I certainly hope you are more proficient in the world of politics than you are on animal herds.
Posted on 10/12/2005 12:05:33 AM PDT by Ol' Sparky
Dobson: What Rove Said About Miers
In his radio program, the Focus on the Family founder reveals what reassured him about the Supreme Court nominee
By MIKE ALLEN
Posted Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2005
Trying to reassure his flock about the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers, James C. Dobson set off a firestorm last week when he said that Karl Rove had told him some things he "probably shouldn't know" that led him to believe Miers "will be a good justice." With the Right on a rampage over what some saw as a betrayal, Dobson spoke of "things that I'm privy to that I can't describe because of confidentiality." Had Dobson received an assurance from Rove that Miers, now the White House counsel, would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade? Democrats suspected so, and said they would call Dobson as a witness at her confirmation hearing, which is likely to begin late this month or in early November.
Facing increasing criticism, Dobson announced he would come clean on his Wednesday radio program. In a transcript of the show recorded Tuesday, he says Rove has given him permission to make public their conversation, which occurred two days before Bush's announcement. In brief: Rove assured him Miers was a strong Evangelical Christian—and that some other female candidates supported by the Right had withdrawn their names from consideration.
According to Dobson, Rove said the President "was looking for a certain kind of candidate, namely a woman." Rove added that Miers "was at the top of the short list of names under consideration," but that others had withdrawn from consideration. "Some of the other candidates who had been on that short list, and that many conservatives are now upset about, were highly qualified individuals that had been passed over," Dobson says. "What Karl told me is that some of those individuals took themselves off that list and they would not allow their names to be considered, because the process has become so vicious and so vitriolic and so bitter, that they didn't want to subject themselves or the members of their families to it."
It's hard to overstate the power of Dobson's voice among social conservatives, making him a real life raft for the White House at a time when many in the movement have greeted the pick with skepticism, disdain and outright opposition. A licensed psychologist and former professor of pediatrics, Dobson is perhaps best known in the secular world for his 3-million-seller "Dare to Discipline." His official biography says he has "consulted with President George Bush on family related matters." Focus on the Family says he is heard on 2,000 radio stations in the U.S., and is heard by more than 200 million people around the world every day.
Dobson says on Wednesday's "Focus on the Family" broadcast the information from Rove that reassured him was "what we all know now: that Harriet Miers is an Evangelical Christian, that she is from a very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life, that she had taken on the American Bar Association on the issue of abortion and fought for a policy that would not be supportive of abortion, that she had been a member of the Texas Right to Life." Even so, Dobson says, “Rove didn't tell me anything about the way Harriet Miers would vote on cases that may come before the Supreme Court. We did not discuss Roe v. Wade in any context or any other pending issue that will be considered by the court."
Miers still has strong public backing from the White House. On Tuesday, the President and the First Lady teamed up for a vigorous defense of Miers in a live interview with Matt Lauer of NBC's "Today" show at a Habitat for Humanity site in Louisiana, with Laura Bush saying that the nominee is "very deliberate and thoughtful, and will bring dignity to wherever she goes." Republicans say there is no chance Bush will yank the Miers nomination of his own accord. But some influential Republicans said there is a small chance she will survey the flak ahead and decide to withdraw on her own.
This article contains a direct quote from President Bush promising to appoint "strict constructionists":
http://polazzo.stuysu.org/can_bush_deliver_a_conservative.htm
But in the debates Al Gore made up the quote, "in the mold of Scalia . . . " out of whole cloth. Bush never said it. At least I haven't been able to find it.
I certainly hope you are more proficient in the world of politics than you are on animal herds.
Would you be so kind as to quote the source of that?
Thanks.
The day I can truthfully claim to have accomplished a hundredth of the good Dobson has done, is the day I can die with a broad grin on my face.
Especially given the way the weak kneed Republicrats handled the Democratic Party memos -fired the staff aids
and helped suppress the content -- I see no reason to expect the Republicans to grow juevos and ever stand for anything-they've been playing queerguns with the Democrats far too long.
Great tagline!
I think his meaning depends on that saying that used to crop up here a lot: "Herding Democrats is liking herding sheep; herding Republicans is like herding cats." Sometimes added: "Herding Libertarians is unheard of!" He understands all too well what herding cats is like.
These are the realities to deal with.
"It's outrageous that Bush is getting away with this."
Ummmm, you know don't you it's his CONSTITUTIONAL responsibility and his alone? Nowhere does it say he must consult anyone he doesn't choose to.
We will NOT get a Luttig or a Brown or an Owens (who indeed withdrew) if Miers is torpedoed. Period.
But your problem is you don't want to wait for the debate (the hearings). You want the nomination dead before the trial. Not very smart.
Now, that, in my mind, leaves the only questions as the "war on terror" and immigration---biggies, no doubt, but still if I could be guaranteed the "right" votes on 5/6 issues, I'd have to support that person for a justice.
And everytime anyone talks about Miers it is "an originalist" in the "mold of Scalia and Thomas." I don't think that means their intellectual equal, but "on the same side of the issue." That's pretty clear to me.
Have ya'll noticed the FRpoll lately, it's almost completely even, For, Against,or Maybe with more info. We could argue this until the cows come home wiht little or no result. LETS WAIT TO SEE WHAT COMES OUT OF THE HEARINGS
I want to know why the heck Dobson is involved in discussions over Supreme Court nominees to begin with? If he were a liberal and the President was a Dem we would be shouting from the rooftops about how inappropriate this is.
So sad.
LOL! After I posted, I wondered if I could have missed something in your tone (which can be hard to read -- easier to catch by ear). Sorry if I took you too literally (but you did sound to me as if you took the other poster too literally!)
In post #37 you state ... "What Bush DID say was that he intended to appoint Supreme Court justices "... in the mold of Scalia and Thomas...""
Would you have a link to a verifiable source that references that quote?
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