Posted on 10/16/2005 10:47:24 AM PDT by Westpole
President Bush has blundered badly with the nomination of Harriet Miers. It isn't just the profound split within the Republican Party that is damaging. The presidency itself is weaken because his judgement is now doubted within his own camp. The Democrats always doubted his judgement indeed his intellect. Now the same doubts are being expressed on the right. What is it about this nomination that can so undermine the presidency. The main problem with Ms. Miers' nomination can be summed up simply, she is a "weak sister". People respect bold action even when they don't agree with it. The Democrats mostly voted for the war in Iraq even though they opposed it. A bold move by a President will usually be deferred to. But there is nothing bold in this nomination. The very character of the nominee that is emerging is that of a follower not a leader. Some may believe the strength of the oppostion to Miers comes from people with misgivings about her views on Roe or her clandistine leanings on any number of other issues. But that is not what is giving the Bush presidency problems. Mr. Bush could have gone in one of two other directions. If he nominated a conservative intellectual leader the right would have cheered and the left would have played the same cards they have over other conservative judicial nominees. Their opposition would only have made the President look stronger not weaker. Had Mr. Bush nominated say a leader with centerists or even liberal views the right may have objected but he could claim that "balance" on the court is a an important principal for American stability and his willings to put stability over his party's wishes would have made him look bold and certainly in the media wise. In either case the president would be a bold thoughtful leader. But Mr. Bush did neither. He nominated a camp follower..a weak sister who's best quality is her loyalty to him. If confirmed the Democrats would hope the loyalty was binding as long as it was convinient, whereas the right would hope she would just follow Justices Scalia and Thomas. So what Mr. Bush has done is force both sides to wonder which leader this follower will follow. No one is comfortable with making that speculation for a justice of the Supreme Court. And everyone senses a missed opportunity to increase the intellectual heft of decision-making in the country's only forum for which there is no appeal.
LOSER: One who charges blindly ahead on ground of the enemy's choosing.
I prefer to win. If it takes a stealth candidate to do so, so be it.
Sadly, in this case, conservatives are once again eating our own. The dems could not have stopped this nomination, but conservatives spoiling for a fight, regardless of the outcome, just might hand them a huge victory anyway.
If so, it will be a defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.
Condor, you are the king of free time. Then again, what am I still doing in the house?
You can count me in with the group of whiners who believe Bush made a weak nomination.
Thank you so much for the editing. You make perfect sense.!!
Yeah at times I guess. But I should be working now :-)
I have CAD drawings due that someone is going to be a tad ticked when they aren't in their email inbox tomorrow morning.
However, one advantage (or drawback) of working from home and being self employed is that - "free time" is variable. Sometimes its Monday, or Thursday, etc. Or sometimes it doesn't come for 12-14 days straight (that bites).
By "elites" I mean so called conservatives who will not owe him a chance to make the case that his nominee is who he says she is, and to listen to her Senate testimony before making a final decision about whether to oppose her.
Yeah, she's so "stealth" that she refused to join the Federalist Society, because it's a "politically charged," but then stated under oath that the NAACP was NOT politically charged.
She's so stealth that she took the pro-racial discrimination position in the Michigan educational affirmative action cases (and her side prevailed at the White House.)
She's so stealth that while other movement consevatives were actually fighting on the playing field of constitutional law, Miss Miers was leaving her mark....on the Texas Lottery Commission.
Secret agent Miers has been so stealth....but just you wait, as soon as she takes her seat on the Supreme Court, she'll be a conservative giant. Yeah, that's the ticket. Just you wait.
The 30% of Republicans/Conservatives who are against Miers are frustrated like hell about why the "sheeple" as they call people who do not agree with them, did not follow them in opposing the Miers nomination. They thought the talk show radio hosts and pundits are going to force the President to withdraw Miers nomination or bring the majority of conservatives and Republicans to their camp, they failed miserably to achieve any.
I doubt if I have posted five sentences about Harriet Miers.
We're taking about our childrens future with these decisions. Our childrens future represents the future of our nation.
You are expecting educated people to sit quietly and watch America slide into the scum bucket? Just what should people do?
