If you didn’t catch John Bolton’s performance on the Daily Show last night, it’s worth watching. Stewart likes to have it both ways–he’s a comedian, but you’re also supposed to take him seriously when he squares off against the political and intellectual giants of our time. The only problem is: Stewart is a comedian with a limited grasp of “democratic theory,” as Bolton pointed out time and again. When Stewart asks Bolton why Bush would appoint to the United Nations an ambassador that “wasn’t a huge fan of the United Nations,” Bolton responds, “I think that’s exactly wrong, and I think that’s part of what’s wrong with Washington. It is not the case that the government should be staffed by people who like the bureaucracies they’re serving in. I also served as undersecretary for arms control and I was very skeptical of arms control. The point is, the president ought to have people philosophically attuned to his way of thinking. And if you’ve got a problem with that, I’d suggest you’ve got a problem with democratic theory.” Then Stewart claims that Lincoln brought people into his cabinet that disagreed with him. Bolton: “You’re historically wrong on Lincoln.” Oh gee, you think the United States ambassador to the United Nations might know a bit more about American history than the host of Comedy Central’s Daily Show. By the end of this, Stewart’s defense of bureaucracy becomes completely absurd, and anti-democratic, at which point even Stewart concedes, “you may be right.” It’s worth watching the whole thing. Bolton is dominating.
