The Right Move.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)

Diplomacy: President Bush was correct to make John Bolton our man at the U.N. -- even if he had to do it through a recess appointment. Now, maybe we can stop the silly political games and start reforming.

By now, Bolton is a known quantity. Few actually dispute his qualifications. Instead, they focus on that vague catchall known as "temperament" -- which in this context means a reluctance to suffer fools gladly.

Yes, Bolton has a temper and has said impolitic things about the United Nations.

Democrats despise him because he's intellectually tough -- a conservative, as Reuters put it, with an "incisive legal mind and the single-minded passion with which he seeks to turn those views into U.S. policy, often with great effect."

Say, isn't that the kind of person you want at the U.N.? It's exactly why we're happy that, even after the political attacks and a Senate filibuster, Bush stayed loyal to his pick.

It also says a lot about Bush's seriousness about reshaping and refocusing a world body that has spent 60 years failing at its job and growing increasingly corrupt. An enemy of the status quo, Bolton will clean the mess up.

Which explains Democrats' rage Monday. Sen. Ted Kennedy called the recess appointment "a devious maneuver that evades the constitutional requirement of Senate consent and only further darkens the cloud over Mr. Bolton's credibility." To Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, it was an "abuse ...