Bush to recess-appoint Swift-Boat scumbag Fox

In a move that should disgust all and surprise nobody, the White House announced today that George W. Bush will recess-appoint Sam Fox, who gave $50,000 to the Swift Boat Liars to help finance their 2004 smear of John Kerry, to be the new U.S. Ambassador to Belgium.

The nomination was withdrawn last week, when it became clear to Bush that Fox, who was instrumental in derailing Kerry's presidential bid, did not have enough votes in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to be confirmed.

A recess appointment allows a president to fill vacancies while the Congress is on a break, even if the nominee has already been expressly or implicitly rejected by the Senate.

The announcement on the White House web site was buried in a flurry of other activity and said simply this:

The President intends to recess appoint the following individuals:

Sam Fox, of Missouri, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Belgium

"It's sad but not surprising that this White House would abuse the power of the presidency to reward a donor over the objections of the Senate," said Kerry, in a statement. "This nomination was withdrawn because the Administration realized it would lose in the Foreign Relations Committee. Unfortunately, when this White House can't win the game, they just change the rules, and America loses."

"Our country would be stronger if this Administration spent more time getting body armor for our soldiers in Iraq than it did helping their powerful friends."