How stupid is John Bolton?

Reuters is running with a story this morning on John Bolton's latest comments to Der Spiegel:

Bolton described the report, released Monday, as a "quasi-putsch" by the intelligence agencies, Der Spiegel said.

The Administration has been engaged in a concerted effort to insist that the NIE changes nothing, and that their Iran policy will continue unchanged.  See, for example, Bush's press conference on Tuesday, Rice's meeting with EU and NATO officials on Thursday, and Hadley's foaming at the mouth when interviewed by Renee Montagne on NPR (listen through to the end -- the best part is when she cuts him off), also on Thursday.

You can take all that and just throw it out the window.  Bolton has just now confessed the administration's position on Iran is purely political.

Heckuva job, Johnnie...

•  Tip jar

  for a stick in JB's eye...

  by litho on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 06:17:05 AM PDT

•  Nobody knows putsches

  like John Bolton.

  by Kevvboy on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 06:17:15 AM PDT

•  How deep is the ocean?

  How bright is the sun?

  by protectedmode on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 06:33:21 AM PDT

  •  Beat me.

    by irate on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 06:34:22 AM PDT

•  How deep is the ocean?

  We aren't discussing just wading pool level stupidity we're talking Marianas trench level stupidity. http://www.aei.org/...
  as well as just plain dishonesty.

  Rarely has a document from the supposedly hidden world of intelligence had such an impact as the National Intelligence Estimate released this week. Rarely has an administration been so unprepared for such an event

       It is common knowledge that the administration knew the information contained in the NIE months if not years in advance and did all they could to suppress it.

  by irate on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 06:33:35 AM PDT

•  There's a difference between someone

  being merely stupid and someone being willfully ignorant.

  Bolton is the latter.

  by aggieric on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 06:44:08 AM PDT

  •  Disagree aggieric...

    I think Bolton is intellectually challenged- at best, marginally smart and crafty.

    by cas2 on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 06:46:18 AM PDT

    •  You BOTH have missed the boat.

      Bolton is an evil, evil, mean-spirited fucking bastard of a human being. That's why he is a Republican.

      The "NIE is a putch" thing is the latest neocon meme and all those shitheads are parroting it.

      It's what they do: create a propaganda talking point, go to the media and repeat them over and over like an echoplex (an old analog guitar echo pedal).

      You saw it most clearly with the WMD thing.

      If these nazis wanted you to wear pink capri pants, they'd be all over th media talking about how cool pink capri pants are on men.

      And we'd know the kool-aid drinkers from afar.

      by xxdr zombiexx on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 07:00:02 AM PDT

      •  Well state zombiexx, however...

        Among the neo-cons, Bolton stands out as just dumb.  Most of them I credit with being  intelligent. Bolton is at the bottom of the rotten apple barrel in terms of smarts; in fact, if Bush hadn't adopted him, I doubt anyone would know who he is.  Come to think of it, in that neo con group, has Bolton ever held any prominent position?  Does he get cited as an expert on anything in the media?  Does he edit any journal? Hold any academic posts?  ...maybe he does; I haven't done a search on him but, from what I know now, he's a real dumbshit over his head with the "evil, mean spirited, fucking bastards" to whom you refer.  

        by cas2 on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 09:13:47 AM PDT

•  Neo-Cons use Nazi lexicon liberally

  Funny how those neo-CONs keep using words like Putsch and appeasement like that toad Newt did on TWWGS.

  by Dirk McQuigley on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 07:33:39 AM PDT

•  oh and he was on NPR!

  i'm through with NPR. between their fluff stories, and then trotting out Bolton as the ONLY voice on what the NIE means - and letting him get away with passing his bully opinion of as some sort of FACT, and bolstering that by referring to him as Ambassador.....

  apalling!

  by swissffun on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 07:36:16 AM PDT

  •  I heard Hadley on NPR

    don't know if they interviewed Bolton.

    by litho on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 08:47:43 AM PDT

    •  Oh, they did...

      ...unchallenged -- letting him spin his rubbish.
      I wanted to hear the interviewer's use of the word "ambassador" as irony, but having his blather stand as the sole authoritative voice did not allow me to do that -- total waste of airtime.

      by MT Spaces on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 09:09:56 AM PDT

    •  all things considered yesterday

      by swissffun on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 09:13:06 AM PDT

•  Why is Reuters and other outlets still giving

  this piece of crap a forum and platform to disseminate his propaganda? Apparently, there's enough neocon infiltration in our media to allow this traitorous idiot to continue to spew his venomous rhetoric.

  Were he to choke on a chicken bone, he'd get no Heimlich from me! Oh, if only....

  by Hornito on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 08:02:02 AM PDT

•  How stupid is Bolton???

  Less than Cheney and as stupid as Bush but not nearly as stupid as the people who support him...if such people exist.

  by Robinswing on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 08:02:23 AM PDT

•  How stupid is John Bolton?

  If I were to list the myriad evidence of Bolton's stupidity, my fingers would probably fall off. The biggest problem with John Bolton is not so much his stupidity, but the fact that his stupidity is combined with a truly evil sense of self-importance.

  by LynneK on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 08:36:47 AM PDT

•  Bolton got it right, I think.

  The intelligence agencies deliberately went public with the info to undermine Bush's public rationale for war.

  That's taking power away from the Chief Executive and putting it in the hands of staff, essentially.

  "Putsch" might be a little strong, but you get the idea.

  From a constitutional perspective, it's very troubling, even if you are grateful for the result.

  by YellowDogBlue on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 09:35:27 AM PDT

  •  So, now it is troubling

    ... if experts speak their opinion? In public?? Shocking, shocking. What has the world come to?

    by RWeede on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 10:13:06 AM PDT

  •  Oh, I don't doubt Bolton got it right

    my point is that he said it publicly, in one interview undermining the entire spin the administration has been working hard on all week.

    The guy is an anti-diplomat, which of course we've known all along.

    by litho on Sun Dec 09, 2007 at 12:20:32 PM PDT