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By a miracle of timing, the manuscript of John Bolton's new book leaked to the TIMES as the talk in the US Senate was turning to the question of whether they were obliged to call witnesses.

I hold no brief for John Bolton. He has been a neocon hawk from the moment the muse of history first stooped to pay any attention to him at all. He works from an old playbook without so far as I can tell the slightest intellectual originality, curiosity, (no small thing) concern for the human consequences of the policies he advocates. His departure from the White House arguably made Trump less inclined to tail-wagging-dog warfare, as such it is a good thing for humanity.

Saying that, I have to say -- it is wonderful to see his old friends lining up to malign him now. He's a crook, he's a traitor, he's blah blah blah.

Simple question: who hired him? Oh yeah, Fox News. But after that? He was in the White House at Trump's whim, just as he was later sent out at Trump's whim. And Trump's case for his own election in 2016 was largely the idea that he would hire only "the best people" for such jobs as the one he gave to Bolton.



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