From a Kos diary: 'Horrifying, personal John Bolton story"

[Nothing Without Hope]

THIS NEEDS TO BE PUBLICIZED AND INCLUDED IN CONFIRMATION HEARING EVIDENCE

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/15/101542/050
Kos diarist amyindallas posted this amazing letter Fri Apr 15th, 2005 at 07:15:42 PDT. She explains how she came to have it:

My best friend since college, Melody Townsel, was stationed in Kyrgyzstan on a US AID project. During her stay there, she became embroiled in a controversy in which the oh-so-diplomatic John Bolton was a key player. She described the incident in a letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee members (who have thus far responded with a yawn), and I wanted to share it with a larger audience.

Here is the full text of the letter. It shows clearly that Bolton is mentally disturbed as well as abusive. The Kos diarist will have contact info for the letter writer, who lives in Dallas.

Dear Sir:

I'm writing to urge you to consider blocking in committee the nomination of John Bolton as ambassador to the UN.

In the late summer of 1994, I worked as the subcontracted leader of a US AID project in Kyrgyzstan officially awarded to a HUB primary contractor. My own employer was Black, Manafort, Stone & Kelly, and I reported directly to Republican leader Charlie Black.

After months of incompetence, poor contract performance, inadequate in-country funding, and a general lack of interest or support in our work from the prime contractor, I was forced to make US AID officials aware of the prime contractor's poor performance.

I flew from Kyrgyzstan to Moscow to meet with other Black Manafort employees who were leading or subcontracted to other US AID projects. While there, I met with US AID officials and expressed my concerns about the project -- chief among them, the prime contractor's inability to keep enough cash in country to allow us to pay bills, which directly resulted in armed threats by Kyrgyz contractors to me and my staff.

Within hours of sending a letter to US AID officials outlining my concerns, I met John Bolton, whom the prime contractor hired as legal counsel to represent them to US AID. And, so, within hours of dispatching that letter, my hell began.

Mr. Bolton proceeded to chase me through the halls of a Russian hotel -- throwing things at me, shoving threatening letters under my door and, generally, behaving like a madman. For nearly two weeks, while I awaited fresh direction from my company and from US AID, John Bolton hounded me in such an appalling way that I eventually retreated to my hotel room and stayed there. Mr. Bolton, of course, then routinely visited me there to pound on the door and shout threats.

When US AID asked me to return to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in advance of assuming leadership of a project in Kazakstan, I returned to my project to find that John Bolton had proceeded me by two days. Why? To meet with every other AID team leader as well as US foreign-service officials in Bishkek, claiming that I was under investigation for misuse of funds and likely was facing jail time. As US AID can confirm, nothing was further from the truth.

He indicated to key employees of or contractors to State that, based on his discussions with investigatory officials, I was headed for federal prison and, if they refused to cooperate with either him or the prime contractor's replacement team leader, they, too, would find themselves the subjects of federal investigation. As a further aside, he made unconscionable comments about my weight, my wardrobe and, with a couple of team leaders, my sexuality, hinting that I was a lesbian (for the record, I'm not).

When I resurfaced in Kyrgyzstan, I learned that he had done such a convincing job of smearing me that it took me weeks -- with the direct intervention of US AID officials -- to limit the damage. In fact, it was only US AID's appoinment of me as a project leader in Almaty, Kazakstan that largely put paid to the rumors Mr. Bolton maliciously circulated.

As a maligned whistleblower, I've learned firsthand the lengths Mr. Bolton will go to accomplish any goal he sets for himself. Truth flew out the window. Decency flew out the window. In his bid to smear me and promote the interests of his client, he went straight for the low road and stayed there.

John Bolton put me through hell -- and he did everything he could to intimidate, malign and threaten not just me, but anybody unwilling to go along with his version of events. His behavior back in 1994 wasn't just unforgivable, it was pathological.

I cannot believe that this is a man being seriously considered for any diplomatic position, let alone such a critical posting to the UN. Others you may call before your committee will be able to speak better to his stated dislike for and objection to stated UN goals. I write you to speak about the very character of the man.

It took me years to get over Mr. Bolton's actions in that Moscow hotel in 1994, his intensely personal attacks and his shocking attempts to malign my character.

I urge you from the bottom of my heart to use your ability to block Mr. Bolton's nomination in committee.

Respectfully yours,

Melody Townsel
Dallas, TX 75208

Edited to add: All I know is what was posted by the Kos diarist about her best friend. Clearly, corroboration is needed, but it sounds like that should be possible to arrange if, say, a journalist or a congressional aide wanted to get it. From the story, many people were aware of at least some of what happened.

[WillyT]

1. Scum Sucking SonOfABitch !!! - Come On Folks, Time To Nominate This !!!

:kick:

[unhappycamper]

2. Keep nominating folks.

:kick:

[smirkymonkey]

3. The inmates are running the asylum - this is unbelievable.

I cannot believe people like Bolton are even on the loose, much less being nominated for UN Ambassador.

[The Doctor.]

4. With something this remarkable,

I would love to see any kind of corroboration.

Sadly, I'm likely to believe almost anything about some of these people.

I've personally worked with individuals whose methods were almost entirely comprised of deception, malicious slander, and harassment.

Most of them went to church every Sunday, nearly all of them considered themselves 'conservatives'.

If it takes playground tactics to get to the top - I don't want to be there.

[Nothing Without Hope]

6. The Kos diarist is the best friend of the letter writer

and will have her full contact info. The letter includes the writer's name and city of residence. From the diarist's comments, this letter was already sent to "the Senate Foreign Relations Committee members," who have not responded.

Yes, more corroboration important, and it sounds like the letter writer would be able to provide it if asked. Her description indicates that many people were aware of what happened.

[acmejack]

9. Thank you

I feel vindicated. When young, I was astounded by commonly acceptable business (& political) tactics. I'm with you!

[punpirate]

18. Funny thing, though...

... this isn't all that remarkable in the context of existing testimony in his confirmation hearings--if anything, it's simply more corroboration for what's already been said about his general demeanor and his methods of getting what he wants.

What I find curious about this is that there's no mention of the prime contractor's name in this. Who, as a part of a USAID contract, would hire John Bolton to fly to Moscow and Kyrgyzstan on short notice to browbeat a lower-level administrator for weeks over a complaint that the contractor wasn't adequately funding its operation (the implication being that the contractor had been paid by USAID but was holding the money, instead)?

[Nothing Without Hope]

21. Yes, this account needs to be CORROBORATED

What I find curious about this is that there's no mention of the prime contractor's name in this. Who, as a part of a USAID contract, would hire John Bolton to fly to Moscow and Kyrgyzstan on short notice to browbeat a lower-level administrator for weeks over a complaint that the contractor wasn't adequately funding its operation (the implication being that the contractor had been paid by USAID but was holding the money, instead)?

Yes, it's unfortunate that that information was not included. Corroboration of the contents of this letter is important. I am hoping that a professional journalist or a congressional aide will look into this - contact the Kos diarist about her friend, then ask the letter writer for more documents and contacts who can support her story. We don't want to be burned with a sincere-sounding but fictitious letter. But if it is legitimate, it MUST be publicized.

