Someone on high WANTS Bolton through

This is high theater at the Bolton nomination hearings. The ranking member Sen. Biden tried to take the Foreign Relations Committee into closed session to discuss new allegations, and Chairman Sen. Lugar closed debate, citing an 18 year-old incident to do so. This is important because in closed session, you can protect the names of people who decided to speak up against the nominee. Sen. George Allen basically said, in not so many words, "Fuck you. We have the votes. There's nothing you can do about it." During the closed session vote, you could hear Democrats saying "This place is lost," "This is shocking," and the like.

The Democrats on the committee are screaming and making mincemeat of the Chairman's lame rationalizations, but the overriding sense one gets is that it doesn't matter. Bolton's going to be confirmed today, and the Republicans will stop at nothing to make sure that happens. Even breaking with tradition, breaking with established committee rules.

My favorite quote was from Sen. Dodd: "The UN ambassador is not that important a job. But what Mr. Bolton did is."

It shouldn't be rewarded. But it's about to be.

There was an eerie look on the faces of the Republicans in this hearing. Only Lugar and Allen are talking. The rest of them are stone-faced. It's like they've been told: "Get this guy through, whatever it takes. Get it done as soon as possible."

Sarbanes is browbeating Lugar right now. Lugar is under the gun. It's very clear. He wanted to cut off debate right there.

Now Biden is shouting. Lugar looks like a 90 year-old in a hospice. Just doddering away, waiting out the storm. Biden is bringing up the Melody Townsel letter I posted earlier. "You wouldn't hire this guy as a member of your staff!"

I'll continue liveblogging as this goes on.

...Wow, what a hail mary out of left field!!!!!

Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) wasn't even at the Bolton hearings, but based on what he's heard today, he doesn't feel comfortable voting him out of committee.

This is an unbelievable turn of events.  Biden, Dodd, Kerry, Boxer and Sarbanes deserve nothing so much as our respect for turning Sen. Voinovich around.

This was after Hagel's wishy-washy "all things to all people" notion that he will vote him out of committee, but won't necessarily vote for him on the floor of the Senate. And "these are serious charges" and all that.

Amazing. This is riveting political junkie TV.