I was wrong; so please join me in supporting Harriet Miers.

[B Knotts]

Wow.

Well, if he withdraws her, or if she withdraws herself, and he puts up JRB or Luttig, there are a lot of us out here who will happily go to bat for him, to help combat the DemocRATS and RINOs.

[sinkspur]

If he withdraws her, I'm done with them all.

I'm not done, but I hope Bush sticks it to these wailers by just not nominating anybody else. Let O'Connor stay, or let her go and get these 4-4 non-decisions for a year.

They are intent on humiliating Bush and Miers, and they may very well get their wish.

If they want to cripple Bush, he can just act crippled, and let the Supreme Court have eight members for the next three years.

[XJarhead]

Correct, but they should have done so with tact, and in private.

"Tact" and "Coulter" I'm not sure are two words that ever belong in the same sentence. Though technically, I suppose they weren't. Anyway, I think those initial charges by Ingraham and Coulter right off the bat needed a public response to make sure they didn't stick. I understand your point, but frankly, some of the responses have been so frothing at the mouth that not alienating those people seems about impossible at this point.

I'll give Limbaugh credit for seeing the bigger picture and backing off. It is entirely possible to disagree and express disappointment without being destructive, and that distinction apparently has been lost on some.

[sinkspur]

Frankly, I dont know how Bush fixes this.

The rats like Coulter and Frum are going to have to crawl on their bellies. That's what I would make them do, if they humiliated me and my nominee like this.

If they don't, well, the Supreme Court doesn't have to have nine members, does it? I'd tell Sandra to go home to her husband, and we'd have deadlock for three years on the SC.

[Miss Marple]

Well, here's the deal on Laura's comment, which I happened to see this morning. She was responding to Lauer's question on whether the attacks were sexist, and she said it was possible that some were.

Well, when I have time I am going to go through all of the comments from Frum, Kristol, Coulter, et al and put them together. There was a defnite hint of sexism, to my way of thinking, and although I suppose the case could be made that these were flippant comments, it did seem to me that the same type of comments wouldn't have been made about a man.

I was a geologist back when very few women were. I know that men don't always recognize offensive comments until someone points them out. I am pretty thick-skinned about stuff like that. But honestly, PD, gripes on this forum about her marital state and eyeliner were pretty sexist, if you ask me.

[Shazolene]

Good reply (#986) to a great post.
We really need to stop doing the bidding of the Dims and the MSM. We are being successfully manipulated.
Even without an 'inside' source, this scenario just makes sense.
BTTT

[Pukin Dog]

I agree that many(including myself) went a little nuts after hearing about Bush's selection and reacted before thinking.

But I don't know that Coulter, Ingraham or even 'yours truly' should be held to the same standard as the White House. They get paid to think about these things, I don't. I get paid to not make mistakes in a cockpit. On the Internet, you can expect me to sometimes be dumb as a post. Bush gets paid to not make mistakes in the White House.

[ssaftler]

Well said, Dog! My opinion is that, not only is Miers confirmable, her choice put Dirty Harry Reid in a no-win situation. Since he signed off on her, any attempts by the loony left (see Drownin' Ted, Bouncin' Check Boxer and that ilk) to stop her would make him seem as ineffective as ol' Doc Frist.

Granted, she ain't the best we could have, but one has to believe that J.P. Stevens will be outta there within the next year or two, and THEN we can go for the battle.

[Pukin Dog]

But honestly, PD, gripes on this forum about her marital state and eyeliner were pretty sexist, if you ask me.

Yes, but like I told Jarhead, we are allowed to do or say dumb things because we aint running the country. Bush, and those who speak for him are paid to get the big things right. When they dont, (or dont make a good case that they do) you can expect some of us to go off the deep end.

[XJarhead]

Fair enough. The problem is that when someone like Coulter or Ingraham goes nuts, they have an audience and their comments can generate further opposition. A private rebuttal doesn't do much to stop whatever groundswell those inflammatory comments might create.

And a pissy as the White House's reaction was, it still had some effect. It's pretty much muted the criticism about the school she went to and her gender.

[jmc813]

Now they are trashing the First Lady

You don't think that Laura's sexism comments today were moronic?

[deport]

I know that men don't always recognize offensive comments until someone points them out.

---

Probably true in many cases... I have to be hit over the head sometimes to understand... But when a woman makes the comments then it most assuredly has to be intentional or else she's dumb as a bat or maybe not feminine at all. Just my crass opinion of course.

[Always Right]

I kind of miss the part where people were trashing the first lady. Most people just thought it was a dumb response that did not help the cause.

