A major thinking trap is ruining Washington: the deep-state opinion that elected representatives are subordinate to the collective wisdom of the bureaucrats. This is why White House loyalists are tearing into John Bolton and his book, The Room Where It Happened. They know he wasn’t on any ballot or even subject to Senate confirmation. And many knew he was doomed to fail in service to President Trump.
Bolton’s intellectual arrogance showed up on Election Day. On the Fox News set, K.T. McFarland asked Bolton if he’d voted: “Yes. for Trump. He’s an idiot, but anybody is better than Hillary Clinton.” Really? Around 130 million voters liked one or the other; however, Bolton sat in judgement, deciding the Republican was an idiot and the Democrat was a sub-idiot. Did you know Trump interviewed him for a White House position? He did and rejected Bolton because of his goofy mustache.
We all know it wasn’t really about a goofy mustache. As president-elect, Trump was assembling like-minded lieutenants and – as the revolving doors prove – made some bad choices. He got back to Bolton only as a last resort, after Flynn was fired and McMaster resigned. According to McFarland, Bolton pushed the President for preemptive strikes against Iran, Syria, Venezuela and North Korea. When Trump declined, Bolton became the “anonymous” source, spreading tales of White House chaos.
If Bolton sounds like a deep-State diva, it’s only because he is. According to the London Daily Mail, Bolton “demanded a personal jet” to accompany the President on a June 2019 trip to London – rather than fly on Air Force One. In London, Bolton “stole the security detail from the staff bus to escort him across London,” leaving Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and acting chief of staff Mulvaney stranded.
The Mail reports Mulvaney confronted Bolton: “Let’s face it, John. You’re a f**king self-righteous, self-centered son of a b***h.” Sarah Sanders, former press secretary, confirms Mulvaney’s View: “Bolton thought he was more important than the rest us [with] a different set of rules.” Secretary of State Pompeo has an even harsher view: “John Bolton thought he was more important than the President.”
Pompeo told Fox News Bolton was “cut out of meetings” with the president “because he was leaking or would twist things or lie.” It’s bad when the National Secretary Advisor leaks and lies, and even worse when he leaks sensitive secrets in a memoir. Take his tales, however, with a shot of skepticism. South Korea’s National Security Advisor, Chung Eui-yong dismissed Bolton’s book as “distorting the facts [and] damaging future negotiations.”
Poor John Bolton, a man without a political party. But don’t cry for him. He has leaked and lied. He refused to testify during the impeachment hearings, probably to preserve the public’s interest in his sensational tell-all book. One wonders who, besides himself, he serves. And there you have it: a smug bureaucrat in the room where it happened, thinking me, me, me! Come to think of it, his goofy mustache has always bugged me.