Free Republic

A bipartisan Senate effort to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline collapsed Monday making it unlikely a politically potent vote on the project will take place before November’s midterm election. A vote on Keystone was tied to the fate of an unrelated energy efficiency bill that has support in both parties. But that measure failed to get the 60 votes it needed to move forward after getting bogged down in partisan fighting over whether GOP amendments would be allowed.

John Bolton’s decision to resign as America’s envoy to the United Nations was a wise move. He averted a distracting and divisive fight at a time when both Congress and the Bush administration have better things to do. He has also provided President Bush with an opportunity to show the kind of bipartisan leadership he talks about so frequently and exercises so seldom. This page opposed Mr. Bolton’s nomination in the first place, arguing that at the very minimum, an ambassador to the United Nations should be someone who believed the organization deserved to exist. Mr. Bolton has always been...