I drive a GMC Sonoma truck and sometimes get a kick valet parking it at high-end receptions and dinners in DC -- but the bottom line is that I love my truck. . .or did until GMC just made an outrageous deal with Fox's Sean Hannity.

Being "a great American" is negatively correlated with the attitude, behavior, and norms of Sean Hannity.

GMC should be aware that it's attempt to appeal to the patriotism of those who use its GM Credit card, or use its financial services, or buy its automobiles and other products is deeply cynical -- and there needs to be consequences for those who see Hannity as a legitimate spokesman for this automaker's products.

-- Steve Clemons

I'm at a conference at the College of William & Mary but am also having a serious dental problem with a tooth fractured ten years ago -- and need to deal with that.

The thread is open.

But seriously, Kissinger advising Bush and Cheney on Iraq? Victory is the only exit?

Kissinger's realism has seriously withered.

Even James Baker, who is an annointed spear-carrier for both G.H.W. Bush and G.W. Bush would never make such a statement -- particularly privately as Kissinger reportedly has.

-- Steve Clemons

(Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School Dean Anne-Marie Slaughter)

More than 400 academics, policy practitioners and journalists over two and a half years have contributed to a large-scale project, the Princeton Project on National Security.

The project was co-chaired by former Secretary of State George Shultz and former National Security Advisor Anthony Lake. Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs Dean Anne-Marie Slaughter and Woodrow Wilson School Professor G. John Ikenberry co-directed the effort.

David Rubenstein of the Carlyle Group and the Ford Foundation funded it.

Yesterday evening, the New America Foundation hosted a fascinating exchange, pretty feisty in fact, at one of our popular dinner salons -- and today is the conference to punctuate release of the final report.

For those of you wandering by the Senate Dirksen building today, we will be in Dirksen Room 106 in the Senate. I will be MC'ing the entirety of the program.

Here is the schedule:

The last pre-election loophole through which John Bolton's confirmation might have snuck through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was at 2:15 this afternoon at a previously called "business meeting" of the Committee.

That meeting has been cancelled -- and with it even the dimmest chance of John Bolton being confirmed as US Ambassador to the United Nations.

Some have said that another effort could be mounted during a lame duck session of Congress, but there are several Republicans who will not feel bound by the White House in that circumstance; Dems as well -- who will vote against cloture on the floor of the Senate were it to get out of Committee then.

So, it's over. Wow.

John Bolton might agree to serve as the uncompensated Ambassador to the UN in a second recess appointment, or might agree to serve as a recess appointed political deputy at the UN and made "acting Ambassador and Chief of Mission" at a pay cut.

Either way, Ambassador Bolton will fill his term as the only unconfirmed Ambassador at the United Nations in American history.

For the record, I do believe that John Bolton has strengths as a public servant. Those who have opposed him should in fact know that he has done some good things for this country. I strongly disagree with his international views and his brand of diplomacy, but there are other jobs in the Bush administration that I would support John Bolton for.

It is time to say that. I hope that Ambassador Bolton, in the next few months, works at trying to leave a legacy that is constructive regarding America's engagement with the UN.

But this battle seems now to be definitively, completely at an end.

Wow. I'm amazed that those concerned about this appointment have really won -- twice.

-- Steve Clemons

This has been a tough week. A prominent conservative pol knocked me around a bit in some private communications and caused some real stress because of the view by his staff memer that I am a "firebrand" -- a really good one in his view. And on the left, a prominent pol went "nuts" on me in an email because of positive commentary on the blog about Lincoln Chafee, John McCain, and ironically -- Bill Frist. This individual somehow thinks that my blog has more impact than it could possibly have and that my "centrism will tilt the election back towards a corrupt cabal of Republicans."

I am going to stand strong where I am -- and will be fair-minded with edges, hopefully being a firebrand at the right times and a fair interpreter and negotiator at others.

