# The John Bolton pit thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 23, 2018, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-john-bolton-pit-thread/811098 "2018-03-23T23:08:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-john-bolton-pit-thread/811098/61 "2018-03-26T19:33:43Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > I’d be more comfortable with _Michael_ Bolton. Shit, I’d be more comfortable with [Roose Bolton](http://www.vh1.com/news/261221/game-of-thrones-roose-bolton-obituary/). ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-john-bolton-pit-thread/811098/62 "2018-03-27T01:32:54Z")
Can we just switch John Boltons? Swap in [this John Bolton](https://twitter.com/boltonstudio) to run national security, and give the Mustache a gig drawing a graphic novel. I think Patrick Stewart got a job that way once. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-john-bolton-pit-thread/811098/63 "2018-03-27T14:13:21Z")
Back in 1995, [Bolton apparently said](https://twitter.com/TaskandPurpose/status/978356184196571137) “I confess I had no desire to die in a Southeast Asian rice paddy… I considered the war in Vietnam already lost.” Bolton turned 18 in November 1966, at which point he could have enlisted. He already considered Vietnam a lost cause in 1966? Guess he must’ve been actively protesting against the war during his time at Yale. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-john-bolton-pit-thread/811098/64 "2018-03-28T03:42:17Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Back in 1995, [Bolton apparently said](https://twitter.com/TaskandPurpose/status/978356184196571137) “I confess I had no desire to die in a Southeast Asian rice paddy… I considered the war in Vietnam already lost.” > > Bolton turned 18 in November 1966, at which point he could have enlisted. He already considered Vietnam a lost cause in 1966? Guess he must’ve been actively protesting against the war during his time at Yale. He’s a fucking chickenhawk. All war, all the time, against everyone… but don’t ask HIM to risk anything. Rocketman Kim pegged him right – human scum. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-john-bolton-pit-thread/811098/65 "2018-03-28T04:44:59Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > You know what? This is one of those cases where I wholeheartedly hope conservatives are right. I hope the National Review is right that this guy isn’t a neocon warmonger, but a pragmatic mind for uncertain times that will lend some order to the chaos in the Trump White House. I really do. So we have a real choice of goodies here: 45’s White House further disintegrates into a spinning gyre and we stumble into a couple of wars with unimaginable consequences; or one or two of his appointees behave in a marginally sane and responsible manner, and people say “See, 45 wasn’t so bad, let’s re-elect him!” You’re right, I prefer the latter. I can’t say I have actual hope, though. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-john-bolton-pit-thread/811098/66 "2018-03-28T11:44:22Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > You know what? This is one of those cases where I wholeheartedly hope conservatives are right. I hope the National Review is right that this guy isn’t a neocon warmonger, but a pragmatic mind for uncertain times that will lend some order to the chaos in the Trump White House. I really do. Sorry, but that’s not the case. John Bolton is a warmonger. He was a salesman for the invasion of Iraq, and he still argues to this day that it was good policy. He’s also known to have argued that Cuba was working on a WMD program of its own, a theory which was demonstrably false and discredited even by his right wing colleagues. This guy has a history of trying to use prevarication to impose his agenda, which is absolutely the worst kind of character for the role he’s about to undertake. He’s going to reinforce Trump’s ignoramus worldview, and when he’s not, he’s going to sell Trump (likely without any basis in fact) on his own crackpot theories of the Universe. Bolton’s foreign policy is one predicated on absolute American military dominance and supremacy. This is a nightmare we’re about to wake up to. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-john-bolton-pit-thread/811098/67 "2018-03-28T12:18:00Z")
Seems James “Mad Dog” Mattis is the only voice of sanity left in that administration. I hope it’s enough to avoid a war with North Korea or China. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-john-bolton-pit-thread/811098/68 "2018-03-28T13:37:48Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Seems James “Mad Dog” Mattis is the only voice of sanity left in that administration. I hope it’s enough to avoid a war with North Korea or China. It’s weird, the only sane one apparently is the “Mad Dog”. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-john-bolton-pit-thread/811098/69 "2018-03-28T13:41:05Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Sorry, but that’s not the case. > > John Bolton is a warmonger. He was a salesman for the invasion of Iraq, and he still argues to this day that it was good policy. He’s also known to have argued that Cuba was working on a WMD program of its own, a theory which was demonstrably false and discredited even by his right wing colleagues. This guy has a history of trying to use prevarication to impose his agenda, which is absolutely the worst kind of character for the role he’s about to undertake. He’s going to reinforce Trump’s ignoramus worldview, and when he’s not, he’s going to sell Trump (likely without any basis in fact) on his own crackpot theories of the Universe. Bolton’s foreign policy is one predicated on absolute American military dominance and supremacy. This is a nightmare we’re about to wake up to. He’s a fucking monster. He’ll fit right in. The best thing we can hope for, is either the entire administration gets sucked into a black hole of criminal convictions and imprisonment, or they all get together and do a Jim Jones style mass suicide. But that won’t happen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-john-bolton-pit-thread/811098.md?page=3)