There is a familiar modus operandi at work in the accusation by Melody Townsel that John Bolton chased her through the halls of a Moscow hotel throwing objects and screaming threats at her in August 1994. New York Sun reporter Eli Lake has nailed most of the elements of the modus operandi in his article: “New Bolton accuser is a liberal from ‘Mothers Opposing Bush.'” Lake reports:
When asked why she did not make this matter public in 2001, when Mr. Bolton’s nomination for his current post as undersecretary of state was being considered by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, she said that at the time she had retreated from politics and was raising young children.
She also said there were no other eyewitnesses to what in the letter she said was a pattern of abusive behavior, but that others working on the project were familiar with her account.
“There were people aware of the harassment, but they are not willing to come forward because they have existing business with the government,” she said.
Ms. Townsel’s allegations appeared over the weekend in the Los Angeles Times, the Houston Chronicle, and numerous Democratic-leaning Web sites, such as Daily Kos and The American Prospect’s web log, Tapped.
“My story seems to track so closely with other people,” she said. “I really thought this would be a small log on the fire, I did not think it would be this big. Nothing in my story is all that out of track with the other stories out there.” She also said she was contacted on Friday by the minority counsel of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
We know how it goes; blink your eyes and the kids are grown. It’s heartening to know that Ms. Townsel’s children have been raised sufficiently to facilitate her return to politics. According to this October 2004 press release, Ms. Townsel is apparently the single mother of a four-year-old girl (assuming the press release is referring to the same Melody Townsel of Dallas). Why, that little lady must have been a baby in early 2001 when Bolton was nominated for his current post of undersecretary of state.
Fortunately, four-year-olds leave plenty of time for lefty moms to make themselves of use to Democratic politicians attacking prominent Bush administration officials. It’s too bad Lake didn’t know enough to ask about the rest of Ms. Townsel’s putative children; don’t they take some time “raising” too?
If the pattern holds, Ms. Townsel stands to be named to a professorship at a prestigious university somewhere.
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