[Miss Marple]

Well, do I get points for trying to be diplomatic? If not, I'll go with the "dumb as a bat" category. :-)

[deport]

LOL........ well this is one choice I'm not going to make but then I didn't think sexist comments to be coming from you about Ms. Miers.....

[Prost1]

I noticed you were back so I searched your name and came up with this post....

FR is so rich with threads it is hard to see all.

Years ago I met LBJ's cousin, Elie(?) Johnson "biggest drunk in Waco County!", but like his cousin a clear thinking politician. In one day I learned more about the workings of government than you can get with a BS degree.

I find nothing in your post out of context with the descriptions I received 30 years ago.

Therefore, I am persuaded by the analysis and logic.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Where do we go? Hopefully NOWHERE.

If I read your opus correctly W. made the best decision under the circumstances. If W. had a Senate with spine in it, he would possibly have chosen someone else.

I am going nowhere, I will stay Republican no matter who W. picks. I trust him to make the best decision possible.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

As you and/or Rumsfeld said, you go to war with the Senate you have, not the one you want....

I love that statement!

Says the truth very succinctly....

[pollyannaish]

I'm going to leave Ed Gillespie aside for the moment and address the Laura Bush angle.

Laura Bush is not a politician. She is a person who gets shoved in front of the train now and again in an effort to help her husband. She has made it VERY clear that she hates to speak in public, she is an introvert...and prefers the life of a quiet, well-read, librarian. She has admitted, on more than one occasion, that she's really not good at the political thing. She has fully assessed her strengths and weaknesses. But she does the required job because she loves George...and she understands honor and duty.

So, it drives me nuts when the press intentionally (and I believe it is intentional on EVERY level) to drive a wedge between her and the President...and then uses it to drive a wedge between the President and his conservative base.

On the personal wedge: It drives the press nuts that this relationship appears to be a LOVE match, not a political match. That is a very rare thing in Washington and highlights for the country to see the innate chinks in the Clinton legacy as well as the Clinton ambitions.

The enemies of the Bushes would love to do nothing more to break that particular angle...paving the way for the next Presidential race. Note that the Globe has started to pick up on this. It used to be an untouchable subject. It's only just started. We are going to hear all kinds of accusations, which will eventually seep into the mainstream press about drinking and fights and disarray. Why? Because it serves the purpose of their enemies.

Secondly, it is a cowards way to essentially use a "your momma" approach to fighting. The press tried to use Laura this morning to further hurt the President with his base. That's a pretty despicable thing to do. Even if Laura didn't help matters by falling for the bait and adding fuel to the fire, to mix my metaphors.

Finally...I don't think President Bush has any politically powerful loyalty in any sector to rely on right now. Not in the Senate, not in the house, not in the press, not in his base. He pretty much stands alone. So, in my opinion Laura's comments neither helped as the WH hoped nor hurt him as his political enemies hoped.

What he does next will. I honestly believe this situation would destroy most. I am NOT looking forward to what comes next—but I do pray for him regularly. Honestly, I think that is the last refuge the man actually has.

(Sorry for another long post on your thread. I've just had a couple weeks to step back and watch this in an attempt to get a handle on all the angles. Now, I've got a lot of words, not to mention theories, to use.)

[A Citizen Reporter]

When you go through those comments, be sure not to miss these from a transcript of an interview Frum did with Hugh Hewitt last night:

"DF: Two points. One is I think the filibuster deal was a good deal, and I think it worked for the Republicans, and we saw that with Roberts. But second, Hugh, I think we're going to discover Harriet Miers is the toughest confirmation. I don't think she's going to win, and if she does win, it's going to be after a horrific and expensive and costly political fight for the president.

HH: But I have to press you, David, because the assertion that he could have won with Luttig or McConnell is central here. I don't think they had the votes to get one of my top three. I think that what happened was a calculation, that they had to go with the best choice that they knew was acceptable, and so there's a disagreement here. I just want to know...

DF: You know, I think on that factual point, I think you're wrong. I don't think there was a calculation. Actually, I think this was a very impulsive decision.

HH: Again, I'm going back, David. I'm pushing you on the Senators.

DF: And because the vice president...look, the vice president has been under surgery. Karl Rove has been distracted by this stupid and unfair inquiry, but he's been distracted, and he's also had medical troubles. So who was making this decision? It wasn't Karl, and it wasn't the vice president. It was Andy Card and the first lady, and the president, and Condoleezza Rice.

"HH: You're taking me out on a limb, David. I'm not going to go with you. I mean, that's a big limb.