Obama's nominee for the slot, Ellen Tauscher, was sworn in on Monday. And according to Foreign Policy's The Cable blog, her staff found a mold-infested lair that was probably littered with Bolton's mustache hairs:

With the Ben Franklin room's soaring views of the Potomac, the grandeur of the swearing-in ceremony's setting was a far cry from the state of neglect Tauscher's staff found when they went to check out her new seventh floor "T" bureau digs early last month while she was on her honeymoon. "When I walked over here July 3, I was flabbergasted," one aide said. "I [was] calling Ellen: it was disgusting, run down, dark and dingy, in total neglect." The office's condition "is symbolic of how arms control had been treated the past eight years," the aide said. Moldy maroon carpeting was replaced with crisp blue, and moods improved.

Granted, Bolton left the gig in 2005, so his successor John Rood could be the culprit. But Bolton has owned up to the mess, telling The Corner: "I never thought interior decoration was a high nonproliferation priority."

If you watch The Daily Show you've probably noticed how guys like Bill Kristol, John Bolton, Next Gingrich and Mike Huckabee are booked as guests with regularity. Perhaps you've found yourself wondering, "Why the hell would these guys want to appear on The Daily Show?" I sure have! And now, thanks to Daily Intel's Jacob Gershman, we know why.

While the (conservative) movement professes a disdain for the "liberal media elite," it has made an exception for the true-blue 46-year-old comedian. "He always gives you a chance to answer, which some people don't do," says John Bolton, President Bush's ambassador to the United Nations and a Fox News contributor, who went on the show last month. "He's got his perspective, but he's been fair." Says Bolton: "In general, a lot of the media, especially on the left, has lost interest in debate and analysis. It has been much more ad hominem. Stewart fundamentally wants to talk about the issues. That's what I want to do."

Conservatives like Stewart because he's providing them a platform to reach an audience that usually tunes them out. And they often find that Stewart takes them more seriously than right-wing political hosts, who are often just using them to validate their broad positions, do. Stewart will poke fun, but he offers a good-faith debate on powder kegs - torture, abortion, nuclear weapons, health care - that explode on other networks. "Shepard Smith did the same discussion [on torture]," says (Neo-conservative Cliff) May. "He kept yelling me at me: 'This is where I get off the bus! Not in my name!' He wasn't arguing with me. It was just assertions and anger. That's not what Jon deals in."

So maybe there's hope that Stewart can book Sarah Palin as a guest! After all, Bill Kristol promised he'd try to get her to go on the show during his last appearance! Wouldn't that just be swell?!

Sanctions have failed, Iran will nuke us all within days, and we (sorry, they! Only Israel has the balls to do what that commie fag Obama won't, because he loves the terrorists) will be greeted as liberators. No, seriously, John Bolton thinks the people of Iran would welcome a military invasion by Israel.

Significantly, the uprising in Iran also makes it more likely that an effective public diplomacy campaign could be waged in the country to explain to Iranians that such an attack is directed against the regime, not against the Iranian people. This was always true, but it has become even more important to make this case emphatically, when the gulf between the Islamic revolution of 1979 and the citizens of Iran has never been clearer or wider. Military action against Iran's nuclear program and the ultimate goal of regime change can be worked together consistently.

Hah. Ha ha ha.

Elsewhere, Dana Milbank reports on dumb messages on Obama's Facebook wall, David Broder wonders if there is maybe still racism anywhere (conclusion: probably!), and David Ignatius reports that those wacky Russians have loved strongmen for many years.

But how are these guys all doing traffic-wise? (Maybe we should stop linking to them!)