[Daphne08]

39. I worked under a small group of men like this

and over a three-year period of time, they very nearly cost me my sanity (I know this statement sounds extreme, but it is true). I had no choice but to resign.

[The Doctor.]

69. Try working in real-estate.

Nope... won't do it.

[JAbuchan08]

5. It's weird, I know I'm proceeding from the assumption that Republicans are

crazy, but it seems to me that pictures of their ugly mugs are worth a thousand words.




Doesn't he have that "who cares what you think, you little peon" look to him?

[WillyT]

7. I Think He's The Evil Twin Of Captain Kangaroo !!!

:shrug:

[Nothing Without Hope]

8. I see what you mean - but there is real madness in his eyes

Even for the blivet** Administration's gang of crazies, this guy is scary.

[WillyT]

19. Oh... He Has Loathing In His Eyes... And Not Just For Himself !!!

Fanatical Freak, and a Dangerous Loon!!!

[stevedeshazer]

13. You owe Captain Kangaroo an apology

He was a liberal.

[WillyT]

15. Therefore, The 'Evil Twin' Part... Ya See... Capt'n Good, Bolton Evil !!!

Pretty simple, no???

:hi:

[stevedeshazer]

17. Yeah, but the resemblance isn't there, IMO

Bolton looks more like the guy in your sig line!

:hi:

[WillyT]

20. OK... So They Were Fraternal Twins... LOL !!!

And I wish that was Bolton in my sigline!

:hi:

[Nothing Without Hope]

10. All this is on top of the fact that Bolton is known to despise the UN

Which is of course reason to eliminate him as a candidate.



(A Steve Bradenton cartoon in the March 10 issue of AllHatNoCattle.net)

[FreedomAngel82]

11. This man is disgusting

and doesn't even deserve to be called a man. He's scum of the Earth. Has the person tried Emailing or contacting Barbara Boxer? Maybe she can get this out? She told about how one person confronted and told that he was psycho. I wonder why "management" wants Bolton? He's clearly psycho.

[ClintonTyree]

12. Yeah, THIS is the guy I want to represent us at the U.N.

:wtf: Why is it that the bush baby ALWAYS, without question, chooses the person with the exact characteristics that should disqualify that person from the position he's nominated them for? Without fail, he has nominated people who are the LEAST qualified for these positions. What a fucking idiot he is. A total embarrassment to our country.

Bolton should be in a mental hospital, not representing the United States of America at the United Nations. He's a freaking nut :crazy: , a caustic personality nominated for a position that begs for equilibrium.

[Nothing Without Hope]

14. I believe the nomination of Bolton shows that Bush wants to destroy the UN

That's why the cartoon I posted upthread is so perfect. He's a suicide bomber. The people who support him in spite of this also want to destroy the UN. Note that the "wavering" GOP don't mention this aspect, they are only concerned that he may be so over-the-top psycho that he may make them look bad or that he might blow up in a way that requires his removal later. They want a good tool, and he's looking pretty flaky. :crazy:

SOME insanity is a must for a neocon. But there's a limit beyond which the person loses his usefulness to them.

[Tigress DEM]

38. Says a lot about Bush appointing "scum from the bottom of the barrel"

for important positions that can truly affect Americans and the World Community.

[FreedomAngel82]

40. I wonder why he does that

though. Why does he always get the worst people for the job? I know he wants "yes" people but why someone like this with a bad reputation? I guess he doesn't know very many people. :shrug:

[Tigress DEM]

54. If his agenda were to get someone who would "do the right thing" he would

appoint qualified people for the job.

This is like assigning a saddist with the job of making sure innocent people aren't tortured. Oh, sorry - wrong appointee.

Or making sure the person in charge of the EPA doesn't think more arsenic in the water is ok. Ya' know, I just can't stop myself sometimes....

[Nothing Without Hope]

71. I think that what we despise in Bolton's character, the neocons admire

They want a bully at the UN to represent their cabal. His view of the UN and the contempt with which he deals with objections to his agenda are just right for them. It's the neocon view.

The only problem with him from their point of view is if he is so crazy that he can't function, crossing the line from bully into obviously mentally unfit. Which, of course, he does on a routine basis. They don't mind if he wants to abuse people who can't speak out, but if it's too visible it could make problems for them.

[Nothing Without Hope]

16. Here's a TinyURL for this thread in case you want to send out a link to it

Those long DU links can be a problem in some places.

http://tinyurl.com/9cwdu

[leftofthedial]

22. just sounds like a typical repuke wack job

I bet three-quarters of the little bushturd's gang of sociopaths have similar stories in their backgrounds.

[DeepModem Mom]

23. I'm kind of assuming that these tactics are typical of the cabal --

witness the stopping of the vote count in Florida, in which Bolton participated. We know -- John McCain knows, and, for unknown reasons, still gives them support -- that they do not hesitate to use character assassination, including family members. They are one scary, extra-democratic bunch of power-mad maniacs.

[FreedomAngel82]

41. Maybe they have something on McCain

My only guess. I remember seeing him from the election cycle with Bush's campaign and noticed he was always very uncomfortable. So do you think they could've been blackmailing him or something?

[DeepModem Mom]

61. Or threat --

it doesn't have to be physical threat, I don't think. I heard a talk by the writer who helped former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill write his "tell-all" book, and he said it usually takes the form of telling people how their careers, or their childrens' education and/or careers, could succeed or fail depending on their support or non-support of the Bushistas.

I remember an example of a retiring Congressman -- I've forgotten the name -- who who hoped his son would succeed him. They made it clear to him that if he did not deliver a crucial vote that they would see to it that another candidate succeeded him, instead of his son.

Things like that, ruining people who oppose them -- which is the subject of this thread, when you get right down to it.

[Nothing Without Hope]

24. There are currently 345 responses to the Kos post on this letter

I have not read all of them yet, but have already found interesting material there. I don't know if the diarist herself responded to any of them within that 345 responses or not. I hope she did, because it is not obvious how to contact her directly. I posted a link to this DU thread there but know when/if the diarist will see it.

Other than by emailing Kos, does anyone know how to reach one of the diarists at his site? I didn't see a way to email her directly.

If no one has a better plan, tonight I'll email Kos and ask about how we can reach her to make connections for corroboration of her friends's letter. Without corroboration, this will go nowhere - and indeed that is the way it should be. We THINK it's legitimate, but without corroboration we cannot be sure.

[Celebration]

28. do a google search

Just for her name. She seems legit, lives in Dallas, a vice president of a public relations firm, involved in crime watch activities in her neighborhood. Apparently she was on AirAmerica yesterday.........this should be very easy to track.

[Celebration]

30. here is info

"Melody Townsel is a single mother of a four-year-old girl, and an entrepreneur who runs Townsel Communications, an independent communications consulting firm. Townsel is a native Texan who has lived and worked as a journalist and a public relations executive in 22 countries."

