Your Sunday Bolton Fix

The LA Times' Sonni Efron offers up a comprehensive review of John Bolton's career and the battle over his confirmation to be UN Ambassador, headlining him as "a tough guy with a cause." Over the past four years at State, Efron says, Bolton "had a succession of ideological and personal clashes with subordinates, colleagues and superiors", some of which have spilled out into the open during the nomination process.

The private rifts within the Powell State Department got so bad at times, Efron says, that one former official "said that he was specifically assigned to 'mind' Bolton and report back if the undersecretary's activities were creating problems." Efron calls clashes between Bolton and other officials "are unsurprising given Bolton's assertive style and the political chasm between the hard-line Republicans with whom Bolton was allied and the moderate Republicans at the helm of the State Department."

Over at the New York Times, Scott Shane also profiles Bolton, in "Never Shy, Bolton Brings a Zeal to the Table". Highlighting his unwillingness to shy away from a fight, Shane writes "the drive and ideological certainty that admirers believe make Mr. Bolton effective strike his critics as excessive."

Efron quotes "Senate sources" as saying their bosses have been assured by Secretary of State Rice that Bolton will be "strictly scripted" if his confirmation is approved. "We think we can control him," Rice has told one senator. "If he strays from the reservation, he's out."

My question is, why take the chance?