[conservativecorner]

How did ya feel concerning Kennedy, Souter and the rest of the home run conservaives who turned out to be closet liberals?

[ClearCase_guy]

Why is this so hard to understand?

George H.W. Bush did not know David Souter. Souter was recommended to him by others. He got burned.

George W. Bush did not want to get burned. He did want a nominee who could get on the bench. He chose someone who he KNEW. Someone he TRUSTED. This is the president who put Janice Rogers Brown on the Federal bench. He didn't want to get burned by someone he didn't know. So he chose someone very reliable. Someone he truly knew.

She is the anti-Souter.

[xzins]

Kennedy had the solid conservative credentials that everyone is clamoring for. (Wasn't he the replacement for Ginsburg, who was the replacement for Bork?)

In fact, if the Kennedy of then had been nominated instead of Miers, all of the elite conservatives would be happy. They'd think they had their guy.

Instead, Kennedy changed when he got lifetime tenure. Are their sleepers out there? You bet.

I had one guy put some lady lawyer named "Mahoney" on the list of acceptable conservatives who are supposed to be FAR BETTER than Miers. I looked up her on google and hidden in one of the links was the info that she was the lawyer who LED AND WON the Michigan State Affirmative Action case for the Democrats. Asked how that squared with her conservatism she replied that she was very comfortable WITH the result.

Sleeper?

Hmmmmm.......

[mastergibs]

Well I know how I feel beaver, good golly jee wiz, ole Reagan and Bush and Nixon got their pants pulled down by the chattering class. :0)

[cyncooper]

How did ya feel concerning Kennedy, Souter and the rest of the home run conservaives who turned out to be closet liberals?

I think (not "feel") that it proves the point that all this hysteria over Bush 43 not choosing a "known" quantity is nonsense (in that the Miers' critics think they "know" the judges on their little lists better than President Bush) as you never know who is going to turn. Reagan and Bush 41 thought they were picking solid conservative judges and they were wrong.

Miers has a proven record of making some hard calls which bodes well that GWB's confidence that she'll not change is well placed.

But at the very least, it shows that all this Bush bashing over not choosing judges you think you "know" is ridiculous.

[monday]

"How did ya feel concerning Kennedy, Souter and the rest of the home run conservaives who turned out to be closet liberals?"

George Bush is a "compassionate conservative". I don't understand why anyone thinks it is the least bit surprising that he would choose someone like Miers. She may be a bit slow, and unqualified, but she most certainly is compassionate.