BREAKING: Bush names Swift Boat funder as ambassador (FOX)

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/04/breaking-bush-names-swift-boat-funder-as-ambassador/

BREAKING: Bush names Swift Boat funder as ambassador.

AP reports:

“President Bush named Republican fundraiser Sam Fox as U.S. ambassador to Belgium on Wednesday, using a maneuver that allowed him to bypass Congress where Democrats had derailed Fox’s nomination. …

Recognizing Fox did not have the votes to obtain Senate confirmation, Bush withdrew the nomination last month. On Wednesday, with Congress out of town for a spring break, the president used his power to make recess appointments to put Fox in the job without Senate confirmation.

This means Fox can remain ambassador until the end of the next session of Congress, effectively through the end of the Bush presidency.”

Should have seen that coming I guess. What a bastard he is.

this isn't the end of it.

So, the one thing this man will have suffered was to have sit knowing he did wrong before his children and grandchildren while being called on it. I hope that at least one grandkid learned something in all his/her hours in Hebrew school and asked him why he did this.

This really stinks and I hope that he will find the Belgians treat him with contempt personally.

The Johnkerry.com web site has the audio of an interview done with a St Louis station where he spoke of this. Kerry said that other colleagues did not even want him to get a hearing - it sounds like all Kerry himself was asking was that the guy take personal responsibility for what he did. He failed to do that.

Compared to all the far bigger inhuman things the Bush administration did, this is minor - but it really hurts. The only saving grace is that Bush knew that enough Senators would vote against him he couldn't win confirmation. A bad thing is it signals the right that there is nothing such as going too far.

http://dodd.senate.gov/index.php?q=node/3820

Statement of Senator Dodd on the President's Recess Appointment of Sam Fox
April 4, 2007

“It is outrageous that the President has sought to stealthily appoint Sam Fox to the position of ambassador to Belgium when the President formally requested that the Fox nomination be withdrawn from the Senate because it was facing certain defeat in the Foreign Relations Committee last week. I seriously question the legality of the President's use of the recess appointment authority in this instance. I intend to seek an opinion on the legality of this appointment from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and invite other Senators to join with me in that request. This is underhanded and an abuse of Executive authority -- sadly this behavior has become the hallmark of this administration.”

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3198122&mesg_id=3198122

How does it differ from Bolton though?

org SBVT. He has been completely exposed as the lying, indecent, petty scumbag he is -- a draft dodger who went AWOL during Vietnam, having no problem whatsoever in trashing someone who DID go. All American troops in the theater of war should TAKE NOTICE -- you express an opinion Republicans don't like, and prepare for the politics of personal destruction. NO SCRUPLES WHATSOEVER.

This still doesn't change the fact that the Dems in the Senate backed up their colleague. As bad as this development is, I still take the consolation that Dems were good on this.

This crew is the scum of the earth. Family values? All I can say is, I didn't raise MY son this way. .
And, yes, I"m glad the Dems backed up JK for once on this.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/4/155054/9653

This is outrageous. We need to call the WH NOW!

202-456-1414

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/04/breaking-bush-names-swift-boat-funder-as-ambassador/

works.

usually does).

I hope the mother F*cker rots in hell. This just proves how he stood by those mother fucking slime boaters.

To Senator Kerry and all his brothers, you stand so tall next to this worthless, cowardly, AWOL, lying, scumbag.

Whether watching the interviews with Teresa, where they are just so committed, informed, engaged and caring or seeing photos of the Senator at funerals or with soldiers - this is a person whose emotions are real and appropriae.

Bush more and more seems inappropriately angry or worse laughs when that is inappropriate. He is almost inhuman at times.

http://bobgeiger.blogspot.com/2007/04/bush-to-recess-appoint-swift-boat.html

Markos has frontpaged it, too:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/4/173112/6276

"Imperial presidency"

From Liberal Values--see original post for links:

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=1348

George Bush still does not get the fact that this is a democracy and that there are other co-equal branches of government. The Founding Fathers believed that major Presidential appointments should be done with the advice and consent of the Senate. The voters felt that the President was not exercising his responsibilities in a competent or honest manner and voted to place further checks on him by electing a Congress of the opposing party. The White House realized there were not enough votes to confirm Sam Fox as Ambassador to Belgium following Fox’s actions to undermine the democratic process in this country by contributing to the Swift Boat Liars, who were responsible for the most dishonest smear campaign in recent history.

None of this matters in Bush World. Buried towards the bottom of a White House Personnel Announcement is this line: ” Sam Fox, of Missouri, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Belgium.” Bob Geiger has posted the responses of John Kerry and Chris Dodd:

“It’s sad but not surprising that this White House would abuse the power of the presidency to reward a donor over the objections of the Senate,” said Kerry, in a statement. “This nomination was withdrawn because the Administration realized it would lose in the Foreign Relations Committee. Unfortunately, when this White House can’t win the game, they just change the rules, and America loses.”

“Our country would be stronger if this Administration spent more time getting body armor for our soldiers in Iraq than it did helping their powerful friends.”

Also reacting with outrage, is Chris Dodd (D-CT), who was the first Senator to publicly state his strong opposition to the Fox nomination.

“It is outrageous that the President has sought to stealthily appoint Sam Fox to the position of ambassador to Belgium when the President formally requested that the Fox nomination be withdrawn from the Senate because it was facing certain defeat in the Foreign Relations Committee last week,” said Dodd. “I seriously question the legality of the President’s use of the recess appointment authority in this instance. I intend to seek an opinion on the legality of this appointment from the General Accountability Office and invite other Senators to join with me in that request.”

The remainder of Bush’s term is going to see many political battles. Actions such as this on the part of George Bush act to demonstrate that any checks placed on the White House by the Democratic Congress are justified and necessary.

Ratf*ckers! :grr: :mad: :banghead: :puke:

Unbelievable.

Friggin bastids.

Or, the Bush Admin is reduced to making appointments by Royal Decree because they can't get their slimeball nominees through the normal way. All depends on how you see it.

This is what happens when the Dems get tough and start pushing back on the crappy appointments Bush sends over. The Dems hung together on this and did what they could do to drop this nom in the Senate. They did their part. The Little Boy King just did his.

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/swift-boat-donor-installed-as-ambassador/20070404172309990001

To my knowledge there is no liberal concerted effort to affect the poll, so I found the poll encouraging that AOL users are majorly turned off by this.

Headline on front page: "Swift Boater" gets new berth

I started swearing like a sailor! It's more outrageous than say the Bolton appointment. It is PURE SPITE! Disgusting! Anyway, in case you did not already see this, here is Dodd's petition you can sign on http://chrisdodd.com/opposefox. As others have already mentioned, I like Dodd more and more, how can we get him some millions :-)? On an unrelated note, in addition to the earlier mentioned swearing, I also did some unbecoming snickering yesterday in the car when hearing the news about Obama's fund raising prowess, and thinking of how certain people probably feel about it.

was that many of Kerry's fund raisers went to Obama.

*shakes head*

For all the Little Boy King's failings, he's remarkably effective at getting what he wants.

I don't believe he's stupid at all. It's all a facade. He knows all the tricks, all the loopholes to get what he wants... and he knows how to change the rules.

What's the best way to deal with somebody who won't take no for an answer? (Besides impeachment, of course.)