Folks that want to carve out space in the "principled middle" or the "radical center," as I like to call it, have a tough time. The world expects such centrists to be weak, squishy compromisers between the right and left -- but they sometimes don't know what to do when one vigorously works against John Bolton's confirmation but then applauds the President and some of his key architects for emptying America's black site prisons abroad.

We need people in the middle who still have edges. I have eges on John Bolton's UN confirmation, clearly -- but I will always deal with him respectfully if we find ourselves in a room together or even in an interview (could happen someday). I will wrestle with the politics and profile of prominent presidential pretenders, highlighting what I see as their deficits and their strengths.

Last year, after Senator Lincoln Chafee failed to align his many statements of concern about John Bolton with his confirmation vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I was extremely tough on him. I thought he deserved the critique I offered, but I was also a bit over the top. Passion was running high that day.

But I am equally passionate about Chafee's show of strength of late -- and despite some readers of this blog who take serious exception to my views on the Rhode Island Senator -- I want to make clear that the Lincoln Chafee we have seen in the Senate these last few months is the kind of American senator I personally wish we had more of in BOTH parties.

AP reports today that John McCain is calling for "quick confirmation" of John Bolton.

Senator McCain seems to be doing something that I regretfully admit that I have done on some occasions. With a tail between my legs, I will admit that I too have invited people to dinner knowing they couldn't make it -- but happy to get credits in place for doing so.

It's not smart to do this often, but Senator McCain knows that even if the White House pulled off a miracle Tuesday afternoon and coughed John Bolton's confirmation out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, there's no "quick confirmation" likely.

Senator McCain's support for Bolton has been steadfast, though not deep in the view of this blogger. I like the Senator, and in encounters I have had with him over the last year, he seems to respect my opposition to Bolton.

McCain seems to have just provided some off-the-cuff commentary that having Bolton at the UN to confront the nastiness of some world leaders who fly to the UN General Assembly would be a good thing.

McCain knows that a quick confirmation for Bolton is unlikely -- but calling for it gets him some credits. I understand how this works. (sorry to my friends out there who have declined invites)

-- Steve Clemons

(photo from Crooks and Liars)

After the Clinton Global Initiative had ended and in the hours that followed, I was doing some writing and organizing of notes in the CGI press room where Fox News' Chris Wallace was also hanging around -- looking pensive, waiting for what I didn't know then was an attempted mugging of President Bill Clinton.

Fox News had secured the exclusive interview with Clinton to talk with him about how the $7.3 billion that the CGI had helped raise was going to be directed at various global problems.

Instead, Fox News was there to hit Clinton for his failure to deal effectively with bin Laden and pre-9/11 terrorism.

Watch the interview here.

Here is the full transcript.

Read the entire thing, or better yet, watch it -- but here is one of the many effective Clinton passages:

(Lincoln Chafee with former President George H.W. Bush and his late father, Senator John Chafee)

So far, there has been no sign that the Bush administration's considerable efforts to get Ambassador John Bolton confirmed are yielding any success in changing the environment currently blocking him.

But the White House has considered a shocking plan to keep the Ambassador in his position at the UN that may not involve a second recess appointment to his current position -- which would mean that he could not be compensated, may not be eligible for travel funds, may not be able to actually use government facilities for his work, and would possibly be time limited to a certain number of days that he could remain in this position, even if largely stripped of all taxpayer support.

The White House is studying appointing Bolton as one of the deputies at the United Nations, specifically the "political deputy." This position also carries the title of Ambassador, as do four other slots at the US Mission to the UN. Bolton would take a pay cut, and would then be made "Acting Ambassador" and chief of mission.

Those I have bounced this news off in the diplomatic community are stunned by even the conceptualization of this strategy and have a hard time believing that the administration would allow itself to appear in such a desperate position to retain Bolton.

I have no indication that this course is "likely." I only know that it is on the roster of options being considered about Bolton.

