An Answer for a Senator

According to this story from CNN, Senator Barbara Boxer from California (my state!) is asking for a delay on John Bolton's confirmation vote for the ambassadorship to the UN. She wants to wait on the vote until the White House turns over some pertinent information on Bolton's career.

Bolton, if he's not simply a walking disaster, is at any rate the opposite of a diplomat, who has gone so far as to say that the United Nations doesn't exist. He made additional statements which carry the clear implication that the UN is there to do what the United States tells it to do.

Senator Boxer's request for more time drew this question from Richard Lugar, the Republican from Indiana who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee:

Where does legitimate due diligence turn into partisanship?...Where does the desire for the truth turn into a competition over who wins and who loses?

Here's an answer for Senator Lugar: Legitimate due diligence turns into partisanship no earlier than the moment that all legitimate questions have been satisfactorily answered. The desire for the truth turns into a competition over who wins and who loses no earlier than the moment that all the pertinent facts are in. In the case of John Bolton, legitimate questions remain unanswered and certain pertinent facts rest somewhere in the White House instead of in the Senate chamber where they belong. Therefore, the inquiry into Mr. Bolton's qualifications for the ambassadorship remains legitimate due diligence and a desire for the truth. Clear?

Benshlomo says, Sometimes you need to smack these morons in the face.