As someone who has designed and led numerous corporate training programs I understand the effectiveness of demonstrating a point instead of merely telling someone about that point.
With that in mind, I offer Democrats a simple way to demonstrate to their Republican colleagues what a butthole John Bolton is and how his buttholular methods of communication get in the way of achieving objectives.
By now, you've probably read about this recent incident at the U.N. from today's NYTimes:
Six ambassadors separately offered similar accounts of an incident in June that they said captured the situation. All were from nations in Europe, the Pacific and Latin America that consider themselves close allies of the United States, and they asked to speak anonymously in commenting on a fellow envoy.
Mr. Bolton that day burst into a packed committee hall, produced a cordless microphone and began to lecture envoys from developing nations about their weakening of a proposal to tighten management of the United Nations, his chief goal. Gaveled to silence, he threw up his hands and said, "Well, so much for trying something different."
It was not merely rude, the ambassadors said. One recalled that moments later, his BlackBerry flashed a message from another envoy working on management change. "He just busted us apart," it read.
Lest we be unfair to Mr. Bolton, here's his appraisal of why behaving in such a manner at the United Nations is a good thing:
In particular, he said, in the June episode, he had been simply trying to provoke honest debate.
"I said to myself, maybe there's a way to do something a little unusual here," he said. "I know it didn't work, but I think that's part of what we have to do to shake things up here, to try to do something a little different, a little creative, to try to talk back and forth and engage in a colloquy as if we were on the floor of a parliament."
Norm Coleman, the U.N.-hating senator from Minnesota approves of Bolton's actions:
"What John offers is what the U.S. needs at the U.N. today," he said in an interview. "John is the right kind of change agent in a universe that is resistant to change. In order to get reform done, you're going to have to push, you have to be assertive."
Here's a simple way for a Democrat with guts to drive the point home. During the fresh Bolton confirmation hearings toward which Republicans are now maneuvering, a Democrat should rush into the packed Senate Foreign Relations committee hearing room with a cordless mike, lecture the assembled committee members, resist being gaveled down by committee chair Richard Lugar, and finally end the demonstration by throwing up his hands and stating simply, "Well so much for trying something different."
Perhaps committee Republicans will find this demonstration a refreshingly creative way to provoke an honest debate in the U.S. Senate, another institution famous for being "resistant to change." Or perhaps they will find the interloper to be rude, obnoxious, inconsiderate and, well, a total butthole. I can't wait to hear what Norm Coleman thinks.