"The Best Man for the Job"

That's the title of an op-ed today by former secretary of state James Baker and former attorney general Ed Meese. They are rising in defense of John Bolton, President Bush's nominee to be the next US ambassador to the UN. Democrats are trying to block the nomination on the grounds that Bolton is a chronic abuser of subordinates, and lacks suitable "diplomatic temperment." Both Baker and Meese have worked with John Bolton in the past. Their conclusion:

At a time when all sides acknowledge that fundamental reform is needed at the United Nations lest it see its moral stature diminished and its possibilities squandered, we need our permanent representative to be a person of political vision, intellectual power and personal integrity. John Bolton is just that person.