Posted on 10/12/2005 9:40:01 AM PDT by West Coast Conservative
President Bush said Wednesday that Harriet Miers' religious beliefs figured into her nomination to the Supreme Court as a top-ranking Democrat warned against any "wink and a nod" campaign for confirmation.
"People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers," Bush told reporters at the White House. "Part of Harriet Miers' life is her religion."
Bush, speaking at the conclusion of an Oval Office meeting with visiting Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, said that his advisers were reaching out to conservatives who oppose her nomination "just to explain the facts." He spoke on a day in which conservative James Dobson, founder of Focus on Family, said he had discussed the nominee's religious views with presidential aide Karl Rove.
I love this president- and have been determined to wait til the hearings to make up my mind about this nomination. I find this attempt to reassure or explain, is having the opposite effect on me.
I'm very disturbed to hear him say this.
"In five words why are you against Harriet Miers nomination?"
Five words? That's silly. You believe that the reasons behind the choice of someone to serve at least 20 years on the highest court in the USA can be reduced to five words?
I'm afraid you're taking all of this far too casually. There is more at stake here than what you think Miers' vote on Roe v. Wade might be.
Every decision the SCOTUS takes has lasting effects. We do not know what Miers' knowledge of and attitute towards the Constitution is. She has no experience with constitutional issues. That, in my opinion, is unacceptable.
President Bush can help us here by defining the reasons she should be confirmed. So far, he has not done that.
Will this finally FINALLY convince the leftists that conservatives are not interested in theocracy? (Probably not, unfortunately)
This is what it is starting to look like:
you are not alone....
this nomination is a fiasco.
Apparently her qualifications for the highest office in the land are:
1. She a woman. (meets a quota)
2. She's a Christian. (well, so are most of my friends, but I wouldn't put those guys on the supreme court.)
Other than that, there is absolutely nothing to to merit her selection to the supreme court.
I suspect Bush will push on, and then Dems and a sizeable number of Republicans will reject her nomination, and they will be right to do so.
In any event, the "political capital" the President won after reelection is slowly trickling away. Remember, we have the 2006 elections in which the dems could very well take one branch of congress, and then it's on to election 2008.
In a nutshell, the president has about a year and a half left in order to really set the agenda.
Instead of doing that, he's shooting himself in the foot live on tv.
Unknown, Unknowable, Unqualifed, YES girl
Some trap:
Senator: "Ms. Miers, how do you interpret Article VI, clause 3 of the Constitution?"
All they have to do is cite the constitution and ask a professed originalist what her opinion is on religious tests. Either she's against her own nomination (with W's words in quotes), or she's proven to be a phony originalist. They don't have to utter the word "religion" to back her into a corner.
Technically, Unqualified is incorrect I will replace it with UNDERqualified.
No surprise either that only women were considered. So much for MERIT.
The president gets to do the nominating. He chooses those who impress him for a variety of reasons. By "her religion," he meant her dedication and strong beliefs. It had shaped an exemplary character, and the president responded to that.
No, because GWB has not required Harriet to take any type of religious test. This is merely his preference as he is entitled under Sec 2, Clause 2
If that's what he said exactly, it's not so bad. He doesn't say "because" anywhere. He's using that rambling style of his, lots of politicians do it, speaking in media-digestible bites that can be loosely connected logically. Sounds like he's just trying to round out her image with basic human-interest stuff. And after all, in that regard, religion IS important in her life.
However, given the way the media tore Bennett to ribbons, I'm sure they can spin this comment into an impeachable offense.
Well, to be strict, you have to go to the original meaning of "test." It has to do with doctrine, not affiliation. Under the 1678 act, even an Anglican who subscribed to transsubstantiation could not hold public office in England.
How much more damage does the Bush administration hope to inflict upon the Republican Party?
Miers needs to go, ASAP.
He says he did consider her religious faith when selecting Miers.
Excellence is dead. The Constitution is dead. Facts are dead. No men need apply. Squishy impressions are IN. "Trust me" is IN. Smearing folks as "sexist" is IN. Innuendo is IN.
And as the caller to Rush just pointed out, Exodus Ministries works with convicts. Exodus International works with ex-homosexuals. When I discovered the disparity, I immediately suspected Bush deliberately mentioned Exodus Ministries as a smokescreen to send a "signal" to elements of the base that Miers is "true blue" expecting they'd mistake it for the ex-gay group.
So you think that if a person lives his life based on a philosophy he learns reading the gospels, that person is an idiot?
You think that Jesus was a second-rate hack, or that his teachings have no bearing on how we could live better lives?
Even if Jesus was just a man with a following, the teachings attributed to him define an excellent philosophy of life.
What's the Japanese term for falling on your sword to save a superior from destruction at his own hand?
She is not qualified. Period.
"I immediately suspected Bush deliberately mentioned Exodus Ministries as a smokescreen to send a "signal" to elements of the base that Miers is "true blue" expecting they'd mistake it for the ex-gay group."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.