UNITED STATES—If there are people who remember where they were with near apocalyptic dread when they heard the announcement that Trump had appointed John Bolton as the U.S. National Security Advisor, it would be understandable. So much of what he advocated seemed to run counter to security. Examining his history and his stance on so many issues, it would have been reasonable to feel anything but secure with him at the helm of our national security.
Bolton made unsubstantiated claims in the seventies that Cuba had a nascent biological warfare research and development effort just one week before President Carter was to meet with Fidel Castro with the intention of building bridges.
He spoke of the need for regime change in Syria, Libya and Iran. Does the phrase “endless wars” make you nervous? Were you on his side when he called for terminating the Iran nuclear deal, especially since we know that this untrustworthy country was nevertheless actually adhering to the deal and now that we have removed ourselves, Iran has vowed to restart their nuclear program?
Bolton derailed a 2001 biological weapons conference in Geneva, arguing that we would then have to also allow spot inspections of our own weapons sites. Perhaps even a watered down version could have been better than nothing, but we don’t have the luxury of knowing that.
Bolton’s former co-workers accused him of withholding information from Secretary of State Colin Powell and from Condoleezza Rice if it ran counter to his goals. Does this sound like he was putting country first?
This man has been consistently hawkish. Those of us who felt sucker-punched with Trump basically installing him as chief defender of our republic never believed he was measured enough to refrain from hardline stances. Worse, he couldn’t really explain what he would do about the unintended consequences of his positions.
That is why it is with gob smacked astonishment that this guy could be the John Dean of our times. Who would have ever imagined that he may be the only one to keep our constitution intact and relevant in times when all three branches of our government seem to provide no safe haven for justice.
Margaret Mead once said that we should never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has. Regrettably, that small group of thoughtful, committed citizens is nowhere to be found on the floor of the United States senate.
So now we are down to our last best hope, spoken by Ingrid Newkirk when she said that we should never doubt that one person can make a difference.
John Bolton, we are down to that one person. And your time is now.
