Bolton quit, Bush upset: "Why is everybody so mean to John Bolton?"

WASHINGTON — President Bush reluctantly accepted the resignation of U.N. Ambassador John Bolton on Monday, conceding that the envoy could not win Senate confirmation and signaling that the administration was unwilling to make another end-run around congressional opponents in order to keep Bolton in his job.

Ending more than a year of controversy surrounding the blunt-spoken ambassador, Bush issued a strongly worded statement excoriating Bolton's opponents on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for refusing to send his nomination to the Senate floor for a vote.

"They chose to obstruct his confirmation, even though he enjoys majority support in the Senate, and even though their tactics will disrupt our diplomatic work at a sensitive and important time," Bush said. "This stubborn obstructionism ill serves our country, and discourages men and women of talent from serving their nation."

Bush went on to praise Bolton, a fiery conservative and longtime critic of the United Nations, thanking him for his "advocacy of human rights and human dignity." chron.com

"The bull is leaving the china shop of multilateral politics. This is good news for the world -- and the USA.," said Juergen Trittin, former environment minister and deputy head of the opposition Greens in the German parliament. abs-cbnnews.com

Bolton’s future plans? BoltonWatch’s Scott T. Paul says "two independent sources in the U.S. Mission" tell him that John Bolton is planning to "write a book and hit the speaking circuit to blast the Bush Administration for abandoning ultra-conservative foreign policy principles." Think Progress

chron.com: Bush annoyed Bolton has to go
abs-cbnnews.com: Bolton to leave UN post
Think Progress: Bolton’s future plans?