The partisan minority in the U.S. Senate used to content itself with obstructing the President's nominees.

But lately they've expanded their partisan quest and are now actively working to oust the President's choice to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, who has now been on the job for more than a year.

Recall that Democrats tried to block Bolton's confirmation to the post when President Bush first nominated him. And after months of delay, the President used his constitutional authority to give Bolton a temporary appointment. Well, that appointment expires at the end of September, and the Senate has still not confirmed him.

When Bolton was first nominated, we wrote that he would be the best American representative to the world body since Jeanne Kirkpatrick and the most forthright and clear spoken since Patrick Moynihan.

Even though the Senate refused to confirm him, thanks to the President's courage of principle, we've now had more than a year to judge for ourselves how Bolton performs.

He has exceeded every expectation.

He has demonstrated repeatedly that he is a zealous and effective advocate for U.S. interests. He has also proven that he can be an effective voice within the world body. His healthy skepticism of the U.N. has given him a strength of argument in pressing for U.N. reform that no other nation's representative enjoys.

In short, John Bolton is exactly what our nation needs in a U.N. ambassador – a brilliant diplomat and negotiator who won't allow himself to be enticed by the U.N. bureaucracy or the cabal of totalitarian states that have made the world body the primary forum for bashing the United States.

Despite his year of success and his demonstrated excellence on the very job he has been nominated to, the Senate continues to dawdle in confirming him. The partisan minority which successfully delayed his nomination previously is at it again. And their renewed obstruction is even harder to understand in light of a commitment from Republican Senator Voinovich – who opposed his confirmation last year – to vote "aye" this time around.

The minority wants to use Bolton's confirmation as stick with which to whack the administration's foreign policy. But partisan political games aren't fooling anyone. At a hearing last week on Bolton's confirmation, they made barely a pretense of discussing the Ambassador's qualifications, and instead, spent their time speechifying.

Their continued obstruction of Bolton's confirmation is contrary to national interest. With the turmoil around the globe, we need John Bolton – with his strong, principled voice – on the job at the U.N. now more than ever.

The partisan minority has made it clear they'd rather he be fired. That's not good foreign policy. It's not even good politics. It's just dumb.