President Bush named Republican fundraiser Sam Fox as U.S. ambassador to Belgium on Wednesday, using a maneuver that allowed him to bypass Congress where Democrats had derailed Fox's nomination.
"ha ha"
/nelson muntz
Democrats had denounced Fox for his 2004 donation to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The group's TV ads, which claimed that Sen. John Kerry exaggerated his military record in Vietnam, were viewed as a major factor in the Massachusetts Democrat losing the election.
along with other lies, flip-flops, dissembling, half-truths, repulsive speaking habits, his wife, .....
Recognizing Fox did not have the votes to obtain Senate confirmation, Bush withdrew the nomination last month. On Wednesday, with Congress out of town for a spring break, the president used his power to make recess appointments to put Fox in the job without Senate confirmation.
shouldn't have fled town on vacation, a-holes
This means Fox can remain ambassador until the end of the next session of Congress, effectively through the end of the Bush presidency.
Fox, a 77-year-old St. Louis businessman, gave $50,000 to the Swift Boat group. He is national chairman of the Jewish Republican Coalition and was dubbed a "ranger" by Bush's 2004 campaign for raising at least $200,000. He is founder and chairman of the Clayton, Mo.-based Harbour Group, which specializes in the takeover of manufacturing companies.
Fox has donated millions of dollars to Republican candidates and causes since the 1990s.
In answer to questions about the Swift Boat donation, Fox has said he gives when asked, insisting he did not know how his money would be spent or exactly what message the group was pushing.
In his first six years in office, Bush made 167 recess appointments, 101 of which were to full-time positions, according to a January 2007 report by the Congressional Research Service. In his eight years in office, President Clinton made 139 recess appointments, 95 of where were to full-time positions.
Kerry badgered him during his hearings, yet has never publicly produced his military records as promised, years ago. Kerry's a phony, and the majority saw through him. Now they can't complain about the recess appt. because they left without funding our troops