Your Foreign Relations Committee at work! (UPDATED WITH SCOOP)

I have no personal knowledge of John Bolton or of the degree to which the administration’s nominee for UN ambassador is a hothead who mistreats subordinates, but color me suspicious he is much worse than the clowns who sit in judgment of him on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Meanwhile, this political game is being played out against a backdrop of escalating and seemingly endless corruption at the UN itself, which makes the question of Bolton’s manners into a ludicrous sideshow. With Kofi Annan’s adviser Canadian businessman Maurice Strong under fire, his Chef de Cabinet having resigned for destroying three-year’s worth of documents, his first-ever deputy secretary general under a cloud for enabling 8-billion dollars worth of embezzlement (of money for starving children!), his own son having profiteered off the same scandal (not to mention the mother-of-all corrupt UN sleaze bags Benon Sevan and all the others we will soon know about), if Kofi himself isn’t guilty, he’s the only one in the Sectariat Building who isn’t.

And now we have the rumors that two of the key lawyers on the “independent” inquiry committee into the scandal have resigned. If that’s true, you can bet on one thing – they didn’t quit because the investigation was being too thorough.

But have no fear. Our elected representatives in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are on the watch. They’re not going to let some short-fused SOB who chases people “down a hallway of a Russian hotel” represent this country at the UN. It’s such a civilized place. That could be embarrassing.

Of course the pathetic part is this: By playing the child’s game of partisan politics, these same Senators are ultimately helping to destroy the reputation of the very institution they think they are trying to preserve – the United Nations. What dumbbells.

UPDATE: PowerLine has an interesting post on the Bolton affair.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Investigators Robert Parton (senior investigative counsel) and Miranda Duncan (deputy counsel) have resigned because information was not being followed up by the Volcker Committee!!! These are two of the top three field investigators for the committtee. Only Michael Cornacchia remains.

MORE: Following several hours after this blog, the AP now has the story. The CYA has already begun:

A spokeswoman at Volcker’s committee, who would speak only on condition of anonymity, said the resignations came after the investigators had completed the work they signed on to do.

I wouldn’t say that any other way but anonymously myself.

MEANWHILE: It will be itneresting to see if the Volcker Committee can stay ahead of the FBI. Somehow I’m skeptical.