Public officials cannot be responsible for the opinions of the people who interview them. But they can be judicious with whom they choose to grant interviews. It is therefore a wonder why Ambassador John Bolton would grant an interview to Pamela Oshry, proprietor of the anti-Muslim hate website "Atlas Shrugs."

As Scott Paul points out, the website is littered with images and rhetoric intended to portray Muslims as remorseless bloodthirsty thugs deserving of "disproportionate response." The anti-Muslim imagery and rhetoric found on her website is on par with the racist eugenics "research" found on VDARE or the anti-Semitic conspiracy theories found on JewWatch; she endorses the essentialist viewpoint that Islam is a terrorist religion, and insinuates that Muslims in America constitute some sort of fifth column.

In short, she is a flat out racist. But her racism seemingly does not end at the blind hatred of Muslims. In the past, she has referred to the Secretary General as "Kofi Animal" and "Kofi Enema." (And over the course of the interview with Bolton called Kofi Annan a "Jihadi tool.") Given Oshry's record, it is not too much of a stretch to think that this imagery is summoned from a vault of hate and racist innuendo.

If Pamela Oshry was simply one of the many racist wingnuts who populate the blogosphere, we would not need to pay any attention to her whatsoever. The problem here is that a Cabinet level official elevated her from obscurity (twice actually), and did so at a time when maximum attention is being paid to his office.

I wonder what message this interview sends to the Muslim countries with whom Bolton must work day in and day out. I wonder how granting this interview advanced American interests abroad.