Bush predicts Miers confirmation (Experts hopelessly stuck in Harriet Quag-Miers)

Reuters ^ | Friday, October 7, 2005 | By Thomas Ferraro

[Right_in_Virginia]

How do we know we can trust you on this one?

Check out the President's previous choices for court appointments. It will mean some effort...but, it will be well worth it.

BTW, if you won't put in the effort....please stop putting in the posts.

[RobbyS]

Good list. The hard truth is that there is a liberal faction in the Republican caucus.

[dc-zoo]

That was absolutely fantastic Juan. Best I've seen yet. You made our day.

[dc-zoo]

Sorry.. I meant to say "John".

[RobbyS]

Overturning Roe will require the right case brought by attorneys armed with good arguments. Even a Court eager to reverse needs a lot of legal cover.

[dc-zoo]

Exactly. I've lost respect for a lot of pundits and talk show hosts lately. The way some are trashing this woman is disgusting. At least Rush said he has nothing against her and did not denigrate her.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Bush has a record of appointing excellent conservatives to the bench, so why trust him now?

Sour grapes? Good stuff as always, John.

Have a great weekend as well.

[DrDeb]

AWESOME POST!!

Before this nomination, I had no idea that so many rightwing pundits are actually more ELITIST (an 'Ivy League' euphemism for BIGOTED) than the Chomsky-ites I've battled every day during my 20-year career as a professor/administrator at some of the 'best' universities in this country!!!!

My only request: PLEASE e-mail this rant to Coulter, Podhoretz, Crystal, Krauthammer, Ingraham, and Will.

[DrDeb]

BTW: I purposely misspelled Billy's name to underscore my particular contempt for his remarks (although the remarks from Coulter and Will have been equally disgusting)!

[jwalsh07]

Johnny, you have always been one of the most significant contributors to FR. And this is some of your best work. I know what you did for this place and I for one will always appreciate it.

Regards,
John

[RichInOC]

Heh. Well done.

I read some of the mess written on here and elsewhere about the Miers nomination, and I reflect on the fact that even in the old days in Texas, they usually gave people a fair trial before they hanged 'em.

[hsalaw]

What a great article lampooning all the doom-and-gloomers! You hit it on the head.

[Chainsawhappy Davey]

I'm ticked off by the RINOs myself, but it's a failure of nerve to duck out from nominating a true-blue conservative just out of fear of what they might do. For God's sakes, we have 55 Republican Senators and the Dems still in disarray-- a President could hardly ask for a more favorable Senate. Lest we forget, Bill Clinton chose the openly ultra-leftie Breyer and Ginsburg with a *Republican Senate* and got them both confirmed. Why the fear about nominating a tested and seasoned conservative from the bench like Luttig, Brown, McConnell or Owen? It's a lame excuse for not doing the right thing. Worst-case scenario is that the Dems filibuster, then Bush refuses to blink. So the base gets fired up and comes to Luttig's defense, the Dems look like losers stonewalling and obstructing, and eventually are forced to bend (with the nuclear option ultimately being revived if necessary). And the GOP nets even more seats in the 2006 Congressional elections. I'm basically neutral on Harriet Miers ideologically but she's just not suited to the court on practical matters. As Scalia and Clarence Thomas have both pointed out-- witnessing, as they did, the catastrophic drift of Sandra Day O'Connor and David Souter to the liberals' side-- it's not enough to be a conservative on SCOTUS. You have to be a tough, seasoned conservative with ironclad self-confidence and tremendous strength in your convictions, and that only comes with arguing numerous cases in the teeth of the liberal legal and media pressure (especially Linda Greenhouse and her flatulence in the NYT that somehow smelled so good to O'Connor and Souter) and coming out victorious. Sorry, but Miers just does not have that. I'm not even entirely sold on her ideologically. Everyone points out that she's donated $$ to Democratic campaigns, but she's also been buddy-buddy with Gloria Steinem and Susan Faludi. Do you honestly thing this would *not* play a role in a crucial decision on Roe v. Wade or affirmative action? As for her legal experience, it's been largely an act of defending... Microsoft. I have nothing against MS per se, but when it comes to deciding the crucial issues of the day, defending one of the world's richest companies with deep pockets just doesn't provide the necessary experience. What's really sending chills down my spine on the Miers nomination is the volcanic fury of Richard Viguerie. Even more than the angry criticisms bu Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh. Viguerie is *grass-roots*-- he's the guy who basically kicked off the Republican re-ascendancy with his direct mail campaign in the early 1980s, and he's been waiting almost three decades for this very moment. And instead, Bush punted on first down, with the most favorable conditions imaginable. Viguerie is so enraged-- after having already suffered the frustrations of Souter and O'Connor-- that he's moving to support a social-con third party if Miers stays in. Whether you like him or not, Viguerie is absolutely not the guy that you want to infuriate. Bush needs to withdraw the Miers nomination now. Far from fleeing a fight, he needs to engage one with this nomination.

[hsalaw]

You're right, Rush hasn't actually trashed her, but I'm getting a little tired of his going on and on about how we have to have fight about the culture of the Supreme Court, which translates to nothing more than "watch our Senators act like morons" and then hope there are enough steel-spined Republicans who will actually vote "yes" on a hotly disputed candidate.

[Chainsawhappy Davey]

I'll add-- I am heartened to hear that Miers is a born-again evangelical, but this alone says nothing about her take on constitutional issues. Remember that Jimmy Carter was also a born-again Christian, and we all know how well he turned out in the strict-constructionist-seeking department.

[maica]

Beautiful argument, John.

Hugh Hewitt has announced a website for supporting Miers. at www.beyondthenews.com

[xzins]

Outstanding, JH.

All this heat from half of conservatism must mean something is different than it appears, but I just can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's just hyper-anxiety.

[dirtboy]

For God's sakes, we have 55 Republican Senators and the Dems still in disarray-- a President could hardly ask for a more favorable Senate.

And seven of those GOP senators sandbagged their party when they tried to impose the nuclear option.

I see more disarray in the GOP Senate ranks than I do in the Dem ranks.

[Battle Hymn of the Republic]

jimmah may have said he was, but he certainly was not. Many Americas say they are believers, but do they really follow Christ?

I pray Miers is the real deal...

[MEG33]

Excellent suggestion!