Steve Clemons on Bolton

In a short piece in his TWN blog, Clemons nails the importance of Boltons nomination both for the Boy King and for the rest of us.

On the subject of loyalty, Hannah Arendt once wrote:

Total loyalty is possible only when fidelity is emptied of all concrete content, from which changes of mind might naturally arise.

John Bolton's blind loyalty in the past and present to Jesse Helms, Dick Cheney, and to George Bush's successful presidential race in the year 2000 was the type of total loyalty, devoid of content, that now makes it difficult for the White House to cut loose from his troubled campaign to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

If the White House, and particularly Dick Cheney, drop Bolton too easily, other zealots counting on total support from the White House will have to recalculate their affections. The White House does not really care much about the U.N. as an institution, but they do care about sending signals to their most loyal followers that the Bush-Cheney machine won't totally stand behind their people.

Like the other mafia, the Bush cabal runs on a simple rule: above all, obey. They cannot walk away from Bolton without endangering that. It is why there are no small battles with these folks, no compromise for the bigger picture. And it is why the Bolton nomination provides a real opportunity to slow down their juggernaut.