Any time that a politician actually stops and thinks, it constitutes big news these days; and if the politician in question is a Republican, then it just could be the story of the year. Based on reports from several sources, that may be exactly what happened today during Senate Foreign Relations Committee discussions on John Bolton's U.N. nomination.

As with most of the legislative branch, the Republicans hold a majority of the seats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee which was set to vote today on moving Bolton's nomination to a full Senate vote. With the scales tilted 10-8 in their favor, committee chairman Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind) had some pretty arrogant remarks to make in the early going. According to an AP story (via ABC News):

Lugar claimed the support needed to prevail as he began the committee meeting. A quick test vote suggested he was correct, as Republicans used their 10-8 majority to vote down a Democratic attempt to air new complaints about Bolton in private.

"We were not born yesterday," Lugar told the eight Democrats on the panel. "The Republicans want to vote for John Bolton. There are 10 Republicans here."

"Is the chairman saying it doesn't matter what we know about John Bolton?" asked Kerry. "If you don't know some of the allegations that have come across the transom then you are voting in the blind. Maybe you want to vote in the blind."

What the Republicans want, the Republicans get; right, Ricky? Screw logic, common sense, and reason — this is all about party politics. But just as the GOP seemed poised to steamroll Bolton through committee with their partisan blinders firmly in place, something strange and unexpected happened. A Republican Senator stopped the forward march, and engaged his brain.

The tide turned when Ohio Republican Sen. George Voinovich spoke for the first time. He did not attend Bolton's two-day confirmation hearing last week but had been presumed to be a supporter.

"I don't feel comfortable voting today," Voinovich said.

Another Republican, Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, also expressed reservations about a quick vote and warned that he may not support Bolton's nomination if it does move to the full Senate.

After the meeting, Voinovich said he had planned to support Bolton but changed his mind after an impassioned critique from Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. Voinovich said he does not fear retribution from the White House, which had counted on solid Republican support on the committee.

"The passion on the other side on this, I don't think is political," Voinovich told reporters. "I think they raised some legitimate issues. I think we ought to find out what they are. I think we ought to get the information, get a chance to have (the allegations) rebutted," Voinovich said.

We can almost hear Voinovich's thoughts blazing new synaptic trails through his brain with the last statement above: "You know, the Democrats might actually have a point here, and not just a political agenda...who'd've thought?"

This simple display of setting aside pig-headed partisan bullshit and instead utilizing some common (oh, how we wish it were!) sense damned near caused us to choke on our lunches. The effect on the other Republicans must have been even more jarring.

We know next to nothing about Voinovich. In fact, all we can say for sure is that he received a paltry 33% rating on the ACLU Senate Scorecard, and full marks of 100% from the Christian Coalition's Senate Scorecard (PDF), so chances are we wouldn't like him very much. But today — at least today — he showed that he was capable of actual intelligent thought, and for that, we applaud him. Snaps go to Republican Senator Hagel who followed Voinovich's epiphany with a little "Me, too" in committee. Hey, every little bit helps.

Frankly, it never ceases to amaze us when issues like this one — the nomination of a man who is not only unqualified for the job but whose history actually detracts significantly from his ability to do the job — just slide through the legislature like a big load of well-greased bullshit thanks to party politics, but we never seriously considered the possibility that any Republicans would break ranks like this. We wonder what kinds of barbs the hardline morons like DeLay and Frist will toss at this guy, and we wonder what kind of pressure he'll see from Bush.

At the end of the day, sure, Bolton may get his confirmation anyway, and yes, it's possible that this is just some political maneuvering that will soon fall quietly away, but for now, we'll acknowledge this simple and improbable act of cognitive reasoning coming from that most illogical of sources: a Republican Senator.

[Update: Ah, the attack ads against Voinovich have begun! Here's one from the morons at Move American Forward.]

Hey, why give this guy any more attention... don't you think this is a great way for an unknown to get his name out there as a "thinker" while he still knows, as you say, that he is not hurting his party at all... the confirmation will still go through... and in the meantime... all sorts of people are praising his use of reason... which means they are putting his name in the news???

In today's Republican Party, anyone who breaks ranks for any reason is risking reprisal. So, in addition to getting his name mentioned in the news as a thinker, he is also likely getting his name mentioned in GOP circles as a traitor. To us, this makes it less likely (though certainly not impossible) that this is all a game being played by Voinovich.

In addition, most of the media coverage we've heard about Voinovich has been of the "freak show" variety, in the same vein as our post above. So, it's been less about what a great guy he is, and more about how odd this type of behavior is for a Republican. This doesn't sound like a good PR campaign in action....

As we said, we aren't singing this guy's praises — at the end of the day, his voting record still makes us dislike his policies — but we do believe that if he really is engaging his brain, it is worth a mention. Time will tell.

So, if he is a freak show... do we want to say he was actually thinking here or was he just acting, well, freaky???

Or is that what it takes for a Rep. to actually think? Freaky behavior?

Thinking is freaky for the Republicans these days. The religious zealots who control the party don't generally cotton to individual thought, and they usually react harshly toward people who break ranks. As a result, the GOP faithful generally vote in a block, regardless of the issue.

Was Voinovich actually thinking? It looks like it, but only time will tell.