Conservatives Demand Nominee in Their Image (Supreme Court Being Declared a RINO-Free Zone)

Washington Times ^ | 10/28/2005 | Ralph Z. Hallow

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

Conservative leaders who helped force the withdrawal of Harriet Miers said yesterday that President Bush must now appoint someone whose judicial philosophy matches that of the two most conservative justices on the Supreme Court -- and said they would accept nothing less.

"We want Bush to fulfill his campaign commitment to give us a nominee like Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas," said Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly. "Conservatives have this old-fashioned notion that candidates should fulfill the promises they made once they get elected."

< /SNIP>

Yesterday, Mr. Dobson called Miss Miers' withdrawal "a wise decision" and cited news reports of a speech in which Miss Miers defended abortion rights as "self-determination."

"In recent days I have grown increasingly concerned about her conservative credentials, and I was dismayed to learn this week about her speech in 1993, in which she sounded pro-abortion themes and expressed so much praise for left-wing feminist leaders."

< /SNIP>

[Earthdweller]

"I share your commitment to appointing judges with a conservative judicial philosophy, and I look forward to continuing to support your efforts to provide the American people judges who will interpret the law, not make it. I am most grateful for the opportunity to have served your Administration and this country."

Most respectfully,

Harriet Ellan Miers

[KarinG1]

Okay, so-called conservatives have heckled from the back bench until a perfectly qualified candidate felt compelled to withdraw her nomination without being heard. At this point I wouldn't blame President Bush if he nominated Al Franken. Our president is a lot more patient than I am and certainly wouldn't do such a thing. But loyalty begets loyalty and I have seen, in recent weeks, the true colors of many of the 'supporters' of our president. I find the hypocrisy disgusting.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

so-called conservatives have heckled from the back bench

Robert Bork. Rush Limbaugh. Phyllis Schlafly. Laura Ingraham. Michelle Malkin. Mona Charen. Linda Chavez. "So-called conservatives."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooookay.

[ZULU]

Thunder on the right!!!!!!

[joesbucks]

Funny, but Dr. Dobson never let on he was concerned.

[ZULU]

Mark Levin, Ann Coulter, Krauthammer, and a flood of others.

Bush blew it with Miers. Lets hope he doesn't blow it again.

[ComputerGuy]

Excellent point. Some 'pundits' have acted as if they should have been consulted. Having a byline or radio show makes you an expert ? I think not.

[Cold Heat]

I thought they were pundits.

The day I blindly follow people who need controversy to make money, will be the day after the world comes to an end.(sarcasm)

You have to have your own understanding of political realities. there is not a single pundit that I agree with all the time. Not one and it never should be that way. They are just as wrong, as often as the guy who cleans the floor at the Piggly Wiggly.

Carry on! Just wanted to get my two cents in!

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

I thought they were pundits.

Who said they weren't? I merely let out a good, healthy bray of disbelieving horse laughter at the intellectually bucktoothed notion that they (somehow) weren't "real conservatives."

Someone gibbers something jaw-droppingly idiotic online: I point and laugh. Call it a quirk. :)

[counterpunch]

Conservative leaders who helped force the withdrawal of Harriet Miers

Conservatives didn't force the withdrawal of Harriet Miers. The impasse over privileged White House documents forced it.

Miers was an ill-advised choice because of Separation of Powers issues, and this was bound to happen no matter what pundits and special interest groups said.
The background chatter about Miers was inconsequential.

And of the criticism of Miers, all of it was focused solely on her fitness for the high Court, not about her ideology. There is no ideological litmus test for the Supreme Court, only a a question of quality and qualification. Republicans do not -- and never will -- imposed any sort of litmus test, and oppose any that others may try to apply.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
 

[Cold Heat]

He was not....Until it became convenient to do so.

He simply did what the rest of the far right has done, and that is to distance himself from the new lame duck.

No amount of sucking up after this will be viewed by the rest of the party as legitimate, so that little strange anomaly is now corrected. I could not figure out his first statements on this nomination and now I know they were not genuine to begin with.

All is back to normal on that front.

I never should have doubted his lack of integrity.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

(JRB in '05 = GOP in '06)

AWESOME tagline! :)

[dawn53]

The sad part to me is that the process has been circumvented.

We elected representatives. The President has the right to appoint whomever he sees fit. The Congress has the right to advise and consent. If conservatives didn't like Miers, and our elected representatives thought she was not fit for the SCOTUS, they should have been forced to vote her down...thus enacting the will of those who voted for them.

Truth is, the conservatives said they didn't trust Bush, but they didn't really trust the process or their elected representatives to work for them.

Those who sought a "Constitutionalist" to be appointed to the Supreme Court, then found a way around the Constitution, and the woman withdrew before even speaking a word at the hearings.

Sad day to me. Rush said, "We're now united." Yeah, until the next candidate comes along and Rush, or Schafly, or Coulter find that they didn't dot their "i's" or cross their "t's" to their liking.

[joesbucks]

Dobson, Land etal were just being water boys. I've never quite figured out what the payoff is to them, but there at some time will be one at least in their minds. They've been promised something. These guys have embraced a President that will always leave them short of their desired outcomes. I'm not saying that makes Pres Bush a bad President. I'm just saying that if this had been a dem President and had done many of the same things Bush has done, they'd be all over the dem for their actions. These guys have been promised something.

[counterpunch]

He simply did what the rest of the far right has done, and that is to distance himself from the new lame duck.

That is needless provocation. Sniping is so October 26th.
Now we're all about healing and coming together.
Please get with the program. Thanks.
 

[hershey]

No matter who gets the seat, the DC Lib establishment and MSM movers and shakers will groom him/her with cocktail party, dinner invitations, cozy phone calls, of the 'we are your new best friends...let us show you around' type...to persuade him/her to become a Lib. Sandra Day O'Connor was often seen at their soirees, and look how she turned out.

[counterpunch]

These guys have been promised something.

An audience with the President. A seat at the table. Considered input.

Just look at how Dobson and a couple other religious righties were consulted for final approval just before Miers was announced.
To me, that says these guys have lost their credibility, and no amount of cheerleading is going to get them back in the door.
 

[Cold Heat]

The dems will skewer any right wing candidate they put up, and some Repub Senators will not allow them out of committee after this.

Should they actually get through, they stand a good chance of being voted down in the full Senate until tempers cool.

In any case, the court will now go back into session with a known quantity in the retired and rehired queen of womens issues and some important issues will be coming before her.

Issues that would have been decided differently because the balance on the court is still the same as it was.

But I digress........

[porkchops 4 mahound]

What a load of hot steaming horse phuckey.

We are American Conservatives, our alliance rests with the Constitution and the interests of this nation.

"Trust me" is not going to cut it with us anymore, we are too experienced with the results of such folly.

I say put the most conservative strict constitutionalist you can find forward, then kick the demoncRATs butts till he or she moves forward.

The SCOTUS is that important.