Code Pink Raids John Bolton Confirmation Hearing

[Nbadan]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT:
April 11, 2005 Gael Murphy 202-412-6700
Allison Yorra, 202-487-5112

WOMEN PEACE ACTIVISTS INTERRUPT BOLTON NOMINATION HEARING

MEMBERS OF CODEPINK: WOMEN FOR PEACE UNFURL BANNERS AND SPEAK OUT AGAINST BOLTON NOMINATION DURING SENATE CONFIRMATION HEARING

Washington, DC – Three women peace activists interrupted today’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on John Bolton’s nomination as US Ambassador to the UN. They held up banners reading “NO Bolton, YES UN,” “Bolton = Nuclear Proliferation,” and “Diplomat, Not Bully, Please!” and urged Senators to reject Bolton as the worst possible choice for the job and for world peace.

“John Bolton is an inappropriate nominee for UN ambassador. His history shows us that the credibility of the US as a peacekeeping nation will be undermined if he is confirmed,” said Gael Murphy, one of the women who interrupted the hearing.

Murphy was kicked out of the hearing, as were two other CODEPINK women peace activists, Laurie Emrich, and Allison Yorra. None of the three were arrested. CODEPINK is a national women’s peace group, which has 90 chapters throughout the United States and the world. CODEPINK is known for its creative and bold approach to anti-war activism, and for its members’ success in interrupting prime time speeches three nights in a row during the Republican National Convention in New York City.

CODEPINK opposes the nomination of John Bolton, who is an advocate of unilateral U.S. military action, an opponent of arms control, and previously an advocate for withdrawal of US funds from the UN.

“The "go it alone" Bush administration is working hard to pull the US out of every international agreement and treaty in its effort to dominate rather than collaborate on global issues--and John Bolton exemplifies this at ude. Someone so disdainful of the UN should NOT be our UN representative. In this time of major armed conflict and nuclear proliferation, we need the UN more than ever. The US should be taking the lead in strengthening international cooperation, NOT killing it,” Murphy said.

Code Pink Alert




Protestor Lori Emmerick is escorted out of a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing by a policeman after she interrupted a hearing in which John Bolton appeared as the nominee for the United States' Represenative to the United Nations, in Washington April 11, 2005. Three protestors against Bolton's nomination interrupted the hearing before being removed by police. REUTERS/Jason Reed



Protestor Allison Yorra (foreground) is escorted out of a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing by a policeman after she interrupted a hearing in which John Bolton appeared as the nominee for the United States representative to the United Nations, in Washington April 11, 2005. Three protestors against Bolton's nomination interrupted the hearing before being removed by police. REUTERS/Jason Reed



A protestor holds up a banner against the nomination of John Bolton(L) as the new United States representative to the United Nations, as Bolton halts his testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington April 11, 2005. Three protestors interrupted the hearing before being removed by police. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)




A protestor holds up a banner against the nomination of John Bolton (L) as the new United States Representative to the United Nations, as Bolton looks on during his testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on his nomination in Washington April 11, 2005. Three protestors interrupted the hearing before being removed by police. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

[Useruser666]

Those protesters are obvious s.

[Spurminator]

I had one of those shirts in the late eighties/early nineties.

[RobinsontoDuncan]

against michael I am assuming?

This really makes no sense, let's appoint a guy to the UN who once said if the UN building lost ten floors in an explosion, it wouldn't really matter?

[exstatic]

Sending this assclown, who obviously has nothing but scorn for the UN, is a slap in the face to the rest of the world.

[Shelly]

Those protesters are obvious s.

I was wondering if they were wearing bras.

[Useruser666]

I was wondering if they were wearing bras.

You have quite the dirty mind!

[The Ressurrected One]

Sending this assclown, who obviously has nothing but scorn for the UN, is a slap in the face to the rest of the world.

The U.N. has nothing but scorn for the U.S. I'd say it's a match made in heaven.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

This really makes no sense, let's appoint a guy to the UN who once said if the UN building lost ten floors in an explosion, it wouldn't really matter

, the whole UN could disappear and it wouldn't matter.

Sending this assclown, who obviously has nothing but scorn for the UN, is a slap in the face to the rest of the world.

Hey, if the pussies in France, Germany, etc. can send people with nothing but scorn for the US, why not strive for a little balance?

[exstatic]

Hey, if the pussies in France, Germany, etc. can send people with nothing but scorn for the US, why not strive for a little balance?

That's a fairly childish at ude. Aren't we supposed to lead by example and be the good guys?

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Childish? You want to know what's childish? A so called "world body" refusing to use the word "genocide" in reference to what's going on in Africa because that means they'd have to do something about it.

Seriously, call me when the UN is relevant for anything other than a good laugh.

[The Ressurrected One]

That's a fairly childish at ude. Aren't we supposed to lead by example and be the good guys?

