The Left Wing Conspiracy Against John Bolton

President Bush’s commendable decision to tap John Bolton for the position of U.N. ambassador has Annan and Co.’s amen corner on the Left in hysterics. Begin with the efforts of the made-for-the-occasion smear site Stopbolton.org .

Among other attacks, the website features an ad attempting to paint Bolton as a hardliner spoiling to “dismantle” the hallowed global body. (A choice clip: “America doesn't need a loose cannon, it needs a problem-solver.”) Refusing to let anything so tiresome as evidence intrude on its Bolton-bashing, the site further charges that Bolton has a “well-known contempt for international cooperation.” (Somehow, one doubts this is a reference to Mr. Bolton’s declared intention to hold rogue states accountable--even over the screeching of the soi-disant international community.)

Funding for Stopbolton.org, you may be interested to know, comes courtesy of a group called Citizens for Global Solutions (CGS). To be sure, the name is somewhat misleading. The group does not so much favor “global solutions” as solutions made globally—that is, by the consensus of the United Nations, an organization of course known for its concern for global welfare. Readers will thus not be surprised to know that the group is staffed by longtime boosters for the U.N. and other institutions of the do-gooder stamp. For instance, Charles J. Brown president and CEO of CGS, in an alumnus of Amnesty International; vice president Don Kraus meanwhile formerly served on the board of the United Nations Association, a group dedicated to “strengthening” the U.N.

Unsurprisingly, the organizing activity of CGS is plumping for those twin hobbyhorses of the post-nationalist Left: the U.N. and the International Criminal Court. It goes nearly without saying that the group disclaims an official party affiliation. It does, however, avdocate “support of political candidates who share our values.” And just which candidates might those be? Well, according to the U.N.-unfriendly group Move America Forward, during the 2004 congressional elections, over 95 percent of the 140 candidates supported by CGS were Democrats. It follows that CGS would attempt to cast the President’s nomination of Bolton as a sop to the fearsome “far right.” Indeed, according to CGS president Charles Brown, Bush “has decided to pander to extremists on the far right rather than work cooperatively with internationalists from across the political spectrum.”

Of course, CGS is not the only left-wing voice urging against Bolton’s confirmation. A personal favorite is Jon Dean, the former senior arms control negotiator in the Carter administration. Dean is one of the 62 former officials who has penned a letter declaring against Bolton. (Not to worry: there are 64 diplomats arrayed in favor of the Bolton nomination. Take that, Left Wing Conspiracy! ) What has Dean all bent out of shape is his belief that “John Bolton has advertised himself as an unadulterated nationalist and opponent of multilateralism.”

In sum: Bolton has been willing to sacrifice the airy pieties of “multilateralism” in order to champion American interests. Really, if I didn’t know better, I’d say Dean was pulling for Bolton to land the job.