Someone shouted over the heads of seven hundred intellectual, anti-Bolton and generally anti-American Germans packed into the Adlon Hotel in Berlin in 2006 to hear US Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton. At that moment, I feared Bolton might be booed out of the room, which was one of three possible outcomes I had predicted to my seminar class on world problems at a nearby college, which class, representing 6 countries, was now scattered throughout the audience as “homework” for that week.
Bolton’s appearance that evening was perhaps at a peak of America’s unpopularity throughout Germany (especially) and much of the rest of “old Europe”, fueled initially by our own anti-Bush media, and then dutifully re-transmitted by the more prominent political commentators, most of whom were faithful to politically-correct liberal dogma, in local languages throughout Europe.
Bolton was never confirmed as UN Ambassador by the Senate. Lincoln Chafee saw to that by preventing his confirmation from coming to a vote during the summer of 2006, compelling Bush to announce his “recess appointment” of Bolton in August of that year.
Bolton was controversial on at least four counts: Firstly, he spoke out against UN corruption and the need for reforms, drawing criticism from many of the UN’s 187 members who always seem prepared to believe the worst of the US; Bolton gave them an unusually inviting target.
Secondly, decrying the membership of the UN’s Human Rights Commission, he said in April, 2006, "Membership on the Commission by some of the world's most notorious human rights abusers mocks the legitimacy of the Commission and the United Nations itself."
Thirdly, Europeans and many liberal Democrats in the US deplored his straight, undiplomatic, tough rhetoric, wringing every ounce of potential American arrogance and desire for world hegemony from his remarks.
Fourthly, what made liberals dislike this man most of all was his superb articulation of the issues and solutions … a veritable conservative demagogue that should, if possible, be stopped in his tracks.
I was reminded of all this when Bolton spoke at the Conservative Principles PAC meeting in Iowa yesterday, a run-up to conservative candidacies for the presidential election in 2012. Bolton has few peers when it comes to foreign affairs. He represents liberals worst fears: a capable spokesperson for a return to America’s unapologetic 20th century power and influence around the world. I could hear him measuring his rhetoric more carefully in Iowa, however, but still getting his points across as well as any candidate for the US presidency, of which he is now potentially one. As the Middle East is coming apart at the seams, ensuring that foreign affairs will be a larger issue in 2012 than in 2008, Bolton could be counted upon to handle the “3:00 am phone call”
Earlier that day in 2006 when he spoke in Berlin, I had asked my class to choose one of three possible outcomes for the Bolton speech: booed out of the hall (2 votes, both Germans), polite applause (5 votes, all from Eastern Europe), or a standing ovation (0 votes).
Bolton spoke for 20 minutes, and then took questions for an hour and forty minutes. As he dealt with each issue convincingly, knowledgeably, and in detail, I could sense respect for this man growing; with this group, at least, he represented America and his personal views extremely well. I don’t know how many attendees changed their opinions of the US and Bolton himself, but he did receive an ovation that was genuinely appreciative of his tour-de force, far more than just polite applause.
The next time my class met, commenting on Bolton’s performance, I noted that he had handled a difficult audience well except for the moment when someone shouted “What about humanity?”. One of the two German students in my class raised his hand and said, “That was me, Sir”.
Comment: dickshriver@wethepeopleblog.net
