In Her Own Words

CivilRights.Org ^

[sonsofliberty2000]

Republicans, who these days are as likely to be members of the corporate establishment as the evangelical establishment, are more suspicious of intellectuals and ideas, and more likely to believe that politics is about deal-making, loyalty and power. You know you are in establishment Republican circles when the conversation is bland but unifying. You know you are in conservative circles when it is interesting but divisive. Conservatives err by becoming irresponsible. Republicans tend to be blown about haplessly by forces they cannot understand.

For the first years of his presidency, George Bush healed the division between Republicans and conservatives by pursuing big conservative goals with ruthless Republican discipline. But Harriet Miers has shown no loyalty to conservative institutions like the Federalist Society. Her loyalty has been to the person of the president, and her mental style seems to be Republicanism on stilts.

So conservatives are caught between loyalty to their ideas and loyalty to the president they admire. Most of them have come out against Miers - quietly or loudly. Establishment Republicans are displaying their natural loyalty to leadership. And Miers is caught in the vise between these two forces, a smart and good woman who has been put in a position where she cannot succeed.

[MNJohnnie]

So conservatives are caught between loyalty to their ideas and loyalty to the president they admire. Most of them have come out against Miers -

Uh NO. Do NOT confuse the Punditry with the Base. They are NOT the same thing. Something the Punditry seems to have forgotten. The Base voted for Bush, not them, to be the President. This sort of arrogance is one of the reasons they are losing this argument....badly.

[flashbunny]

"This sort of arrogance is one of the reasons they are losing this argument....badly."

LOL.

So, does the winning side of an argument generally resort to tactics like:

1. Calling the opposition sexist to shut them up?
2. Calling the opposition elitist to shut them up?
3. Calling the opposition disloyal to shut them up?
4. Tell them they are 'ruining her life' to shut them up?
5. Tell them that they are hurting the war effort by criticizing the pick, in order to shut them up?
6. Insinuate that the other side is using charged "code words" in order to shut them up?

And on and on and on.

If you were able to step back from the fray, you'd be able to see what is going on. One side has resorted to the old liberal tricks in order to stifle an issue based debate. And it's not the 'questioning miers' side...because they're not the ones losing.

"Just shut up and take it" is generally not the tactic used by the people on the winning side of a debate.

[dirtboy]

But Harriet Miers has shown no loyalty to conservative institutions like the Federalist Society.

No loyalty?

She praised the Federalist Society in a speech. And said she had several members on her staff.

It's one thing to have an opinion. It's another to promulgate false claims.

[ClaireSolt]

Ditto, and right on. I. for one. support the constitution and it does not give Bill Cristal a say in the process, beyone his rights to free press and speech. It empowers our representatives, the president and the senate.

[G.Mason]

Free Republic Opinion Poll: Do you approve of Harriet Miers for Supreme Court?

Composite Opinion
Yes	34.2%		2,462
Need more info	31.4%		2,256
No	29.3%		2,104
I'm voting Hillary!	3.2%		228
Pass	1.9%		139
	100.0%		7,189
Member Opinion
Need more info	38.4%		1,201
Yes	30.8%		964
No	26.8%		837
Pass	2.2%		69
I'm voting Hillary!	1.8%		56
	100.0%		3,127
Non-Member Opinion
Yes	36.9%		1,498
No	31.2%		1,267
Need more info	26.0%		1,055
I'm voting Hillary!	4.2%		172
Pass	1.7%		70
	100.0%		4,062

[ More Opinion Polls · Return to Forum ]

For the poll lovers out here ... seems more than 65 % are in favor, or want the hearings.

How can that be? I mean Harriet owns a .45.

[L98Fiero]

1. Calling the opposition sexist to shut them up?

No one called anybody "sexist". It was stated as "possible" that some critics were sexist. It is possible.

Never heard of any of that other stuff.

[Stellar Dendrite]

wrong, ed gillespie called critics sexist and elitist

[Stellar Dendrite]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=156238

Harriet Miers for Associated Justice:
On the heels of the Judiciary Committee staffers appearing in the New York Times and Washington Times on Wednesday, a Federalist Society member sent the following signal to ABC News:

Federalist Society types are ready to launch a coup. They have started whispering awful things about Miers. The Federalist Society types are just now reaching the point of wanting to talk on background.

The whispering started on Monday, but has revved up.

They are willing to talk.

Federalist Society types who are not in the Senate don't get to vote on the nomination, of course. But if the whispers get louder from a key Administration ally on judicial nominations, perhaps some Senators may listen. That could be ominous.

[A.Hun]

You are hardly one to talk about tactics.

A pox upon you!

[MNJohnnie]

Establishment Republicans are displaying their natural loyalty to leadership

Ah NO, the ESTABLISHMENT ARE the ones having the Miers hissy fit. People like Kristol, Buchannan, Coulter, Malkin, Ingraham, Wills, Wall Street Journal, National Review et al. But that's right, wouldn't do to confuse the Hate Bush Crowd with the facts. They all view themselves as the "counter culture" and will be shocked to discover that what they really are is the kook fringe. They are becoming the Political Right's equivalent of the Left's Moveon.org crowd.

[sonsofliberty2000]

I say it is time to put up a new poll, remove the Need More Info, and see what we think now.

[flashbunny]

No, it was during the ed gillespie press conference...and floated as one of the 'talking points' used to defend miers.

As to the other ones, you just need to read some of the threads...those are just some of the thing I've seen directed towards critics of this pick.

Hell, one poster even said Laura Ingrahm was opposing the pick because her fiancee dumped her while she was undergoing cancer treatment, so she was bitter and hateful and taking it out on the president. Probably one of the most vile things I've ever read here.

[RichInOC]

She made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

:-J

[flashbunny]

"A pox upon you!"

Wow, clever. But thanks for illustrating my point!

Thing is, I'm doing the same thing I've always done and directed towards liberals. So are people like rush, steyn, coulter, noonan, will, national review, etc. Insisting on high standards, accountability, and pointing out hypocrisy.

Only the target has changed. However, because the target is now the president, some people just can't abide that...apparently they think GWB should never be criticized.

If you look at the tactics of the left, and see which side has adopted them, it's not the side that is questioning miers. The "don't you dare question the president" side has adopted the lockstep mentality of the clintonites in refusing to accept criticism of their leaders.

BTW, check out my sig line. Do you wish a pox on the freeper who posted that comment?

[Leonine]

IS Bush conservative? Our mind is consterned at Laura calling those of us who want Brown or Owen sexist. Our money wonders at throwing cash without accountability at "decades" of socialist failure in LA, calling it racism: "As all of us saw on television, there's also some deep, persistent poverty in this region, as well. That poverty has roots in a history of racial discrimination."

[auboy]

But if the whispers get louder from a key Administration ally on judicial nominations, perhaps some Senators may listen. That could be ominous.

LOL. Whisperers.

[G.Mason]

"She made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

You too?

These anti-hearing, I'm gonna vote for Hillary, Bush is a traitor types may just be right. ;)

[L98Fiero]

"wrong, ed gillespie called critics sexist and elitist"

While I support the president's pick, I think Ed is just wrong. I don't doubt that SOME of the critics are sexist and elitist but I think they would be a VERY small minority.

Personally, I defer to the President on this one since he knows her much better than any of her detractors. My faith in the President on this matter may come back to bite me in the future and if that happens I will consume copious amounts of crow.

As an aside, I do find it somewhat funny that, concerning Miers, some posts here seem to mirror posts at Daily KOS.

[G.Mason]

Was that a coded message?

Aw come on, you can tell me. ;)