Senator Richard Lugar, according to some sources close to him, is irritated with the administration's failure to "service" this nomination appropriately and effectively. Bolton is not Senator Lugar's cup of tea so to speak -- but Lugar decided some time ago to support the administration's request and to do his best to get the nomination to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

But Lugar hates "messiness" and believes in thoughtful, deliberative legislative process that reflects honest debate about the nominees from the executive branch. Lugar reportedly believes that the administration was surprisingly sloppy in preparing the way for the Bolton nomination -- and the mere fact that two Republican senators have been the key road blocks to Bolton's nomination inside the Committee is all the evidence that Lugar needs that the administration belly-flopped on this one.

There was almost a third Republican voice poised against Bolton in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last year -- and that was Senator Lisa Murkowski, whose statement and passionately articulated concerns about Bolton rivaled Voinovich's Committee statement opposing Bolton. My sources tell me that the administration has done nothing to assure that Senator Murkowski's position on Bolton has remained firm and to address concerns that she too had about him a year ago.

For the record, Murkowski has indeed reported that like last year, she would ultimately vote for Bolton -- but it is lukewarm support. The administration has not fully accepted the fact that even among its rank-and-file, enthusiasm for John Bolton continuing in his position is lukewarm.

That's not the kind of environment where "50% plus one" tactics work well -- and leaks that the White House is willing to endure virtually any cost to keep Bolton in place while not at the same time tending to the explicit concerns of Senators in anything other than ad hoc and highly reactive ways offends the sensibilities of not only Richard Lugar but of a good number of the Republican senators on the Foreign Relations Committee.

There are only a few legislative days left before Congress breaks before the November elections. It is still highly unlikely that the White House can engineer a quick vote on Bolton -- but it is not impossible.

The only time that this battle could lurch forward is if Senator Chafee does yield to the pressure from the White House and communicates his intention to Lugar that he will vote for Bolton.

There is a Senate Foreign Relations Committee business meeting on Tuesday, September 26, at 2:15 pm in S-116 of the US Capitol. In the public announcement of the meeting, there is an ominous line at the end of the announced agenda:

Additional items may be added. . .

I have no information on whether the administration's latest efforts to cook up a Middle East initiative have impressed Chafee or not.

After the back room shoving around of Palestinians by the White House after the President's speech at the UN this week, Chafee ought not to allow himself to get snookered by an administration that it is not ready to be fair-minded in efforts to get a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

But one must consider all possibilities. The administration could secure a deal with Chafee and hold this as a closely held secret.

Lugar could add Bolton's vote to the business meeting next Tuesday afternoon knowing Chafee's possible switch -- and this could be voted out of Committee. It could then be brought to the Senate Floor as early as Wednesday or Thursday -- when a battle over cloture will ensue.

Those opposing Bolton on the floor have a number of tactics they can use to stall and delay a vote on him on the floor -- but Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist would see this as a top priority and hold up much of the nation's other business to pound this through (we suspect).

The drama would be high, and the tension between parties intense. But the discomfort inside each of the parties would also be serious. Many Republicans don't like this kind of brinksmanship over someone with a track record like Bolton's. And Democrats will really pound Senator Chuck Schumer for his earlier stated position to support cloture on a Bolton vote and for his conflating the substantive concerns about Bolton with the question of American support at the UN for Israel's interests.

What Schumer has failed to understand is that Democrats and Republicans alike have been stalwarts for Israel's needs and interests at the United Nations. For Schumer to extend to John Bolton groveling praise for his Israel efforts over-personalizes what Bolton has done and robs his own party of its considerable level of commitment to Israel's security and place at the UN.

More later, but those interested in the Bolton battle must remain vigilant this week. There is a "sneak play" that could unfold on Tuesday, and it could happen before anyone knew the Bolton vote had been teed up again.

I don't think Richard Lugar will like such tactics. But despite the discomfort of all of this for him, he still sees his job as getting the administration's choice to the Senate floor to a vote.

Let's hope that Senator Lincoln Chafee does not get too easily seduced by the White House's late in the day Middle East talk.

