DownWithTyranny!: Stop John Bolton (Again)!

John Bolton, the man who makes your garden variety neo-conservative look like Dennis Kucinich, is attempting a political comeback.

As you'll recall, Bolton is the guy who said it wouldn't be a big deal if we lopped off ten stories of the U.N. Secretariat building in New York City. So, of course, President Bush nominated him to be U.N. Ambassador. His confirmation hearings didn't go so well:

In 2005 Time Magazine took a stab out of explaining who Bolton is and why Bush nominated him to represent our country in the UN.

In the seven weeks since Bush named him, Bolton has been getting reacquainted with some of those people he offended during a 24-year career in the Federal Government. They are, among others, the two intelligence analysts who claim that as a senior State Department official during Bush's first term, Bolton tried to have them fired or reassigned when they disagreed with him; the foreign-aid worker who says Bolton, then a private attorney, chased her down a Moscow hotel hallway in 1994 in an effort to intimidate her; and the former U.S. ambassador to South Korea who complained that Bolton had misled the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by suggesting that the ambassador had approved an incendiary speech Bolton made about North Korea in 2003.

...Bolton's pattern of intimidation, they claim, was also aimed at distorting vital intelligence. Government sources tell Time that during President Bush's first term, Bolton frequently tried to push the CIA to produce information to conform to--and confirm-- his views.

So Bush nominated him as a recess appointment and he was forced to resign when that expired, unable to garner support even from many Republicans.

But apparently, Bolton isn't satisfied with appearing on Sean Hannity's show and calling on the United State to bomb Iran. He wants to be a Republican power broker.

He's much too toxic, however, to be associated with almost any candidate for Congress-- far more of a detriment than even Sarah Palin, although I won't be surprised to see him campaigning for some of the real lunatic fringe candidates like Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, Ken Buck, maybe even an incumbent or two like Michele Bachmann or Paul Broun. But he's starting small, hosting a fundraiser in DC on July 28th for Maryland State Delegate Ron George.

George and Bolton appear to be ideological soul mates. George has co-sponsored a resolution stating that global warming is a conspiracy, called on the Attorney General of Maryland to be impeached for recognizing out-of-state same sex marriages, supports teaching intelligent design in public high schools.

George is also running against Judd Legum, a strong progressive who founded ThinkProgress at the Center for American Progress. (Is it a coincidence that ThinkProgress has dogged Bolton for years?) Judd, a native of Maryland, is running a strong campaign and has a real shot at knocking off George. Last year he did a live blogging session with us about the race at Crooks and Liars, still worth taking a look at to learn more about Judd and more about this race.

We need to send a message to Bolton and the Republicans that there are still far more Americans who believe that John Bolton is unacceptably outside of the mainstream than the right-wing nuts that Bolton can round up in DC. The contrast between Ron George and Judd Legum couldn't be clearer. While George obsesses over his ugly and disturbing anti-gay mania, Judd's agenda is all clean, clean, clean:

Clean government: He's not accepting money from Maryland lobbyists or corporate PACs.

Clean Bay: The 25-year, multi-billion dollar effort to restore the Bay has been a failure. "If we don't act quickly," said Judd, "the Bay will soon pass the point of no return. This means standing up to powerful special interests such as agribusiness, which remains the number one source of pollution in the Bay. This is more than an environmental issue, it's an economic issue. Much of Maryland's economy is dependent upon the health of the Bay."

Clean Energy: Judd has been telling voters that the state faces an energy crisis. "Absent policy changes the state will face rolling blackouts starting in 2011. Marylanders have also seen their energy bills skyrocket. We need to move aggressively on three fronts: 1) energy efficiency programs, which can reduce the need for new generation and reduce costs for consumers, 2) investment in transmission which will allow more power to flow into the state at reduced costs. 3) new sources of clean energy including wind, solar and biofuels."