You figure "30% of conservatives who are against Miers" is inadvertantly misleading. It's not as if the other %70 are pro-Miers. Most conservatives are undecided. And in my lifetime, thre has NEVER been this much conservative opposition to a Supreme Court nominee of a Republican President; not during Reagan's presidency, and not during the first Bush presidency. This bonehead Miers pick has split the Republican base, which is unprecedented in modern times. And because there are no good pro-Miers arguments, conservative opposition can only grow.
moderates did not get him elected
we elected him in 2000 for these potential SCOTUS nominations as much as anything else
Do you think that Bush will be forced to settle for someone less qualified than Miers if she isn't confirmed? Will he be forced to tap some skid row bag lady for the job? Are you saying if the Gore supporter is rejected Bush will be forced to replace her with a Kerry supporter?
If Miers manages to make SCOTUS, the victory will be all theirs ( Democrats ). Not only will they have another O'Connor ( at best ) but there will be no motivation for conservatives to vote in '06.
I did not say that 70% are pro-Miers. Do not put words in my mouth.
If they can't take the label of elite/snobs after implying that the woman is a floor scrubber, then let's give them a new one....
PUNDITBOTS comes to mind.
(Hey..fair is fair)
Prediction...
All of Frum's horses and all of Krystal's men just couldn't put Coulter back together again.
.....and now back to the sponsors of the anti-Miers champaign who are really ticked that they didn't make their brand of Kool-aide a little bit stronger.
The Federalist Society was new at the time, and was certainly politically charged (it still is). The current head of the Federalist Society strongly supports her.
Her comment about the NAACP was wrong, even then. However, the NAACP of today is MUCH MUCH worse than it was back then. If you'll recall, Presidential candidates of BOTH parties were courting favor with the NAACP at the time, and conventional wisdom at the time was that is was a legitimate organization concerned with black issues.
She's so stealth that she took the pro-racial discrimination position in the Michigan educational affirmative action cases (and her side prevailed at the White House.)
I don't know the details of the case, or the legal technicalities. I DO know that her job was to assess the legal situation, including both the actual law and the interpretations put on it by the Supreme Court, and then advise the White House on how to proceed. Without knowing the "rest of the story", it is impossible to say how this makes her look. I DO know that jumping to a conclusion without knowing the facts is unwarranted.
She's so stealth that while other movement consevatives were actually fighting on the playing field of constitutional law, Miss Miers was leaving her mark....on the Texas Lottery Commission.
She hasn't published much. So what? She was out working in the real world. I'd much rather have a Supreme Court justice who has actually had to run something.
Perhaps your complaint is that she ran a state sanctioned gambling operation, a spot she was appointed to by then Governor Bush. I don't like state lotteries, but Texas has one. Given that Texas has a lottery, are you saying Governor Bush should have appointed someone he thought would NOT do a good job?
While you're at it, you might hold her rapid rise to head of a major law firm against her as well. Or her rise to head of the Texas state bar. None of these things would give her any incentive to spend her time writing scholarly tomes for obscure legal journals. She had real work to do instead, and did it.
All in all, I'd MUCH rather have someone with real world experience than someone who's spent the last 20 years being called "The Honorable" and hearing "All rise" when she enters the room.
In you post lies the reason why you have lost the debate. You are unable to actually offer an argument. All you can do is think up names to call those who have won the debate, and who will cause president Bush to nominate a qualified person the Supreme Court. Well, I have a name for you: Sore losers. When this thing is over, you can apologize and thank more consistent conservatives for the better, actually qualified post-Miers nominee.
I was just kidding.
Thanks for engaging, and not name-calling. I think you do offer so mitigaitng factors for consideration.
I will add, however, that in the Michigan educational affirmative action cases, Miers and the rest of the White House's task was not to act as a judge and pick the position that best squares with recent Supreme Court decisions, but the choose which position to advocate as a matter of public policy. There was support in precedent for both the pro and anti-racial discrimination positions (but, I would argue that the tie-breaker should certainly have been the the actual text of the 14th Amendment, which is actually, you know, part of the constitution.) So Miers, in my opinion, in this case placed political correctness above constitutional principle.
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