I definitely do not think that the Miers nomination was an intentional ploy. However, Bush recognized the error and quickly recouped with the Alito nomination.
Would that something similar had happened in the Reagan Administration.
I don’t know. I mean, he did what he was supposed to do, he nominated conservatives to the bench. That is a good thing, and it is a good thing that neither Gore nor Kerry is president. I suppose, I don’t think he deserves extra credit for doing the bear minimum that a GOP president ought to do. Don’t forget, if he had his way Harriet Miers would have been on the court.
I know it makes conservatives feel better and angers the Bush Derangement Syndrome sufferers (always good in my book) to say that the Miers thing was a head-fake, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t. Both Republicans and Democrats acted like Miers was an idiot. Would she really sacrifice her reputation for a SCOTUS head-fake?
Strategery...
An interesting take on the situation. I’m not convinced Miers was a fake-out, but it would be nice if it turns out she was.
Interesting.
I think that is a good representation of Bush’s style all along. Even his support of more spending, in his mind, is couched in spending more, but less than what the dems would do. Not saying I agree with that, but in his mind he is making it lower than it otherwise would have been. Same with specific legislation. He has always been better as a counter puncher. I think after 2004 they lost their way in terms of PR because with the GOP in control, they lost the ability to counterpunch when Kerry wasn’t around stepping on his own tongue.
Also I think it will be revealed in future years that there was a far more complex plan afoot with Iraq in regards to Iran. I think he will be proven right on the War on Terror, even if its after he is dead.
I can argue with him over the way afghanistan and Iraq were prosecuted technically, but as a broad strategy I think its brilliant. A sitting president can never voice anything remotely resembling the “flypaper” strategy. Its just unseemly in this political environment. But I hope that the bravery of our Armed Forces will be held in high regard by future generations, despite the popularity of the President.
The biggest crime of all is that the hideous left is succeeding in, temporarily I hope, painting our fallen as WASTED lives. That does them an injustice.
It was God’s plan - no more, no less
Harriet Miers fiasco was not intentional and this Court is at least 4-5 for Roe v. Wade. Kennedy is on record supporting Roe, and we still aren’t sure if Alito and Roberts would go that far. We still need to replace one liberal justice to have any shot at putting a stake in Roe.
I don’t know that the Miers nomination was a ploy that in depth on W’s part, however, I do think he’s a very shrewd operator and recognized an opportunity which he wisely took.
Dear Friends, We already knew how important this election was for every American. Yesterday, the Supreme Court raised the stakes even higher.
The Court took a dramatic departure from decades of rulings that upheld a woman's right to choose and recognized the importance of women's health. Let's be clear: this allows the government to dictate to women what they can and cannot do about their own health.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg disagreed with this decision and warned, "This cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this court -- and with increasing comprehension of its centrality to women's lives."
When the Senate debated the nominations of Samuel Alito and John Roberts to the Supreme Court, I spoke out on the Senate floor about the danger they posed to our constitutional liberties, including the right to choose. I urged my colleagues to reject them, and I voted against both of them. Yesterday, unfortunately, we saw the consequences of failing to stop their confirmations.
The decade of work that the far right has done to chip away at our rights was paid off in this Supreme Court decision. They worked hard to gain the presidency and the Senate so they could shape a Supreme Court that rewarded them by putting a narrow ideology above our constitutional rights. In their ruling, the conservative majority even used right-wing code language, referring to obstetricians as "abortion doctors."
There's one way we can respond: redouble our efforts to win the White House and more seats in the House and Senate. We need a president who understands that the best way to protect women's health and reduce the number of abortions is to expand access to family planning -- not to threaten doctors and patients. We need a Congress that will say no to rolling back the rights of women.
And here is my promise to you: As a senator, I will do everything I can to make sure women can protect their health, and when I am president, I will treat the health and well being of women and our constitutional rights once again as true American values.
I hope you'll pass this message along to your friends and talk with them about why this issue is important to you. I'll follow up with you soon with ways you can take direct action to protect our right to choose.
Sincerely,
Hillary Rodham Clinton
I voted for the President twice, and I’m not going to sugar coat it, he’s been a disappointment in his second term in my view.
Harriet Miers marks the moment the wheels came off.
That said, his Presidency will be treated kindly by historians a few decades from now, when the aging liberals rants won’t penetrate six feet of dirt above their heads.
And no matter what any of us think, he’s changed the USSC from left of center to right of center.
Not bad, not bad at all.
Great article.
It has been reported that Bush could skin his frat brothers alive in poker, and that he could bluff like B’rer Rabbit. I choose to believe this Harriet Miers head-fake in light of that. I also love the way the White House releases thousands and thousands of documents on Friday evenings whenever the Dems are demanding substantiation. They really know how to ruin a staffer’s weekend.
He wanted Miers on there.
It seems to have been hatched by Bush loyalists who couldn't bear the thought that the outcry from the right sank the Miers nomination and gave us Alito.
All the same, even with Miers I believe the President was clumsily trying to keep faith with pro-life voters. His fear of another Souter led him to pick someone he knew well and believed he could count on to vote against Roe.
I love how Dingy Harry is fit to be tied by political means, over this ruling, which he voted for in the first place.