Daily Kos

My letter to Chuck Hagel re: Bolton

by Red State Refugee

Sat May 14, 2005 at 01:30:56 PM PDT

I thought I would share this letter I just sent to Senator Hagel regarding his support of the Bolton nomination. I used his web site form, and had to trim it quite bit to fit into the 2000 character limit, but perhaps it's better for the editing.


Dear Senator Hagel:

As a constituent of yours from Omaha, Nebraska, I am writing to ask you to oppose the full senate confirmation of John Bolton as UN Ambassador. I recently watched the hearings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. As did other Republican senators, you argued that President Bush deserved to have his nominations confirmed in order to successfully carry out his agenda. You also strenuously maintained that your vote was in no way political.  If that is honestly the case, then you are free to reconsider your position, and I am asking you to do so. Please vote "No" on Mr. Bolton.

John Dean's Take on Bush's Political Capital

by Red State Refugee

Sat Nov 27, 2004 at 10:16:38 AM PDT

I haven't seen this referenced on dKos before, so here's a story from John Dean in Findlaw (found on Truthout) on whether Bush actually has the political capital he claims.  

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/112704L.shtml

Here are the topics he covers


  • A look at the historical record suggests the answer is no.
  • Bush's Nonexistent Mandate
  • Bush's Showing is Especially Weak Given the Advantage of Incumbency
  • Bush's Thin Political Capital in the Congress
  • Controlling Senate Filibusters in Confirmation Proceedings
  • The Liabilities that Will Predictably Sap Bush's Capital

Dean ends with the following:
This presidency does not - all claims to the contrary - have a strong political balance sheet. Bush had best spend cautiously the little capital he possesses.

Reading this story helped me to feel much better that Bush can't just have his way with the entire country as he essentially boasted within a day or two of Nov. 2.

As Jon Stewart would say -- Bush's political capital?  Maybe not so much.


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