Jeremy Dibbell at the Moderate Voice, Steve Clemons at the Washington Note, and a couple of congressmen are urging President Bush to appoint defeated GOP-centrist congressman Jim Leach as UN ambassador.

Yeah, I guess that's understandable -- just as it's understandable that some battered wives wake up after the latest in a six-year series of beatings and think, "Maybe he'll change soon." It's understandable, but it's preposterously naive. Look, guys, there are two possibilities for Bolton's replacement: (1) someone at least as distasteful to liberals and moderates as Bolton (if not more so) or (2) Lieberman (to get the Senate seat back for the GOP).

That's it. Full stop. Don't waste any more bandwidth on this exercise in futility.

And no, I don't care about the fact that, as these guys say, Leach could be confirmed unanimously. Do they understand nothing about Bush and Rove and Cheney? Obtaining consensus isn't the point. For Bush, Rove, and Cheney, obtaining consensus is the exact opposite of the point.

(Via Memeorandum.)

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IN FACT: If Bush were to pick any defeated Republican for the UN job, he'd probably pick this guy. And yes, I'm serious -- I absolutely could imagine that.