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?id=18675

and her contact info is here

http://www.biopassword.com/bp2/news/docs/citrix-announce.pdf

I assume she is acting in a public relations capacity here.

[Celebration]

31. My Opinion Only

Since she is a professional public relations person, she is probably this very minute working to get her story out. I mean, she seems pretty p.o.'ed about the whole thing. Maybe some newspaper will let her write an op ed piece. The good news is that there are some decent journalists who check the internet and somebody will write about this............hopefully.

[Vektor]

25. Kick and Nominated. This guy may be worse than Kerik.

Definite corroboration of this story is needed. If it turns out to be true, it needs to be made very, very public.

[FreedomAngel82]

42. Kerik was just

a little loser and jackass. This guy, Bolton, is a nut case.

[Vektor]

85. .

[driver8]

26. What's the big deal?? Sounds like business as usual, to me...

Bolton would be a welcome addition to the fascist regime that is in power right now. The shrub needs a good "strong arm" to keep everyone in line with the party plan.

It is amazing to me the lengths that these idiots will go to to "win" -- to further their ideals. They truly have no shame.

[lostnfound]

29. "he went straight for the low road & stayed there"--perfect qualifications

for Bush gang.

[Laurab]

37. My thoughts exactly

He's perfect for the job under whatever standards it is that bushco uses. The scum of the earth, the worst possible candidate, should not be dealing with people, yup, that's the guy we want to unite the UN.

[EFerrari]

27. Barbara Boxer is on the record, calling this sinkscum a

"serial abuser".

But, that doesn't really emcompass just how many shades of WRONG this nomination is.

What are we willing to do?

[paineinthearse]

32. Who has a connection to BB?

Make sure her staff has this thread / link to Kos.

[EFerrari]

33. We all have a connection to BB:

http://boxer.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm

I want to remind my fellow DUers that the net has broken down the boundaries in the category of "constituents". We ALL pay her salary, we all fund these folks. So, do not allow yourself to be turned away from contacting any member of the Federal government. They're starting to understand this.


And please, California people, call as well. This link is to an email form AND to specific phone numbers for CA.

TIA,
Beth

:hi:

/typing from hell

[RevCheesehead]

34. Hope, I trust you sent this to the Kahuna.

What a great story that would be on his day back from vacation!

[spooky3]

35. A C-span caller with a British accent asked a great question...

"you mean to tell me that, with all of the people you have, he's the BEST person you can find for this job?"

[Tigress DEM]

43. Wow! I so love dry Brittish humor!

[FreedomAngel82]

44. So true

It always amazes me the type of people they get for jobs. :crazy:

[Junkdrawer]

36. Vet this one CAREFULLY before you go with it, guys...

Imagine this getting big press, and then Bolton proving conclusively it's a lie...

Shades of Rathergate...

Not saying it is a lie, just a warning to vet it with extreme care...

[Nothing Without Hope]

45. Yes, corroboration is needed: WE DON'T WANT ANOTHER RATHERGATE

The story of this person must be corroborated. You know that if Bolton were faced with it, it would be his word against hers, and many will assume she is a "sore loser" in some way, with a grievance she's trying to get him. That's the way it would be painted, so a professional journalist needs to step in and do the job right. From the story, you would expect some other people would have heard about this, and if they can be tracked - which may be tricky since this was over 10 years ago - then what this woman says cannot be dismissed.

No more Rathergates, please. It's not only hard on the reporters who are discredited, it's ambrosia to the people trying to pretend it's all just thin air and they are fully innocent. Once a weakness in a story is publicized, the whole story is disbelieved. We don't want to see Bolton playing the wronged innocent.

[dissident0]

46. New York Times article

The committee staff circulated a memorandum sent from a public relations consultant in Dallas, Melody Townsel, who said she had a prolonged confrontation with Mr. Bolton in Moscow in 1994 while he was a legal counsel to a group doing work for the Agency for International Development.

Ms. Townsel, identified as active in a group opposed to President Bush, was interviewed by the committee last week but it was not clear how much the committee would try to make of her charges.

Responding to her accusation, Edwin Hullander, who was executive vice president of International Business and Technical Consultants Inc., the firm that employed Mr. Bolton as counsel, said he had not heard of any such incident happening until Ms. Townsel's recent accusation. He said he had checked with two people who were there at the time who were also unaware of it, and who said they believed they would have heard about a confrontation if it had occurred.

That's the extent of it relating to her.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/17/politics/17bolton.html

[Nothing Without Hope]

48. Reading this excerpt - it looks like they're TRYING TO BURY HER STORY!

Focus on the highlighted parts in this NYT excerpt and you see signs of what looks very much like a partisan attempt to suppress Ms. Townsel's testimony:

The committee staff circulated a memorandum sent from a public relations consultant in Dallas, Melody Townsel, who said she had a prolonged confrontation with Mr. Bolton in Moscow in 1994 while he was a legal counsel to a group doing work for the Agency for International Development.

Ms. Townsel, identified as active in a group opposed to President Bush, was interviewed by the committee last week but it was not clear how much the committee would try to make of her charges.

Responding to her accusation, Edwin Hullander, who was executive vice president of International Business and Technical Consultants Inc., the firm that employed Mr. Bolton as counsel, said he had not heard of any such incident happening until Ms. Townsel's recent accusation. He said he had checked with two people who were there at the time who were also unaware of it, and who said they believed they would have heard about a confrontation if it had occurred.

MY TRANSLATION: "We can be sure she is lying because she doesn't like Bush. And Bolton's old acquaintance talked to a couple of people - no, we don't have any sworn statements from them, but trust us, they were at the center of everything and only tell the truth - and they said they didn't hear anything."

MORE DIGGING FOR CORROBORATION IS NEEDED!! They're trying to bury it.

Thank you for this, dissident0, and welcome to DU!

[Tigress DEM]

53. Ah, she must be a registered DEM then.

:kick:
:hi:

Ms. Townsel, identified as active in a group opposed to President Bush.....

[dxstone]

47. Bolton is a Monster in a Rubber Suit!

John Bolton Can't Wait to Get Started On His
Big New Plans for the United Nations

Latest Scary News:

Tom Delay Shits Self In Middle of Senate Floor
http://www.presidentevilonline.com/sn_delayshit.html

Alan Greenspawn Forecasts Golden Showers
http://www.presidentevilonline.com/sn_goldensh.html

"I LOVE horror movies, man... I just don't want to LIVE in one."
DXS

[napi21]

49. Do we know who was the PRIMARY HUB comtractor?

Unfortunately, I don't know what HUB stands for. It think that's important because primary contractors always try to blame the sub, and say they just had "no idea"!

Whoever this was, was also the ones who hired Bolton to represent their legal interests.

[Nothing Without Hope]

50. Yes, we need to know. The statement in the NYT article was very

much in that vein. They didn't ask HER who would be likely to support her story, they picked some high-ranking businessmen who were in the general area and seem to be happy to use this specious excuse to dismiss the entire matter. Obviously, they are saying, this woman doesn't like Bush and has a beef with Bolton, so we should ignore her.

