The Republican National Committee recently conducted an?online straw poll?identifying 32 candidates who could get its nomination in the 2016 presidential race. Each of the 32 has quite a questionable history, though, that contrasts with the GOP’s consistent claim of it being the ?moral? option for voters.
Philander, racism, thievery, bribery, and combinations of these and other?sins?are?found across the slate, in fact.?In this series on the 32 potential candidates (updated every other day), Liberal America will offer a quick rundown on the hypocrisy clouding each one’s ?holier than thou? claims.
John Bolton
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations?
Appointed ambassador by Pres. Bush during a congressional recess, John Bolton resigned 16 months later in Dec. 2006 when the appointment period was about to expire, and before Congress would have had to approve his reappointment. Good thing he didn’t go back, too ? he’d already been cited by the UN for ?unacceptable violations.?
Even worse, Bolton is credited for allegedly creating the ?Iraq has yellowcake? claim ? the basis the Bush Administration used to justify its desire to attack Iraq ? using documents that were later found to have been forged. He also blocked then-Secs. of State Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice from receiving information about Iraq.
After leaving the ambassadorship, Bolton told PBS that the UN’s International Criminal Court was ?a threat to American security interests.? Why? Because it could pursue charges against Bush Administration officials for the inhumane crimes they committed in Iraq. (Even FOX News? Megyn Kelly called Bolton out on his flip-flop, blame-the-other-side-for-your-error tactic in a recent broadcast.)
In 2008 he escaped an attempted citizen’s arrest in Wales. In 2013 Bolton was revealed to be a senior member of the Groundswell Group, a secretive organization of right-wing activists that has promoted scandal rumors against the Obama Administration (including Benghazi and Operation Fast and Furious), as well as pushed voter ID laws.
Today, Bolton is a commentator on ? you guessed it ? Fox News, where he recently blamed Pres. Obama for current circumstances in the Middle East. Obama shouldn’t have removed U.S. troops from Iraq, Bolton said, apparently hoping no one will remember that Pres. Bush signed a treaty in 2008 requiring troop withdrawal by Dec. 31, 2011.
Visit Liberal America for future updates on?the other?GOP 2016 hopefuls.
What’s your take on these?hypocritical Republicans? State your case on?Liberal America’s Facebook?page.
See previous posts on GOP 2016 hopefuls:
