The problem, as Dr. Sowell points out, is with the Senate.
I am concerned about other things, however. If the President is perceived as weak, we will have trouble getting other things passed, like permanent tax cuts. I also am concerned that terrorists will use this time to push against us in Iraq and that the left will use it to try to force a withdrawal because of a lack of public support.
If a conservative acceptable to the Miers critics is nominated, we will have a large-scale battle in the Congress. Whether this is a good thing for the country, I do not know. I don't have all of the poll information, security reports, and White House political assessments of the Senate.
We are in a war, and I do not think it helpful to have the President look weak. I would prefer that the blame and perception of weakness fall on those actually responsible...the Senators.
Then again, too much pressure on some Senators could send them into the opposite camp. And some Senators might be defeated in 2006, losing us the majority. While I don't claim that this Senate has been particularly effective, we certainly wouldn't profit from a democrat Senate which would block ALL nominations, prevent needed legislation, and initiate non=stop Senate investigations which would be given heavy coverage on all the TV channels.
This nomination process is not an easy one, and I don't envy the President. Those who think it is simple are not looking at the political consequences realistically.
What?
What good is a "majority" if the "majority" are RINOs?
Better a minority with spine than a majority without spine.
I hope many of you learned after the Miers episode that it is time for activists to fight for conservative causes, not for "majorities", since "majorities" today means RINOs.
Conservative voters elected a left leaning president in George Bush, and leftists like McCain, Dewine, Collins, Hagel, SnoweJob, Chafee, et al. The voters in this nation are far more conservative than the RINOs we elect. As such, we need to fight for our causes and STOP believing that the people we elect will do the fighting for us. It has been shown so many times that they will not fight for us, so we need to carry the fight ourselves.
True conservatives on Free Republic, Michelle Malkin, Charles Krauthammer, Ann Coulter, George Will, Peggy Noonan and a multitude of other conservative commentators put the Miers nomination by Bush in the dumpster, thank God. It was the "Consenus Bush" who selected her, and it would have been the RINO Republican Senators who would have confirmed her had we not saved the day.
Had it not been for true conservatives like some of us here on Free Republic and these national figures, we would have gotten another Souter-style justice likely.
Any conservative who puts faith into George Bush or the Republican Senate needs a reality check. The fight needs to be taken at the grassroots level until these RINOs start understanding that the voters are conservative and, hopefully, they then start acting like a conservative president and a conservative Senate.
We true conservatives need to take pride that we caused a major change in the USA with the quashing of Miers, but we need to do the same on other critical issues. Bush and the Republican'ts will not do it for us.
I agree with everything you say- but if Bush doesn't nominate a strong conservative, that's a weak stance in itself.
Let the Senate take their expected position. The nominee him/herself will do just fine making them out to be buffoons the same way Roberts did. People aren't stupid. They know when someone is a decent nominee.
The Senate could effectively filibuster lower court nominees because those hearings aren't covered as heavily. But with the SC, everyone will see the slimy political crap, if the libs choose to go there.
After all is said and done, sticking boldly to principle is the best strategy. Sure, you have to choose your battles, but this is definitely one worth choosing.