Let's not let this be ignored. More corroboration is needed.

[Tigress DEM]

51. Possible Republican SWAY VOTES

In the original post:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/15/101542/050

There is a response by bfa that references this link:
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com

<clip>
Endorsing or working against Bolton's nomination is not a partisan matter -- or should not be. There are lots of Republicans irritated by the carelessness of this nomination by President Bush. But what has played in much of the press -- around the entire nation -- is that the U.S. Senate is about to confirm a person who demonstrates tendencies that seem "monstrous" to some. In a nation where people value fairness, civility, balance, and decency -- supporting Bolton raises other potential costs for Senators.

Workplace issues matter to much of the country, and strangely enough, the public is paying attention to the degree that Bolton's bombastic and vindictive style run counter to America's highly-valued workplace ethic.

Thus, on the Republican side, there are many Senators -- including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, George Voinovich of Ohio, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, maybe more -- whose commitment to Bolton has become "less robust."


Below is my letter to Senator Murkowski.

Dear Senator Murkowski,

Regarding the Bolton nomination:

Is there any way to confirm or deny the reports of seemingly insane behavior by this man in the work environment?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/15/101542/050

You have been mentioned by some as a Republican who may be more dedicated to your constituents and your country's best interests than the party line.

Please help find out the truth about Bolton and if he is as unfit as it seems he is, do your best to block his nomination. Surely, there must be someone better qualified for this crucial post.

For a Republican state, Alaska has shown a lot of common sense and seems not to fall into the partisan lines of other red states.

As a Democrat I rarely write to "the other side" but I think bi-partisan cooperation on crucial issues is very important. I hope we can all work together to bring this country back to a place where we can be proud of Americans again.

So many of Bush's appointments have been people who show real conflict of interest or real biases that make them unfit to have been considered in the first place. I think your party has an even stronger interest in putting a stop to these abuses of power that make the World look at US as a nation who has no respect for other countries unless there is something in it for US.

The USA used to stand for true Democracy, but Democracy isn't something you shove down another country's throat, it's rule of the people and Bush isn't listening to US at all. Are you? Do you care? I hope so.

God bless you and give you the strength to make the best decision in this matter.

[Nothing Without Hope]

52. CALLING WILL PITT!! WE NEED AN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST STAT!!!

I will PM him, but we need to be sure he hears about this. A real journalist who will ask the right questions and be able to think on his feet and talk to the people in Washington needs to take this over.

Please help me reach Will and ask him to do this or suggest someone else who will.

I'll email this to Keith Olbermann too, but the chances of him picking it up are remote in my opinion.

If anyone reading this is a friend of Will's, please help me try to reach him for his advice about this, and, if possible, his action on it.

[Tigress DEM]

56. Truth Out on Bolton from 4/13 - Let's ask Ray McGovern to dig up facts...

This article first appeared on TomPaine.com
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/041505E.shtml
by Ray McGovern

Ray McGovern now works at Tell the Word, an activity of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. During his 27-year career as a CIA analyst, he chaired National Intelligence Estimates and conducted morning briefings of senior officials in the White House and elsewhere. He serves on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.


Looks like Will Pitt thought Ray's take on Bolton was a good one. Maybe he can look into this. He's already documenting Republican Carl Ford of INR - Intelligence and Research ( the ones who had it right pre-Iraq about no WMD)- as saying....

<clip>
Ford emphasized that politicization is the main danger to intelligence analysis. He described politicization as a "team sport" since at least two are needed-the one exerting political pressure and the "weasel." He described in some detail Bolton's attempt to bully an INR analyst into changing his conclusions to fit Bolton's extreme views on Cuba's biological warfare capability. The analyst, who is several grade levels lower than Under Secretary Bolton but no weasel, stood firm and was treated to a torrent of verbal abuse. Later, when Bolton made it clear to Ford that the analyst should be removed, Ford said, in effect, over his dead body.

furthermore...
<clip>
To his credit, Ford gave his analyst strong support. Nonetheless, this crass attempt at politicization threw such a fright into INR analysts that Ford decided to use the incident as an important teaching moment for staff and instituted defense-against-politicization training.

The former INR chief made it clear that he considered Bolton's behavior beyond the pale and told his analysts that, were they to encounter such pressure they had just two requirements: (1) do not bend to it; and (2) report it to the director of INR immediately. Ford reported Bolton's behavior to then-Secretary Powell, and later Powell went over to INR to address the staff and give a highly visible attaboy to the analyst who had stood his ground.

[Nothing Without Hope]

58. For me, the issue is reaching Will Pitt and/or Ray McGovern and

getting them to listen and act if possible. Any suggestons? I'll send Will a PM here and an email at truthout later tonight, but I'm afraid he won't read them because he doesn't know me.

[Tigress DEM]

60. Will is a good guy, if he is in the country is my concern...

Subject line should grab attention: Help on Bolton CoverUp needed!!! or some other grab line so he sees it in his stack of emails would be my suggestion.

I thought Ray might be easier to contact, but I haven't found a good link directly to him yet.

[Nothing Without Hope]

63. I know he's a good guy, but he's a very busy good guy with an email

mountain.

Thanks for your suggestiion, you're surely right about the title being important. I'll PM hiim here and email him at Truthout later tonight. If you come up with a link to Ray McGovern, please let me know.

[napi21]

57. Please do. I did some searching on the net, but failed.

All I found was some idiot from Dallas who said after he read Melody's letter, he's more convinced that Bolton is the right guy for the job at the UN. He will tell those career diplomats just what the Bush plan is!

HELP WILL!!!!!!!

[Tigress DEM]

59. Still working on it!

[Tigress DEM]

64. GOT IT!!

http://www.answers.com/topic/veteran-intelligence-professionals-for-sanity

Contact
Ray McGovern at:
[email protected]"<6> (http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Articles5/VIPS_UN-Inspectors.htm) or
[email protected]

****

Ray,

Great article for TomPain.com about Ford from INR speaking up about Bolton's irrational behavior with subordinates ... saw it on TruthOut.org.

A bunch of us on the DemocraticUnderground.com are trying to get the real scoop on the KOS story below *** and the seeming dismissal of validity by NYT and the committee of serious allegations into Bolton's fitness for the UN post >

Do you have any way to find out if her story is valid? No one wants to "rush to judgement" on another one of Bush's star appointments, but if her information is correct it should be given proper attention and it seems to me you are a man up to that task.

If you have too much on your plate, let us know. We are also trying to contact Will Pitt.

Sincerely,

Tigress DEM

********************************************

Link to original Kos Diary by amyindallas that includes Melody's letter:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/15/101542/050

I don't have a link for the NYT article, just an excerpt that one DU member clipped and posted:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1727593#1728099

The committee staff circulated a memorandum sent from a public relations consultant in Dallas, Melody Townsel, who said she had a prolonged confrontation with Mr. Bolton in Moscow in 1994 while he was a legal counsel to a group doing work for the Agency for International Development.

