Summary
[...] in my case, for example, there were any number of career government employees who wanted to come forward and say, "I've worked for John Bolton, he's a decent person, he listens to other points of view, he's tolerant, respectful ..." and so on, and yet they couldn't do it because they were afraid they would be subject to retaliation later ... if I were doing it over, I would have a different approach to what the nominee does and what the administration ought to do. Not every confirmation is going to be controversial, but for those that are, if you don't treat it as a political campaign, if you're not prepared to take the necessary steps, it's probably better not to go forward with the nomination One of the principal things in your book that I think is going to be of interest to our readers is your "dissatisfaction" with the culture of the State Department You said that a lot of people might have spoken up for you, but they didn't because they feared retaliation. [...] for the next Republican President, I think it's important that they commit the secretary of State to the sort of sweeping reform at the State Department that we've seen the need for in other places such as the Pentagon.
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Extract
Bolton Speaks Frankly On State Dept., Iran and N. Korea
On Friday, October 26, HUMAN EVENTS editors Tom Winter, Jed Babbin and Allan Ryskind interviewed former UN Ambassador John Bolton about his new book, Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad, and a host of domestic and international political issues. Here is an edited transcript of the interview:
Mr. Ambassador, thanks for taking the time with us. Your now book, Surrender It Mot an Option, is a tough inside look at Washington and the United Nations. Let's start with the Senate confirmation process that I think all conservatives would agree is broken. How bad is it?JOHN BOLTON: Part of the problem is the protocol that says a nominee can't defend himself, other than in the context of the Senate committee hearing. You can't say anything before your confirmation hearing because that would offend the Senate. And while you're in the hearing you're confined and limited in being able to answer the questions while the senators can say pretty much anything they want. After the hearings, you're constricted again for fear of offending the senators or getting another hearing.Essentially, you're a punching bag that can't punch back.BOLTON...See the full content of this document
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