As Chafee said during the July 27th hearing with Bolton, the Senator stated that despite Bolton's assurances that he believed in a viable, two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine standoff, Chafee argued that the distance between the administration's actions and rhetoric was great and that the administration had precious little credibility in this policy arena.

Stay tuned.

-- Steve Clemons

Yesterday, the Department of State sent a high level emissary to see if any deal-making could be done with Senator Lincoln Chafee regarding his opposition to John Bolton.

President Bush's speech yesterday at the UN seemed nearly a tailor-made response that the White House might begin to take seriously a new round of credible diplomacy in the Middle East.

On Palestine/Israel, Bush stated:

The world must also stand up for peace in the Holy Land. I'm committed to two democratic states -- Israel and Palestine -- living side-by-side in peace and security. I'm committed to a Palestinian state that has territorial integrity and will live peacefully with the Jewish state of Israel. This is the vision set forth in the road map -- and helping the parties reach this goal is one of the great objectives of my presidency. The Palestinian people have suffered from decades of corruption and violence and the daily humiliation of occupation. Israeli citizens have endured brutal acts of terrorism and constant fear of attack since the birth of their nation. Many brave men and women have made the commitment to peace. Yet extremists in the region are stirring up hatred and trying to prevent these moderate voices from prevailing.

This struggle is unfolding in the Palestinian territories. Earlier this year, the Palestinian people voted in a free election. The leaders of Hamas campaigned on a platform of ending corruption and improving the lives of the Palestinian people, and they prevailed. The world is waiting to see whether the Hamas government will follow through on its promises, or pursue an extremist agenda. And the world has sent a clear message to the leaders of Hamas: Serve the interests of the Palestinian people. Abandon terror, recognize Israel's right to exist, honor agreements, and work for peace.

President Abbas is committed to peace, and to his people's aspirations for a state of their own. Prime Minister Olmert is committed to peace, and has said he intends to meet with President Abbas to make real progress on the outstanding issues between them. I believe peace can be achieved, and that a democratic Palestinian state is possible. I hear from leaders in the region who want to help. I've directed Secretary of State Rice to lead a diplomatic effort to engage moderate leaders across the region, to help the Palestinians reform their security services, and support Israeli and Palestinian leaders in their efforts to come together to resolve their differences. Prime Minister Blair has indicated that his country will work with partners in Europe to help strengthen the governing institutions of the Palestinian administration. We welcome his initiative. Countries like Saudi Arabia and Jordan and Egypt have made clear they're willing to contribute the diplomatic and financial assistance necessary to help these efforts succeed. I'm optimistic that by supporting the forces of democracy and moderation, we can help Israelis and Palestinians build a more hopeful future and achieve the peace in a Holy Land we all want.

What the President has outlined does not constitute a credible policy or even really a new direction. It simply signifies that he is beginning to get the sense that there are some "really important issues" over there that need attention.

The President is at least talking about Israel/Palestine and has not backed away from his encouragement of a two state outcome. But he has not put together a plan that makes the rhetoric believable as of yet.

Our advice to Senator Chafee -- keep your powder dry.

John Bolton is the wrong person to handle America's diplomacy at the UN -- and is the world's best expert in setting the UN up for failure. One only has to remember Bolton's promises that he would conscientiously approach reform at the UN in an above the board manner. But succeeding at actually getting the UN back in good shape or getting the kind of Human Right Council the US could support -- something that should have been the absolute highest priority for Ambassador Bolton to accomplish -- would not be good line items in John Bolton's resume as the nation's poster-person for "pugnacious Americanism."

On the Middle East, beware, the administration is also pretty good at setting up Middle East diplomacy for failure -- embracing one side at the expense of the other, over and over again. A real program will lay out the ground rules of fair and just negotiations and not leave the environment one that Vice President Cheney and his team can easily tip at the end.

Stand strong on Bolton.

-- Steve Clemons

Ed Note: I had a great time at the Birmingham Committee on Foreign Relations last night after an excellent evening discussion with members of the Nashville Committee on Foreign Relations the night before. Today, I am flying to New York to attend and blog the Clinton Global Initiative.