Ms. Townsel, identified as active in a group opposed to President Bush, was interviewed by the committee last week but it was not clear how much the committee would try to make of her charges.

Responding to her accusation, Edwin Hullander, who was executive vice president of International Business and Technical Consultants Inc., the firm that employed Mr. Bolton as counsel, said he had not heard of any such incident happening until Ms. Townsel's recent accusation. He said he had checked with two people who were there at the time who were also unaware of it, and who said they believed they would have heard about a confrontation if it had occurred.

[Nothing Without Hope]

66. Great! I'll email too. Here are the links to the NYT article & MP3 file

of the AAR interview.

The link for the NYT article was provided by dissident0 upthread:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/17/politics/17bolton.html?
The excerpted part is near the end.

He should also listen to her AAR interview; a link to an MP3 filie of the 6 minute AAR/ Majority Report interview is given in a post downthread:
http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~yacomink/MelodyTownselonMR041505full.mp3

[Nothing Without Hope]

77. OK, I've finally PMed Will - hope he will be able to respond.

It's almost 5 AM and I have had it for now. Let's hope this can move forward; Sunday afternoon this thread will effectively disappear from sight at DU except by assiduous kicking in GD-P.

[Terre]

55. Air America Radio last night

Posted that she was going to be on AAR last night but it fell through the cracks:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1398638&mesg_id=1398638

Maybe AAR has a transcript or recording of the Majority Report on site?

[Nothing Without Hope]

62. This is EXCELLENT!!! From THIS UPDATE at Daily Kos, it went well

and the story is finally starting to spread. Word is, she was contacted by Democratic staff (see the highlighted text in the Kos comments below).

Here's the update at Kos - most of the information is in the replies to the brief post:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/15/232755/637

More Bolton

by Al Rodgers
Fri Apr 15th, 2005 at 20:27:55 PDT

Melody Townsel, The Subject of Today's Lead Diary "Horrifying, personal John Bolton story" will be interviewed at 9:45 pm Pacific Daylight Time on Air America's Majority Report.
East Coast Listeners say it's an incredible interview: with further info on Bolton's attacks, and how the Democratic Staff of the Foreign Relations Committee contacted her today - presumably in response to the DKOS Alerts and Diary.

Here are some of the salient replies to this post - I suggest you go to the Kos link and read them all, there are only a couple of dozen:

(snip)
-------------------------------------------------------------
You can link here:
http://www.620kpoj.com/listen/index.php
http://www.quakeradio.com/listenlive.html

Coming up in half an hour.

by Al Rodgers on Fri Apr 15th, 2005 at 21:11:24 PDT
---------------------------------------------------------------
(snip - some names and links of blogs that are said to have picked up the story)
---------------------------------------------------------------
I missed it
How did it go?
by ksh01 on Fri Apr 15th, 2005 at 22:28:56 PDT
---------------------------------------------------------------
Distasteful
He went around trying to blacklist her by telling people not to work with her because "she was under investigation" (and she wasn't); he went around making negative comments, to others, about her weight; and then he went around telling people that she was a lesbian (which she is, but which she didn't reveal that to others).

She said that she e-mailed her letter at the beginning of the week to the senate, and today she was contacted by the minority staff.

can't help but thinking that DKos and the other blogs that circulated the letter, played a role in that.
by Al Rodgers on Fri Apr 15th, 2005 at 22:44:33 PDT
------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks, Al, but
how did she do? Did she sound credible? Will she make a good witness?

by ksh01 on Fri Apr 15th, 2005 at 22:46:15 PDT
---------------------------------------------------------------
Female Richard Clarke - Straight Talk

I was really impressed with out she just state facts - like Clarke, she gave off a "I have nothing to hide...the truth we set us free" feel.

by Al Rodgers on Sat Apr 16th, 2005 at 00:06:33 PDT
---------------------------------------------------------------
(snip)

[Tigress DEM]

67. Majority Report Transcript

URL is too long... I went to ask Jeeves and searched for "kpoj majority report transcripts" to get there

<clip>
***Majority Report Exclusive***
Last night, a woman named Melody Townsel came on the show to tell Sam a personal story of her bizarre and harassing run-in with John Bolton, George Bush's nominee to be U.N. Ambassador. The run-in took place in 1994, when Bolton worked for a private law firm. Melody has spoken with minority council to the Foreign Relations Committee, and may be called to testify next week. She suspects, unfortunately, that her expirience with John Bolton may not be unique.

Interview clip here.

((Nothing really new that I can hear))

[Nothing Without Hope]

70. Tigress, I tried it and couldn't find written transcripts, but the MP3

audio file of the interview is in the next post down on this thread. This story is continuing to develop in so far encouraging ways. She's really giving something to all of us, facing the firestorm she's going to get for speaking truth to power. I hope her courage doesn't cost her too much as her life goes on. Whatever it is, though, sitting quiet would cost her more, I think. Her child has a fine model.

If you are concerned about overlong URLs, go to
http://tinyurl.com

For most browsers you can actually drag the URL of this site from the web address window onto the browser bar. You can then click on it any time you want a tinyURL to replace a very long URL for a site. I use it all the time for sending DU thread links. In fact, upthread I posted a tinyURL for this Bolton thread.

If you don't want to put TinyURL on your browser bar, you can just paste a long URL in the window they give and click to generate the tinyURL. (Please forgive me if you already know all this. I only found out about this free service a few months ago myself and wish I had heard about it sooner.)

[Tigress DEM]

73. No written transcripts.

The first MP3 was edited, and there is a little more in the second one, but basically she just reasserted what she had written in the letter.

Actually, the fact that she did say that she hadn't actually heard him make the allegations about her sexuallity make her seem more credible to me.

And being a single parent just speaking her truth who really doesn't have time to get involved, but felt she needed to let them know what kind of man he was also sounds pretty typical. A lot of people do the right thing even though it's going to be more work and more of a pain to them than if they had just kept their mouths shut.

[Nothing Without Hope]

75. Yes, I feel the same way. Her being up front about which allegations were

3rd hand strengthens her credibility. She will be a good witness if the Dems are satisfied with their background vetting of her. And I liked the way she said that she isn't getting anything out of this - I would think it would ring true to most people. She's doing what she believes is right, despite expecting it to make her life difficult for at least a while. Given the vindictive ways of today's GOP, it may well affect her professional future if they decide to attack her.

Be sure to see her Kos diarist friend's additional comments in the post I just made downthread.

[Nothing Without Hope]

65. MP3 FILES of Melody Townsel AAR INTERVIEW

http://www.majorityreportradio.com/weblog/archives/002070.php
April 16, 2005, posted 12:53 PM
***Majority Report Exclusive***

Last night, a woman named Melody Townsel came on the show to tell Sam a personal story of her bizarre and harassing run-in with John Bolton, George Bush's nominee to be U.N. Ambassador. The run-in took place in 1994, when Bolton worked for a private law firm. Melody has spoken with minority council to the Foreign Relations Committee, and may be called to testify next week. She suspects, unfortunately, that her expirience with John Bolton may not be unique.

