My Yankee friend gives her opinion on GOP --the self-proclaimed party of moral purpose -- bullying on Bolton.

Excerpts from:

GOP bullying on Bolton

By Joan Vennochi
The Boston Globe
April 22, 2005

What kind of moral value is this? Faced with a Republican with a conscience, President Bush attributes GOP concern over the nomination of John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations to partisan bickering.

‘‘Sometimes politics gets in the way of doing the people’s business,’’ Bush said yesterday . . . . He urged senators to ‘‘put aside politics’’ and confirm Bolton.

That is an overt presidential mischaracterization of what is happening to his nominee, a mischaracterization that a morals class might even consider a falsehood. Democrats surely can be accused of partisanship in trying to block Bolton’s nomination. But how does that charge apply to Republicans who are feeling queasy about the nominee and want more information from him?

"My conscience got me,’’ said Republican Senator George V. Voinovich of Ohio, explaining on Tuesday why he changed his mind about supporting Bolton as UN ambassador. ‘‘I wanted more information about this individual and I didn’t feel comfortable voting for him.’’

As a result, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was forced to postpone a vote on Bolton’s nomination.

Since then, other Republicans are wavering as well. Senator Lincoln Chafee, a Rhode Island Republican, who earlier was inclined to support Bolton, said he wanted to consult with colleagues. And Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, is also expressing concern about some of the accusations against Bolton. ‘‘I think these charges are serious enough to demand they cry out for further explanation,’’ he said.

The pressure is now on Republicans on the Foreign Relations Committee. Will they fold in the face of the onslaught from Bolton’s supporters, or do the right thing and ask Bolton to come back and address the charges?

[If Bolton is asked to come back, the Republicans] know that Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, is correct in assessing the potential for the nominee to die a ‘‘death of a thousand cuts.’’

But how does the GOP, the self-proclaimed party of moral purpose, overlook a Republican senator’s freely expressed conscience? Democrats did not beat that out of Voinovich; they did not pound at his door, shout threats, chase him down hallways, or throw things at him. They merely presented information that gave him and other Republicans pause, making them desire more information from the nominee.

That is not stopping the people’s business, as Bush charges.That is that is doing the people’s business, as high a moral purpose as there is in Washington.