Bush must have stayed up late studying Zun Tsu the great military tactician of ancient China. His strategies are still taught at the war college today.
It is better to win the war without having to fight a battle. Use your enemies weakness against them and you remain strong while they grow weaker. A battle results in both sides being weakened regardless of the outcome.
There is no doubt Harriet Miers is a conservative. Bush has known and worked with her for too long to not know her core values. The Dems can't effectively attack her without over playing their hand and alienating more of the moderates in the electorate which would kill them in the mid-term elections. So, barring some unforeseen revelation, Miers is in, and Bush doesn't have to replace one of the staunch conservatives on the appeals court, conserving and area of strength.
The anger being expressed by conservatives isn't about Harriet Miers bonifides as a conservative. It is about not having a big fight in the Senate. Well, we don't need that fight. No one really knows what the fallout of such a fight would be and unexpected consequences (not necessarily good) are likely. The smart strategist keeps backing the opposition up; not into a corner where they are forced to fight for their lives, but over the edge of the table when they don't see it coming.
Unless someone can convince me of a reason why Bush would suddenly drop his convictions over what type of Justice he would appoint, this move borders on brilliant. That is if the people on his team will stop and use a little logic before they go around shooting each other in the foot.
So is Bush nominating a conservative or someone who thinks like him? They are not the same.
"The anger being expressed by conservatives isn't about Harriet Miers bonifides as a conservative. It is about not having a big fight in the Senate."
I think you hit the nail on the head, here. After all the Sheehanigans, the hysteria of the media on Katrina, the negative reporting on the WOT, the anti-American "piece-of-sh*t" march, and every other attack on Pres. Bush and other conservatives, I think we just want to hit back and were itching for a big fight on this, just to have a big fight. But, as Rush noted, it's the Senate and I worry about those RINOS.
I disagree with that assumption...I bet if Gonzales views on abortion weren't know Bush could have and would have just as easily rewarded him instead.
Bush must have stayed up late studying Zun Tsu the great military tactician of ancient China. His strategies are still taught at the war college today.
As for me, I prefer General Patton over Zun Tsu...I believe it was Patton who said to 'Always Take the Offensive - Never Dig In!'