Interview clip here. http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~yacomink/MelodyTownselonMR041505long.mp3

Full 6 minute interview here: http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~yacomink/MelodyTownselonMR041505full.mp3

(snip)

In addition to the end of this post, there are currently 250 comments in reply to it. They should make interesting reading.

She said the accounts about Bolton's personal attacks on her size and sexual orientation are third hand, which makes them less solid, but the rest of the interview is great. Listen and see what you think.

[Nothing Without Hope]

68. Clearer sight from far away: great take on Bolton from a Pakistani paper

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_17-4-2005_pg3_3

POSTCARD USA: UN gets a gift from Bush

—Khalid Hasan ; posted Sunday, April 17, 2005

Dorothy Parker once said to know in what contempt God holds money, all you have to do is look at the people He gives it to. That applies to Bush. To know what he thinks of the United Nations, just look at who he has nominated as the next US ambassador to the world body.

The man is John R Bolton, a serving official who was rather aptly described during his nomination hearing at the Senate as a “quintessential kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy”. This colourful characterisation came from Carl W Ford, a retired State Department official, who had worked with him. He said of Bolton, “He’s got a bigger kick, and it gets bigger and stronger the further down the bureaucracy he is kicking.” I should add that this holds true of every good Pakistani bureaucrat.

However, in Bush’s book, Bolton is eminently qualified as ambassador to the United Nations, since he holds the organisation in such contempt. Under questioning by the Senate’s Democratic members, when he said that he had been misquoted, Sen Barbara Boxer from California who is adept at putting the boot in, played a videotape of a 1994 speech in which Bolton had said, “There is no United Nations. There is an international community that occasionally can be led by the only real power left in the world — that’s the United States — when it suits our interests and when we can get others to go along.”

Pax Americana is what the President believes should be — and is — the new world order. If you don’t like a regime — and there is no shortage of bad ones in the world — invade and destroy it — and do it on CNN. Bolton fits the bill. He is exactly the type of Republican the White House loves. Carl Ford who testified against the nomination — a group of former American diplomats has said in a joint representation that the man is not fit to hold the UN post — told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Bolton was a “bully” who abused his authority and power, intimidated intelligence analysis and damaged the integrity of the agency he was working for. He questioned his suitability for high office. He said he himself was as good a Republican as Bolton but “the collateral damage and the personal hurt he (Bolton) causes is not worth the price that had to be paid”.

(snip - more at link)

The text highlighting is mine. Mr. Hasan also notes that he will probably cancel his subscription to the Washington Post, which "ended a rambling editorial on the Bolton nomination, 'So far, there is no compelling case for denying Mr Bush his choice.' " So much for it being a "liberal" newspaper.

[Tigress DEM]

72. Funny How FAUX News wants to appear UN Biased....but can't

quite make it all the way.

"Mr. Hasan also notes that he will probably cancel his subscription to the Washington Post, which "ended a rambling editorial on the Bolton nomination, 'So far, there is no compelling case for denying Mr Bush his choice.' " So much for it being a "liberal" newspaper."

They still have to slant toward the prez being right and the rest of the world being mistaken.

"Faith is believing in spite of the Evidence and watching the Evidence change."

That makes me feel good when it means the Truth will overcome all obstacles inspite of Evidence to the contrary, but when it means that mr bushie just has to keep the faith and we all go to hell, I get a little worried. Ya' know?

[Nothing Without Hope]

76. CARTOON illustrating the Washington Post's editorial's stated view that

"So far, there is no compelling case for denying Mr Bush his choice"....except that this duck is only Daffy, not insanely vicious like Bolton.

[Nothing Without Hope]

74. More information from the Kos Letter post reply thread

The diarist who posted her friend Melody Townsel's letter also posted several times in the 350+ posts that poured out in response. Here are two of them. A number of Kos posters had expressed concern that the letter might not hold up as genuine under investigation. Here are two of the diarist's posts (amyindallas is Amy Boardman Hunt, a legal media consultant).

...Given the big yawn Melody's letter got with members of the Senate, it's heartening to see so much response here.

Regarding the post above, if Melody is called to testify, corroborate, or otherwise explain herself in an official forum, I'm sure she will. I certainly didn't witness any of this myself, since I was in Dallas at the time. I know of one other person she knows who was involved, but because she still makes her living in D.C., she wants no part of this.

I will confirm, though, that she told me about it shortly afterward, although none of it stuck because I wasn't involved. Certainly, the name John Bolton didn't ring a bell to me until she called me the day his nomination was announced.

I honestly don't know what, if anything, will come of all this. I certainly hope Melody's character doesn't get assassinated, because she is a consummate professional (and quite funny, to boot)
(snip)
by amyindallas on Fri Apr 15th, 2005 at 08:35:06 PDT

(several posts from other people were between these two posts)

...The folks on DailyKos can vet and devil's advocate till you're blue in the face, but none of it matters unless and until a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee takes her seriously. By posting her letter here, I wasn't asking anybody on Kos to say "holy cow, let's put the weight of our credibility behind this lady." All I wanted to do was get her letter "out there" and read by somebody other than those who have already disregarded it.

That has been accomplished. If the GOP decides Melody isn't credible, fine. But I'm fairly certain the Senate Dems won't present her as a witness if they aren't satisfied with her background and version of events.

Believe me, they're vetting. They're background-checking. I am personally satisfied that Melody's letter is legit and credible, or I wouldn't have posted it here in the first place. I have no desire to post something here that could reflect negatively on Kos.

Where it goes from here is up to the Senate Dems.
(snip)
by amyindallas on Fri Apr 15th, 2005 at 15:48:29 PDT

Other evidence about Bolton is also described in the reply thread. I thought this pair of replies, one following the other, was striking. They are discussing Bolton's bizarre responses to an Australian interviewer in 2003. The link to the paper discussing this, written by David Corn, is given - I recommend reading it to better understand what we're dealing with in Bolton.

check out this scary article about Bolton
Australian journalist John Pilger interviewed John Bolton (http://www.commondreams.org/scriptfiles/views03/1120-03.htm - An article by David Corn November 19, 2003 in The Nation, “A No-Compassion Conservative?”)
Some excerpts:
His remarks to Pilger, then, were hardly surprising. He is a no-apologies ideologue. Pilger asked if 10,000 civilian casualties in Iraq would be a "quite high" amount. Bolton answered, "I think it is quite low if you look at the size of the military operation that was undertaken."
by sadhu on Fri Apr 15th, 2005 at 11:31:37 PDT

The killer moment is right at the end after Pilger has wrapped up what, for Bolton, was an unexpectedly difficult interview:

Then when the interview ended, Bolton, as he stood up and removed the microphone, asked Pilger, "Are you a Labour Party member?" As if that explained Pilger's questions about dead and injured civilians in Iraq. Clearly, Bolton had not been briefed. Pilger is an investigative reporter specializing in national security matters who has long been seen as a left-of-center crusader. A critic of his recently dubbed Pilger "the Eeyore of the left." One wonders who at the State Department let Pilger get this close to Bolton? (By the way, when Pilger interviewed Douglas Feith, the undersecretary of defense for policy, a Pentagon media official ordered Pilger to shut off his camera once Pilger began questioning Feith about civilian casualties.)