-- Steve Clemons

Greetings folks. I've been giving talks in Nashville, Tennessee (yesterday) and Birmingham, Alabama today -- primarily for the respective Committees on Foreign Relations in these cities.

More later on that -- have to run. But will be back with the latest on John Bolton, the President's speech at the UN General Assembly, gaming with Iran, and the resurgence of interest in the Palestine/Israel two-state process.

-- Steve Clemons

I am struggling with a computer crash -- an APPLE G4 17" Powerbook -- that I thought would never go bad, but it has. The computer won't even boot from the disk. The apple just appears and a little whirling circle just whirrrrs. I don't have time to sit for hours in the Apple store -- so, I'm temporarily using my old Dell, which I grew to dislike long ago.

That said, I thought I would post three short pieces for your perusal.

The first is a nice write-up by John Farrell of the Denver Post of our Iran conference last Thursday.

The second is from the Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal with some comments on Khatami and Iran by yours truly in a very good piece by Douglas Savage.

The third is a comprehensive round-up by Stephen Schlesinger of the many reasons to oppose John Bolton. I still think the nomination is dead in committee and cannot move to the floor, but Lazarus and Bolton do have a few things in common. And while I think it would be complete political suicide for Chafee to re-open this matter, I see signs that the administration is cobbling something together on Israel-Palestine, though its still very embryonic and Chafee would be mistaken to get seduced by the talk of action.

More later.

-- Steve Clemons

Recently, I wrote an article for the Washington Post about a disturbing trend in Japan in which prominent voices on the journalistic right, intentionally or unintentionally, are animating the activities of ideological zealots and thugs. Right wingism in Japan has been around for a very long time, but recently they have successfully achieved censorship, both overt and self-imposed, of some of Japan's blue chip intellectuals, business leaders, and think tanks.

My article used as one of its vignettes a battle between the Sankei Shimbun's well-known editorialist Yoshihisa Komori, based in Washington and someone I have known for many years, and a set of public intellectuals and retired government officials at the Japan Institute for International Affairs. Not only I have written about this, but many others including Roger Pulvers in today's Japan Times and a couple of weeks ago under the authorship of Sheila Smith and Brad Glosserman.

I am involved with two liberal arts colleges founded in the revolutionary era. One of these is Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and founded in 1783 where I'm on the Board of the Clarke Center.

The other is Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland founded in 1782. At Washington College, I am on the Advisory Board of the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience.

If you are a history junkie and want to read a new blog launched by one of Washington College's recent graduates, John Bohrer, check out Revolutionary College Blog.

I try to get to both colleges as often as possible, and this morning I find myself blogging at "Play it Again Sam's," the central town funky coffee shop where the locals hang out and tell me who they think REALLY should have won in the recent local primaries -- but that's not the topic today.

What is in part the topic is a fascinating book of which I am only in the first fifty pages -- and which I recommend to you. Pick up and read Stacy Schiff's A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France and the Birth of America.

These pics should inspire some "open thread" chatting.

The first is clearly a comment on "body languange." The next below misinterprets canine-eze as my read of "grrrrr, bark, woof" is that the dogs are just excited about the likelihood soon of new representation at the UN.

Open thread.

-- Steve Clemons

Peter Baker and Dafna Linzer write:

President Bush's nomination of John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations appears increasingly endangered in the Senate, prompting the administration to explore other ways to keep him in the job after his temporary appointment expires in January, officials said yesterday.

The situation represents a sharp turnaround from two weeks ago, when the White House was confident it could finally push through Bolton's long-stalled nomination. But last week's surprise move by Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee (R-R.I.) to delay a vote convinced Republicans on Capitol Hill that the nomination may be doomed, prompting a search for alternatives.

Administration officials said they have not given up. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Chafee yesterday to kick off a lobbying campaign that will continue today when he returns to Washington after his hard-fought Republican primary victory in Rhode Island on Tuesday.

