erm...ahhh... check that...

The administration further demonstrates that it has absolutely no respect for a) the truth, b) the other equal branches of our government, c) the U.N. and d) America.

State Dept admits Bolton gave inaccurate answers:

The State Department reversed itself on Thursday night and acknowledged that President Bush's U.N. ambassador nominee gave Congress inaccurate information about an investigation he was involved in.

The acknowledgment came after the State Department had earlier insisted nominee John Bolton's 'answer was truthful' when he said he had not been questioned or provided information to jury or government investigations in the past five years.

'When Mr. Bolton completed his form during the Senate confirmation process he did not recall being interviewed by the State Department inspector general. Therefore his form as submitted was inaccurate in this regard and he will correct the form,' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

[...]

In a letter to Bush, California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer (news, bio, voting record) said Bolton's admission was "too little, too late" and urged Bush to withdraw the nomination.

"A recess appointment of a man who did not tell the truth to the (Senate Foreign Relations) committee and only admitted the truth when he was caught would send a horrible message," Boxer wrote.

"It seems unusual that Mr. Bolton would not remember his involvement in such a serious matter. In my mind, this raises more questions that need to be answered. I hope President Bush will not make the mistake of recess appointing Mr. Bolton," Biden said in response to the admission that Bolton's information was inaccurate.

It slipped his mind? He forgot about something as important as a joint State Department/CIA investigation into the famous 16 words in Dubya's SOTU speech?! We're supposed to believe that?! Further, we're supposed to believe that not only did he forget, but that the State Department forgot?! Afterall, it was they who first insisted that his responses to the Senate questionaire were truthful and the State Department IG that conducted the investigation.

Yes, John Bolton is exactly the kind of man we need at the U.N.. I'm certain that now that he has been proved to be a liar, that he'll have no trouble in dealing effectively with the other delegations.

Update: This AP article puts the story in a clearer light with regards to PlameGate. There's also a better quote from Biden:

"It seems unusual that Mr. Bolton would not remember his involvement in such a serious matter," said Biden, the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "In my mind, this raises more questions that need to be answered. I hope President Bush will not make the mistake of recess appointing Mr. Bolton."

Yet, despite the fact that Bolton has been caught in a lie (and are we absolutely certain that we can believe that Bolton was not interviewed by Fitzgerald?), Bushco remains intent on pushing forward with the recess appointment.

These people have no shame. They are demonstrating that they place more value in rewarding their political hatchetmen than they do in respecting the law, the truth and the American people. John Bolton was a flawed nominee from the start, now he has been proven to be a liar. How can the congress believe a word he says when he is asked to testify in his role as U.N. Ambassador?

Are we not detecting a pattern of mendacity here? Bolton, now that he has been caught in a lie, says he didn't recall being interviewed for such a high profile investigation as the Iraq-Niger connection. Roberts doesn't recall being a member of the Federalist Society, and the administration assures us that he wasn't a member until proof that he was on the Steering Committee (gee... I think I'd remember something like being in a leadership position, don't you?) The administration refuses to release the documents repeatedly requested by the Senate on both Bolton and Roberts... what are they hiding? How can we take the administration at its word for anything they say?