Okay, if you believe the U.N. is a worthless organization (which I do) as I believe the President believes, why would you send an ambassador that is pro-U.N.? I say you send someone that will do his or her darnedest to dismantle the anti-American waste of real estate.

[Nbadan]

Okay, if you believe the U.N. is a worthless organization (which I do) as I believe the President believes, why would you send an ambassador that is pro-U.N.? I say you send someone that will do his or her darnedest to dismantle the anti-American waste of real estate.

The U.S. also refused to help in Rwanda and Sudan, so what does that make us?

I thought the whole idea behind W's recent Euro road-trip was to try and form diplomatic relations with U.N. and NATO countries after the whole Iraq fiasco? You know, get them to send a little help and give our troops a little well-deserved R and R?...Well since that clearly didn't work the adminstration has again turned its back on the rest of the world by nominating yet another NeoCon yes-man, John Bolton to the U.N..

[The Ressurrected One]

The U.S. also refused to help in Rwanda and Sudan, so what does that make us?

Very busy in other parts of the world.

I thought the whole idea behind W's recent Euro road-trip was to try and form diplomatic relations with U.N. and NATO countries after the whole Iraq fiasco? You know, get them to send a little help and give our troops a little well-deserved R and R?...Well since that clearly didn't work the adminstration has again turned its back on the rest of the world by nominating yet another NeoCon yes-man, John Bolton to the U.N..

I'd be very surprised if the United States ever tried to work within the U.N. framework again...on matters of national security or military force.

[Nbadan]

Very busy in other parts of the world.

Too busy to stop a holocaust? To busy to help a million malnutritioned Africans from starving to death? Lame excuse. I thought the Reublicans were the party of life?

What if the U.S. had been 'too busy' to stop the Nazi death machine from rolling through the rest of Europe?

[Nbadan]

I'd be very surprised if the United States ever tried to work within the U.N. framework again...on matters of national security or military force.

So you agree that there will be a draft.

[Useruser666]

Uh, that's a stretch.

[The Ressurrected One]

Too busy to stop a holocaust?

By ourselves? Yeah.

To busy to help a million malnutritioned Africans from starving to death?

The vast majority -- that's VAST majority of food and medical and children's aid to African originates in the United States of America. Don't preach about American not doing it's fair share to end suffering in the world.

Lame excuse.

No, just reality. I'd venture to say that if someone else would take the lead, the U.S. would support and even provide logistical and manpower resources to accomplish the goal. The problem is that African nations are too freakin' busy skimming off the top, hijacking food and money, and building little regimes to support their fat cats to a) worry about the starving, diseased, afflicted, and victimized or to b) assist an outside power in bringing sanity back to sub-Saharan Africa...anybody remember Mogadishu?

I thought the Reublicans were the party of life?

I'm not sure what that has to do with the argument other than to show you're a imbicilic partisan dweeb.

What if the U.S. had been 'too busy' to stop the Nazi death machine from rolling through the rest of Europe?

Well, we weren't, were we?

And, just where are you suggesting the genocidal maniacs of sub-Saharan Africa are headed? If they try and cross the Sahara, Egypt or Libya will obliterate them. Every other direction requires a substantial air force or military...

As horrific as the situation is, it doen't represent a global threat to international peace and stability as did Nazi Germany.

[The Ressurrected One]

So you agree that there will be a draft.

Huh?

[The Ressurrected One]

Well since that clearly didn't work the adminstration has again turned its back on the rest of the world by nominating yet another NeoCon yes-man, John Bolton to the U.N.

Yeah, you've nailed it!

Bush may think he's managed to foist another good ol' boy on the American people, but diligent Democrats in congress will leave no stone unturned to determine if his pick for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations secretly has a pro-American bias.

While he recorded a string of romantic ballads in the late 1980's, John Bolton is best known for being a blunt, tough-talking bully with a slightly less than glowing opinion of the UN. He's spoke unfavorably of North Korea, Iran, and Cuba on numerous occasions. He once commented that the UN headquarters could lose 10 floors and not make a difference. Some even suspect that he might put America's interests above those of the International Community. Today, Democrats like Sen. John Kerry will send Bolton a clear message that his unnuanced, anti-UN rhetoric and latent pro-American at ude will simply not be tolerated.

A UN ambassador must be first and foremost a diplomat, a keen negotiator with the humility to crawl into the UN building on all fours and beg our allies for forgiveness. The French can smell arrogance like a fart in a car. If Bolton swaggers in there like Gary Cooper, we'll never win back their love. He must be humble, apologetic, and able to wheedle in 17 different languages if we're ever to renew the golden showers of international support that Bush so recklessly squandered.

LOL...You sincerely seemed shocked this administration would have nothing but contempt for the U.N.