And more presents for C

First Rumsfeld, now it looks like John Bolton, the US Ambassador to the UN, will be the next head on the chopping block. Bush has been trying to get Bolton, a close family friend (of course) confirmed in the position for almost two years, but has been blocked by a Republican Senate. Word on the street is that now that the Democrats are taking over Bolton hasn't got a hope in hell.

Bolton has been anti-UN for years and rather vocal about it. Two of my favourite quotes are:

The [U.N.] Secretariat building in New York has 38 stories. If you lost 10 stories today, it wouldn't make a bit of difference.

and

There is no such thing as the United Nations. There is an international community that occasionally can be led by the only real power left in the world and that is the United States when it suits our interest and we can get others to go along.

Way to be inclusive.

Unfortunately, this is exactly the way Cheney and Bush see the world and it's a measure of just how far right they are that the majority of Republicans senators don't agree with them, on this issue at least.

Oh, and speaking of Rumsfeld, it looks like he might be facing a lawsuit as the first hurdle of his retirement. The US-based Centre for Constitutional Rights is filing charges against Rumsfeld; the Attorney-General, Alberto Gonzales; the former CIA director, George Tenet; and several other senior figures in the Bush Administration. The charges are due to be filed in a German court as they have laws that allow for the prosecution of war crimes committed anywhere in the world.

It looks like C's birthday presents might be getting better and better...