BOLTON VOTE DEBATE BEGINS TODAY

Caught the tail end of Bill "Gambling-Is-Not-A-Vice-Since-I-Can-Afford-It" Bennett's Morning In America radio show this morning. Bill quoted his own political axiom: "The ony thing I know about Washington is that you're either on the offense or the defense" and then urged Rethugs to get back on the offense.

Good advice for Dems, too. The Bolton nomination goes up for a vote, and as the Houston Chronicle headlines, "Despite loud opposition," he is likely to be confirmed.

The International Herald Tribune quotes Sir Harold Walker, a retired British Foreign Service officer who has held a number of ambassadorships, responding to the Bolton nomination: "Bush's loudly declared policy, that diplomacy is irrelevant and that an exertion of raw military power can achieve things, has permeated the U.S. administration in a way that it never has before. Bolton embodies this belief, and his nomination would suggest that the Bush administration is going to continue in this direction."

Would that more Democrats would have the courage of Republican Senator George Voinovich, who sent a letter to every one of his Senate colleagues saying Bolton is "the poster child of what someone in the diplomatic corps should not be."

California Senator Barbara Boxer (D) has been an outspoken critic of Bolton and a leader in delaying the debate. "Time works against Bolton because he's so outrageous," Boxer said. "He is a walking symbol of this administration's abuse of power and the longer it hangs out there, the more the American people can focus on it."