Bush and national Republicans pulled out the stops to help Chafee win the primary, and they expect a payback. But with Chafee now preparing to face a strong Democratic challenger in a Democratic state in November, many Republicans said he has less incentive to support a firebrand figure such as Bolton.

"It's dead as far as the Senate is concerned," said one Republican official at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where Chafee holds the decisive vote. "Chafee made it a 9 to 9 vote, and that's not going to change." A Senate Republican leadership aide added: "Chafee holds Bolton's future in his hands, and people are very worried he's going to squeeze and never let go." [emphasis added]

This article validates what I posted right after last Thursday's failed effort by the administration to secure a vote on John Bolton in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

-- Steve Clemons

Today, 14 September, at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill (400 New Jersey Avenue, NW; Washington, DC), a conference titled "U.S. Strategy Towards Iran: Thinking Through the Unthinkables -- Beyond a Binary Choice?" will take place from 10:30 a.m. sharp til 2:00 p.m.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will kick off the meeting at 10:30 am sharp. If you can join us, feel free. No time to confirm your RSVP -- so just come over and mention The Washington Note.

Here is a draft of the schedule:

10:30 am

Welcoming Remarks

STEVEN CLEMONS
Director, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation

Beyond False Choices: A Call for a Credible Strategy in Middle East and Towards Iran

THE HON. HARRY REID (D-NV)
Senate Democratic Leader

Bombing, Appeasing, Bad Consequences, Possible Opportunities: American Options Towards Iran

FLYNT LEVERETT
Director, Geopolitics of Energy Initiative, New America Foundation
Former Sr Staff Member, National Security Council; State Department, and CIA
Author, “Illusions and Reality: The Case for Negotiations,” American Prospect (September 2006)

THE HON. ROBERT BLACKWILL*
President, Barbour Griffiths & Rogers
Former Deputy Director for Strategic Planning, National Security Council
Former Presidential Envoy to Iraq
Former U.S. Ambassador to India

DAFNA LINZER
National Security Correspondent, Washington Post

DIMITRI K. SIMES
President, The Nixon Center
Publisher, The National Interest

DANIEL LEVY
Senior Fellow & Director, Middle East Policy Initiative, New America Foundation
Former Senior Policy Advisor to Israel’s Prime Minister

11:30 am
America's Brewing Iran Challenge: An "Other Options" Discussion

DAVID SANGER
White House Correspondent, New York Times

GEORGE SOROS
Chairman, Soros Fund Management
Chairman, Open Society Institute
Author, The Age of Fallibility: Consequences of the War on Terror

JUAN COLE
Professor of Middle East History, University of Michigan
Blogger, Informed Comment at www.juancole.com

GUY DINMORE
Diplomatic Correspondent, Financial Times

GEORGE PERKOVICH
Vice President for Studies -- Global Security & Economic Development
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

12:30 pm
The Fear and Mistrust Problem in the US-Iran Standoff: Framing Public Discussion

COL. LAWRENCE WILKERSON
Former Chief of Staff, Department of State
Former Director, US Marine War College
Adjunct Professor, College of William & Mary

CHARLES KUPCHAN
Professor of International Relations, Georgetown University
Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

CHRISTOPHER PREBLE
Director, Foreign Policy Studies, Cato Institute

AFSHIN MOLAVI
Fellow, New America Foundation
Author, The Soul of Iran

STEVEN KULL
Director, Program on International Policy Attitudes
Editor, www.WorldPublicOpinion.org

HOOMAN MADJ
Freelance journalist, GQ Magazine; New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker
Advisor and Interpreter to former Iran President Mohammed Khatami during Sept 2006 US Trip

moderator
PRISCILLA LEWIS
Director, US in the World Initiative -- New America Foundation
Former Senior Program Officer, Peace & Security, Rockefeller Brothers Fund

2:00 pm
Next Steps and Concluding Remarks

Food will be served at lunch (no brown bag this time), and it's an interesting roster of personalities and perspectives for a good discussion about Iran.

Moee later.

-- Stheve Clemons