"That is NOT flip-flopping...

that is PANDERING, and America deserves a President who KNOWS THE DIFFERENCE"
- Seth Meyers, Saturday Night Live

But what's THIS? The Washington Post article calls it "reversing" and an "about face":

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist first announced today that he was finished calling votes on John R. Bolton's nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, calling it a pointless exercise. But about an hour later, after a meeting with President Bush, the Tennessee Republican did an about-face: He will continue pushing for a floor vote on the controversial nominee after all.

Sounds a lot like FLIP-FLOPPING to me. And for the completely wrong reasons.

"We'll continue to get an up-or-down vote for John Bolton over the coming days, possibly weeks," Frist said.

Earlier in the day, Frist had told the Associated Press that it was useless going back to the Senate again because Democrats would only continue stalling the vote. "Whether it is politics or whatever their concerns are with, the goal post's constantly shifting. Bringing up another vote's not going to change anything," the Associated Press quoted Frist as saying.

Well, flip-flopping now ain't going to change anything. Not until the White House hands over those documents.

And to answer Senator Frist... the concern here is with this so-called "Executive Priviledge" the White House is lording over Congress. The Senate's job is to confirm or reject the President's appointments, and Dubya really can't blame them for not doing their constitutional duty when HE's the cause of the delay:

Opposition to Bolton, a former undersecretary of state for arms control, originally centered on his sharp criticism of the United Nations and his brusque style of dealing with subordinates who disagreed with him. Over time, however, Senate Democrats began focusing on the administration's refusal to provide documents they said were needed to assess Bolton's fitness for the job.

Damn right.