Final Bolton Note

Steve Clemons, who campaigned for Bolton's removal, gets to the crux of the matter regarding why it was necessary for Bolton to go:

I do wish Ambassador Bolton and his family well. He is a brilliant person who cloaked his designs in a style of pugnaciousness and occasional bullying that served his ends -- though I think not as often the country's.

My problem with Ambassador Bolton was never his cosmetic behavior, it was the content of his views and policy objectives, and the numerous times in which he undermined or sabotaged fragile diplomatic efforts underway and conducted by his colleagues and direct superiors.

John Bolton, in my view, saw a significant portion of his job as not to achieve success at the United Nations but rather to set the UN up for failure.

That's it exactly, he was there to ensure that the UN failed as often as possible. As long as the Bush administration nominates UN ambassadors who despise international bodies, the Congress will rightly resist.