Replying to Bolton's jab, Pilger explained to him the current politics of Britain: "Well, Labour Party--they're the conservatives." Pilger meant "conservative" as in supporting Prime Minister Tony Blair's embrace of the war in Iraq.

By now Bolton was walking away from Pilger, looking like he much desired a fast separation. With a mischievous (or, some might say, wicked) smile on his face, Bolton shot back, "You're a Communist Party member?"

That was the Kodak moment, and it was captured by Pilger's camera operator. On Planet Bolton, if you inquire too forcefully about civilian casualties, you must be a commie. The Cold War might be over. But at least one senior Bush aide is keeping its spirit alive.

by JohnDrake on Fri Apr 15th, 2005 at 16:57:52 PDT

ed:2 typos

[spooky3]

78. thanks, it's great to know that the Dems are investigating this.

Maybe that's one reason why the hearings were continued?

[Algorem]

79. Biden just mentioned this letter and writer on the FOX News Sunday show,

talking about their concerns about Bolton,think it was 1st thing he mentioned.

[NMDemDist2]

81. you are so right sir! n/t

[ianrs]

80. kickkickkickkickkick

n/t necessary!!!!!!!!!!!

[Nothing Without Hope]

82. LA Times has picked it up, Biden emailed letter to dozens of DC reporters

On Saturday, Biden's office emailed Ms. Townsel's letter to "dozens of Washington reporters." This LA times article is an update on the Bolton nomination status, with the Townsel letter most prominently featured and also mentioning an interview of a "former national intelligence officer for Latin America" who said he was pressured by Bolton to "tailor" his judgment on a Cuban weapons program.

A spokesman for Chafee said that the senator planned to review all these allegations before deciding how he wold vote. He and Hagel are the two Repub members of the committee (10 Repubs and 8 Dems) who have voiced concerns about Bolton.

The Houston Chronicle printed part of the Los Angeles Times report today (April 17, 2005, 12:25AM) under the title "U.N. nominee unfit, Texas businesswoman says"
(http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3138825).

Here are excerpts from the LA Times article. (Subscription required for viewing at link.)

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bolton17apr17,1,6526317.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
April 17, 2005

U.N. Nominee Faces New Bullying Allegations

A businesswoman describes belligerent behavior by Bolton. An intelligence analyst's accusations of pressure are further detailed.
By Sonni Efron and Richard A. Serrano, Times Staff Writers

WASHINGTON — A Texas businesswoman has written to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that John R. Bolton is unfit to serve as U.N. ambassador because he threatened, berated and harassed her in a dispute over an overseas contract.

(snip)

Also disclosed Saturday was the summary of a committee staff interview with a former national intelligence officer for Latin America. He said that in 2003, Bolton and another State Department official attempted to pressure him to tailor his judgment on Cuba's biological weapons program, and that they attacked his integrity and attempted to have him transferred when he would not do so.

(snip)

"This stuff just didn't happen, as far as we know," the official (a State department official who "declined to be named) said. He did say that Bolton, a private attorney at the time, had been in Moscow, where Townsel said the incident occurred, and that Bolton was representing the interest of his clients in the deal.

(snip)

In a telephone interview Friday, before her letter became public, Townsel said she was a liberal Democrat who had actively opposed Bush during his reelection campaign. She said she had hesitated to make her account public because she feared she would be discredited because of her politics. But she stepped forward, she said, because she believed the way Bolton treated her was consistent with other reports about his temperament and suitability for the job.

(snip)

So the story is definitely out there now, the Administration is trying to discredit Ms. Townsel's testimony - after all, she opposes Bush, so she must be lying! - and the Dems are serious enough about it that Biden emailed dozens of Wash DC reporters. The new allegations about Bolton's pressuring tactics to "tailor judgment" on a Cuban weapons system, then reprisals when it was not should also have an effect.

All these stories are consistent: Bolton is abusive and so blindly partisan that he will attack anyone who gives him information that does not agree with his preconceived - and incorrect - views. He's the perfect Bush ideologue - except that he is stark, raving NUTS!

[Algorem]

83. from NY Times-

"...Democrats on the committee say that they have compiled considerable evidence of what they call Bolton's lack of temperament suitable for the job of ambassador to the United Nations and that more such instances are bound to come to light. Committee aides circulated a memorandum sent from a public relations consultant in Dallas, Melody Townsel, who said she had a prolonged confrontation with Bolton in Moscow in 1994 while he was a legal counsel to a group doing work for the Agency for International Development. Townsel, identified as active in a group opposed to President George W. Bush, was interviewed by the committee this month, but it was not clear how much the committee would try to make of her charges.


Responding to her accusation, Edwin Hullander, who was executive vice president of International Business and Technical Consultants Inc., the firm that employed Mr. Bolton as counsel, said he had not heard of any such incident happening until Ms. Townsel's recent accusation. He said he had checked with two people who were there at the time who were also unaware of it, and who said they believed they would have heard about a confrontation if it had occurred."(Ruh-roh?Eh,could they talk to some people SHE worked for and with maybe?)

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/17/news/bolton.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/17/politics/17bolton.html?oref=login

[Nothing Without Hope]

84. This was from last Friday - and note the one-sided reporting

This NYT article was commented on upthread here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1727593&mesg_id=1728086
(Note: the NYT article was first mentioned in this thread by dissident0 in the preceding post; the link to the article is there.)

Note the statements that Ms. Townsel is in a group that opposes Bush (implication: therefore she must be lying) and the totally cherry-picked, hearsay nature of the assertion that two people who were in the area didn't hear anything and they would have. This is clearly an Repub attempt to undermine Ms. Townsel's credibility without any real evidence to disprove her story. The Dems are now fighting back.

[Algorem]

86. guess noone she worked with or for is reachable

[Nothing Without Hope]

87. That's not clear and it may well be untrue - I hope

She told at least 2 people at the time and others who were there at the scenes of the incidents who have previously indicated (I assume to Ms. Townsel) that they did not want to come forward. But if asked by a Senate committee, perhaps they might; perhaps their testimony could be done in a way that preserved their privacy. That's on a different level from having an old acquaintance asking them to bare their necks to neocon attacks. Whistleblowing is a lonely and dangerous pastime, especially in this administration.

According the the LA Times article, there were also "at least two" people whom Ms. Townsel told about the incidents at the time. They are in addition to the people who were witnesses but are reluctant to come forward.

One more point: The government has much better resources for tracking down the potential witnesses from 1994 than Ms. Townsel herself has. If they are searched for, they will be found.

[Fridays Child]

88. CALL [phone], the Foreign Relations Committee minority line...

...and [phone], the majority line, and express your outrage that this woman has not been brought before the committee for testimony. US AID officials who intervened in her behalf need to be brought in, too.

