Well, against the odds, the vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on whether to forward the nomination of John Bolton as Ambassador to the U.N. to the full Senate, was delayed at least two weeks.

Senate Panel Delays Vote on Bolton to U.N.

I watched the meeting on C-SPAN today, and it was quite a show. At first the Republican Chairman of the committee tried to force the vote on Bolton immediately. It looked like he might get to do just that, but the Democrats on the committee protested emphatically, leading to impassioned statements from Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, John Kerry, and others. At this point the meeting took an unexpected turn.

"The tide turned when Ohio Republican Sen. George Voinovich spoke for the first time. He did not attend Bolton's two-day confirmation hearing last week but had been presumed to be a supporter.

'I don't feel comfortable voting today,' Voinovich said."

At this point I could hear all the jaws in the room drop to the floor! This is then followed by Republican Senator Hagel to say much the same, that he was not comfortable voting at this point, and even saying that he might not support the nomination should it make it to the full Senate floor.

"After the meeting, Voinovich said he had planned to support Bolton but changed his mind after an impassioned critique from Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. Voinovich said he does not fear retribution from the White House, which had counted on solid Republican support on the committee.

'The passion on the other side on this, I don't think is political,' Voinovich told reporters. 'I think they raised some legitimate issues. I think we ought to find out what they are..."

Yeah, its about time someone pointed this out. And while I obviously am not much of a fan of Voinovich, its about time that someone blew through the cynical senators and admitted that the allegations may have some merit, and not simply be politically motivated. This is important.

Tomorrow.... DeLay