Ben Domenech Reviews John Bolton: "a deeply odd, thin-skinned, and snarky figure who succeeded in convincing a surprising number of smart people in Washington that he is somehow serious and statesmanlike."

Funny and cutting review, not just of John Bolton's book, but of John Bolton's contrived Stage Persona.

First, let me say that I love this book. I love everything about it. It is true unadulterated fan-fic for Bolton lovers everywhere. He is always right. He is always noble. His purposes are always true. Anyone who disagrees with him is an idiot, or possibly worse. Edward from Twilight has more flaws than this iteration of John Bolton, the mustachioed hero who can do no wrong… except to be, at a critical moment, surrounded entirely by idiots...

Domenech quotes from leftwing outlets reviewing Bolton's book -- and the reviews are stinging, despite this being pure China White #Resistance bait.

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Now for all my plaudits, as a book, I have to say this is quite bad. It is dry, convoluted, and catty in a depressingly repetitive way. One of the repeated elements of the book is Bolton self-references. "They said this, then I showed them the error of their ways with this super smart Tweet" makes a frequent appearance.

There is little here to indicate success in anything but tweeting during his 18 month tenure -- his views are typically ignored or run into the rocks when they encounter the president, and often earlier. After each of these failures Bolton sinks into a passive aggressive funk for a few sentences. It amounts to a chapter by chapter rendition of Seinfeld's "The Jerk Store”' over and over again.

Bolton's ways of presenting his ideas would seem rather questionable to others operating without his alpha male acuity. At one point he drafts up a one-page plan, all by himself, to solve all the problems with immigration policy in America. It includes firing not one but two cabinet members. He is astounded and frustrated that no one seems to be super into it. Trump folds the paper up and puts it in his pocket, so now Trump bears the blame for not advancing such well-honed policy perfection. Bolton's one pager is discarded, and the nation suffers for it.

Read the whole thing.

Meanwhile, Rich Higgins resurfaces some scurrillous allegations about Bolton, allegedly made by his ex-wife and reported by pornographer Larry Flynt.

posted by Ace at 12:09 PM

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