John LeBoutillier
Thursday, July 28, 2005

Why?

Because he is very smart, very conservative - without angering the Left - and shies away from controversy.

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Clearly, these days 'controversy' - saying non-PC things - is trouble. Yes, it is good for selling books - witness the tremendous success of Ed Klein's "The Truth About Hillary." But 'controversy' in bland D.C. raises hackles and gets the wolves to circle the prey.

If Hillary is voting for him, then you know he will have no trouble. Even Charles Schumer indicates he might vote for him.

Clearly, the Left has collapsed on this fight.

Judge Roberts, who, it turns out, was in my Harvard class of 1976 (I did not know him), is a very hard-working and centered man. Yes, he is a bit 'low profile,' but do we want judges who make news in order to get attention? Or do we want smart judges who make smart judgments?

2. John Bolton, on the other hand, is the antithesis of John Roberts. 'Controversy' is to John Bolton as white is to rice!

He was too pushy, too strong, too opinionated to get through the U.S. Senate.

So, instead, on Friday evening - as soon as the Senate goes into its August recess - the president will make a recess appointment, which means Bolton will be our ambassador the U.N. through 2006 (the expiration of this Congress).

This is a net loss for the Bush administration. They couldn't get their own man through a GOP-controlled Senate - after the president was handily re-elected.

And the Bolton troubles have much to do with the Roberts selection. Team Bush couldn't afford another long, drawn-out failure in the Senate; these inside-the-beltway troubles distract from the Second Term Agenda.

And the Democrats have become em-Boltoned by their ability to filibuster the Bolton nomination to death.

But John Roberts hasn't given them any ammo with which to ratchet up the passion level of the Left against him.

3. Social Security reform has become a bust of a Second Term centerpiece. A total failure. Yes, the Social Security program down the line needs fixing. But not today; and not instead of dealing with the flood of illegals into our country, the exploding cost of health care premiums and gas at the pump.

No wonder the poll ratings for the president are way down. The Congress, too. The American people see D.C. as totally out of touch with their day-to-day concerns.

4. Iraq and Iran: as predicted in this space almost three years ago, the very alliance we dreaded from 1979 to 1990 is now becoming a reality.

Iran's under-the-radar influence in the new Iraqi government was evidenced last week when the Iraqi prime minister - who spent ten years in exile in Tehran - journeyed to Ayatollah Khomeini's grave site and placed a wreath of flowers there.

This symbolism should worry us very much.

If these two nations join together in a loose Shi'ite Muslim extremist alliance controlling 40 percent of the world's oil reserves and on the verge of manufacturing weapons-grade plutonium, then we will have helped create a situation much worse than anything Saddam could have ever conjured up.

Also, early indications of the soon-to-be-completed new Iraqi constitution are that women will again be forced to take a backseat in many ways. This is not what we were originally told would happen.

Should American troops and American money be helping to create a second-class situation for Iraqi women?

5. 2008: Hillary is the likely Democratic nominee. There will be one other Democrat around whom the anti-Hillaryites will rally. Who will that be? Governor Warner of Virginia? Senator Bayh of Indiana? Governor Vilsak of Iowa? Governor Richardson of New Mexico?

There are a number of 'smart' Democrats - especially on the West Coast - who don't want Hillary and believe she will lose in November 2008. David Geffen, the billionaire, is outspoken about this belief.

Yes, Hillary is the odds-on favorite to win the nomination.

But front-runners often stumble.

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