The Evil Mr. John Bolton

John Bolton, our former Ambassador to the UN, recently entered the news again as a critic of the North Korea agreement. I think its time we go back over the history of our walrus-like former diplomat. My favorite events of the Bolton saga:

1. He looks like a walrus, or shaggy dog.

2. He thought it might be a good idea to lose ten floors of the UN...with the people in it.
"In a 1994 speech at the liberal World Federalist Association, Bolton declared that “There is no such thing as the United Nations.” To underscore his point, Bolton said: “If the UN secretary building in New York lost ten stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference.”

3. He believes the best way to deal with North Korea is to destroy it. Way to negotiate John!
"Asked by the New York Times what the administration's policy on North Korea is, Bolton "strode over to a bookshelf, pulled off a volume and slapped it on the table. It was called 'The End of North Korea.'" "'That,' he said, 'is our policy.'"

4. He was a congressisonal recess appointment as the UN ambassador, mainly because everyone in the Senate hated him. While on a temp appointment, he acted like he had the authority of an appointed officer.

5. Everyone in the UN hated him:
"A July 23 New York Times article by Warren Hoge reported deep scorn for John Bolton among UN ambassadors, even from countries close to the United States. “Envoys say he has in fact endangered that effort by alienating traditional allies. They say he combatively asserts American leadership, contests procedures at the mannerly, rules-bound United Nations, and then shrugs off the organization when it does not follow his lead.”

6. He didn't want a recount in Florida in 2000.
"Bolton's “most memorable moment came after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a halt to the recount, when Mr. Bolton strode into a Tallahassee library, where the count was still going on, and declared: ‘I'm with the Bush-Cheney team, and I'm here to stop the count'.”

7. He believe himself to be a human grenade, yes really:
"In his office at the State Department, Bolton displayed a mock grenade with the label: “To John Bolton—World's Greatest Reaganite” (Washington Post, March 8, 2005)."

8. After Iraq, he wanted to go to war with Iran, Syria, and North Korea. We should have just throw in Burma, Venezuela, and China for good measure while we were at it.
"In February 2003, Bolton said that once regime change plans in Iraq were completed, “It will be necessary to deal with threats from Syria, Iran, and North Korea afterwards” (Foreign Policy In Focus, February 20, 2003)."

9. He thinks it might be a good idea to recognize Taiwan as a state, a condition China has assured the international community would be a cause for war.
"“Diplomatic recognition of Taiwan would be just the kind of demonstration of U.S. leadership that the region needs and that many of its people hope for. The notion that China would actually respond with force is a fantasy.”

10. Opps, forgot about war with Cuba.
"Bolton argued that Cuba should be included among the “axis of evil” countries because of its alleged development of biowarfare capacity. Cuba is world renowned for its biomedical industry, but according to Bolton the industry was concealing a WMD project. Providing no evidence for his allegations, Bolton said that Cuba was involved in the sales of illicit biowarfare technology in part as a way to boost its cash-short economy."

11. Did I mention he looks like a walrus? Ladies and Gentlemen, John Bolton, an American hero