[Nothing Without Hope]

94. Yes, I do believe that if the Dems had been serious about bringing in

witnesses to back up her testimony, it would have been done. I'm disgusted that in spite of everything, the NYT can still get away with writing such a slanted story on her - emphasizing that she in a group that opposes Bush (implication: she must be LYING!) and citing unfounded, nameless hearsay from the Republicans that a couple of people who were in the area and should have heard something, didn't. (see the NYT article excerpt and comments on it upthread.) The Repubs are saying "this stuff never happened" and are being allowed to get away with it.

There are so many lies in this administration on a daily basis, it's easy for them to pretend to not recognize the truth.

And the three major US newspapers? Only the LA Times gave a fairly balanced report of the accusations, including Ms. Townsel's. The NYT gave a biased account implying her accusations were lies. And the Wash Post editorial said there wasn't a good reason to deny Bush his candidate. Well, at least we got one out of three.

[WillyT]

89. BTW - What Does It Take To Get A Thread Like This On The Home Page ???

How many votes are required???

:shrug:

[Nothing Without Hope]

92. We should ask that in ATA

but I think it's independent of votes - the Home page is the admins' picks, and the Greatest is the readers'. Sometimes they overlap, but they are not the same. I'd be curious to see what Skinner said if you asked him in ATA - please let me know if you do.

It is too bad that this page is now functionally invisible and the vote will be Tuesday. I'm considering starting a daughter thread and referring back to this one, but it's not the same as having it all together. The thread has evolved into sort of a mini-research project and has some value for someone trying to get the story straight, I think.

[Nothing Without Hope]

90. International paper says vote will be held on Tuesday regardless of all

the charges. The neocons LIKE the same things about Bolton that we and the rest of the world deplore and despise.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/17/news/bolton.html
International Herald Tribune - Monday, April 18, 2005

Vote on UN nominee expected to go ahead

But new charges arise against Bolton
By Brian Knowlton International Herald Tribune

WASHINGTON The Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Sunday that he still intended to hold a vote Tuesday on the sharply contested nomination of John Bolton as chief U.S. delegate to the United Nations. He said he did not expect new allegations to block approval.

(snip)

Fulton Armstrong, a former national intelligence officer for Latin America, was quoted this weekend as saying that Bolton and another administration official, Otto Reich, had sought his transfer to signal that analysts would be well-advised to cooperate on intelligence matters, The New York Times reported, quoting Democratic aides on the committee.
The panel's senior Democrat, Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, said that if Bolton had intimidated subordinates in a bid to shape intelligence, he would have dangerously little credibility at the United Nations. "What happens when our ambassador has to stand up and make the case on intelligence relating to Iran and North Korea?" Biden said on Fox-TV. "Do you think John Bolton is going to be believed?"

(snip)

Biden also referred Sunday to a former employee of the Agency for International Development who, as he put it, "said she'd been essentially harassed by John Bolton." Biden apparently was referring to Melody Townsel, who has said that in 1994, while legal counsel to a group working for the agency, she had a prolonged confrontation with Bolton. There has been no independent confirmation of this.
(snip)

Republicans say Bolton's past criticism of the United Nations and his strong personality give him the credibility and tools to press effectively for UN reform, a Bush priority.

(snip)

The last paragraph says it all. Unfortunately. We know what "UN reform" means to the Bush administration - it will be a poodle or it will be crushed. This extreme arrogance and bullying is going to bring us a huge number of problems, short term and long term.

[Nothing Without Hope]

91. Hagel says he's troubled but will vote YES "at this point." Grandstanding?

Encouraging title, but the text says that as of today, Sunday, Hagel says he will vote YES for Bolton. He keeps saying that he'll be upset if "more accusations surface" but then when they do, he doesn't change his line. I'm tending to think he's milking this situation for attention and taking the opportunity to emphasize his own importance to the Administration. His repeated expressions of being "troubled" about Bolton are also a sort of CYA if Bolton DOES really go off the deep end. It has to be asked: is Hagel actually serious at all about his often-expressed concern over Bolton's character and history? I'm starting to doubt it. I hope I'm wrong, but I have to wonder what it would take to convince a truly "troubled" person that Bolton is totally wrong as a candidate for this position. Surely there's been enough evidence for that!

And what is quoted from Biden isn't exactly fire-breathing; in fact, it reads like a compliment on Bolton's ass****ness. In another part of this article Biden is at least quoted as saying that Bolton's past statements of hostility to the UN would undermine his credibility, which is surely true.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=678340

GOP Lawmaker May Vote Against U.N. Nominee

GOP Lawmaker May Vote Against U.N. Nominee Bolton if There Are More Accusations of Harassment
By SIOBHAN McDONOUGH Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON Apr 17, 2005 — A top Senate Republican raised the possibility Sunday that he might vote against President Bush's nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations if more accusations surface about John Bolton's alleged harassment of analysts who disagreed with his views

With a Senate Foreign Relations Committee vote expected Tuesday, Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska was asked whether he would endorse Bolton. "At this point, I will … but I have been troubled with more and more allegations, revelations, coming about his style, his method of operation," said Hagel, the committee's No. 2 Republican.

"We need a uniter," he told CNN's "Late Edition." "We need a builder. We need someone who will reach out to our friends and our allies at the United Nations."

(snip)

"John Bolton's strong and in some areas very respected ideological view of foreign policy intelligence are admirable, but they're not admirable for someone running a Cabinet-level position, one of the largest embassies in the world, which is essentially, the embassy of the United States at the U.N.," Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del. said.

(snip)

[lemonlime]

93. Bolton needs anger management!

Look at Barbara Boxer's testimony alone.

[Nothing Without Hope]

95. Welcome to DU, lemonlime! (And you're surely right about the anger mgmnt)

Despite the awfulness of this subject, it's a real pleasure to see your very first post! Good wishes to you for your coming times on the DU boards. There are some grouches and a few trolls, but overall this is a unique place where progressives can meet and work on the issues that face this country. Good to have you with us!
:hi:

[Nothing Without Hope]

96. Consistent with his abusive bullying, BOLTON HATES INTERNATIONALISM

It's all part of the same picture. He is hateful to anyone who disagrees with him but cannot fight him. He does not listen to facts but tries to force agreement with his ideology - based extremist views. He sees the US as being just like him, a bully in the position to terrorize and coerce every other nation in the world.

How could ANYONE could consider Bolton, with his history of abuse and willful lying, PLUS his known hostility to the UN and everything it stands for, a reasonable candidate? It's a fool's dance in a sort of alternate reality where the truth and the consequences of acts don't matter at all.

And under it all is the contempt of the rest of the world shown so clearly by Bush with this despicable bully as our ambassador to them all:

[paineinthearse]

97. He does not listen to facts but tries to force agreement with his ideology

This is an apt phrase for ALL of the neocons.

[Nothing Without Hope]

98. April 19 UPDATE and continuation of this thread posted in a NEW THREAD

in LBN here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1404697#
Thread title: Delay Is Sought in Vote on U.N. Nominee (NYT update on Bolton)