, life is great, and since you have no credibility the name calling is just amusing. I’m sure that when you curse out and call your family names, though, it isn’t amusing to them. I’m, also sure that you will swear to the high heavens that you are this wonderful husband and father and how well adjusted your kids are. Actually they are probably wonderful people and it is a shame that you are such an embarassment to them – and don’t you believe for a minute that your sharp tongue and cruel streak is not affecting them. Get help, JIM BOB.
February 13, 2010 @ 2:29 pmI just thought I’d put a short comment down to give you the opportunity to go on another rant against someone here at VS. And true to form, you took the bait and swallowed it. LOL
February 13, 2010 @ 4:09 pmWhat happened to DFTT, Jim Bob?
February 13, 2010 @ 9:02 pm[...] back in August 2005, a promising young Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, said of Bolton’s recess appointment as UN ambassador,”To some degree, he’s [...]
March 28, 2010 @ 4:47 am[...] appoint John Bolton as his UN ambassador, here’s what Obama himself had to say in 2005, via Morgen at Verum Serum: “To some degree, he’s damaged goods,” said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a member of the Senate [...]
March 29, 2010 @ 7:23 am[...] back in August 2005, a promising young Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, said of Bolton’s recess appointment as UN ambassador, “To some degree, he’s damaged [...]
March 29, 2010 @ 2:35 pm[...] to appoint John Bolton as his UN ambassador, here’s what Obama himself had to say in 2005, via Morgen at Verum Serum: “To some degree, he’s damaged goods,” said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a member of the Senate [...]
March 29, 2010 @ 2:41 pm[...] have little problem with recess appointments, as they are, in fact, Constitutional. However, ‘memba this? “To some degree, he’s damaged goods,” said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a member of the Senate [...]
July 7, 2010 @ 6:32 am[...] I have little problem with recess appointments, as they are, in fact, Constitutional. However, ‘memba this? “To some degree, he’s damaged goods,” said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a member of the [...]
July 8, 2010 @ 7:47 am