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Good from Bad: It all could have been a strategy. It wasn't. But it would have worked as one.
National Review Online ^ | November 02, 2005 | Matthew J. Franck

Posted on 11/02/2005 3:11:30 PM PST by xsysmgr

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1 posted on 11/02/2005 3:11:31 PM PST by xsysmgr
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To: xsysmgr
"It is contrary to everything we know about George W. Bush's head and his heart to suppose that he would trifle with the future of the Court, with the feelings of his friend and close adviser, and with the sympathies of his own partisan supporters, in such cavalier fashion."

Hmmmm....

2 posted on 11/02/2005 3:18:03 PM PST by BenLurkin (O beautiful for patriot dream - that sees beyond the years)
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To: xsysmgr

Damn, they finally figured out his strategery...


3 posted on 11/02/2005 3:19:37 PM PST by BreitbartSentMe (Ex-Democrat since 2001)
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To: xsysmgr

This journalist obviously reads DU, LOL, because that is exactly what they think...Bush planned it all along.


4 posted on 11/02/2005 3:20:11 PM PST by dawn53
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To: xsysmgr

Maybe. It won't work again.


5 posted on 11/02/2005 3:21:59 PM PST by Cyber Liberty (© 2005, Ravin' Lunatic since 4/98)
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To: dawn53

"Bush planned it all along."

No way. The DUmmies really think Chimpy McHitlerburton pulled this off? Last I checked, they claimed he had the brain of an amoeba. How can this be? /sarcasm


6 posted on 11/02/2005 3:22:44 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: dawn53

"This journalist obviously reads DU, LOL, because that is exactly what they think...Bush planned it all along."

DU, the only place in the world where Bush can be a dumb Shrubby McChimp and an evil super-genius at the same time.


7 posted on 11/02/2005 3:27:38 PM PST by L98Fiero
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To: xsysmgr
Kinda the way it works when Godly people do their best, know their limits, and pray for guidance.
8 posted on 11/02/2005 3:36:26 PM PST by Carry_Okie (The fourth estate is the fifth column.)
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To: xsysmgr
The test of loyalty is who will be willing take the arrows for you. Miers is loyal to Bush to a fault.

Bush also got to see who else in movement conservatism will be loyal to a fault, as well -- that turns out to be the "Truly-Committed-Christian" Conservative base.

And Bush was willing to spend political capital to learn exactly who his friends are too. The establishment conservative talking heads had their own agenda, and many showed their true colors when it came to trusting his judgment. Bush is assured of who it is that will truly stick with him through thick and thin.

In the end I suspect he is not surprised.

He rope-a-doped his hangers-on the same way he does the libs.

Strategery = Bush gets his way when everyone else least expects it.

9 posted on 11/02/2005 3:42:00 PM PST by Agamemnon (Intelligent Design is to evolution what the Swift Boat Vets were to the Kerry campaign)
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To: L98Fiero

"DU, the only place in the world where Bush can be a dumb Shrubby McChimp and an evil super-genius at the same time."

LOL!

Hehe, they are all like Dr. Strangelove, trying to supress the Nazi salute...the inner conflict boils close to the surface...their eyes dart from side to side...we begin to hear them singing "Daisy" a la "2001-A Space Odyssey"...they look like...HOWARD DEAN!


10 posted on 11/02/2005 3:44:02 PM PST by rlmorel ("Innocence seldom utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does." Whittaker Chambers)
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To: xsysmgr
Now imagine if Samuel Alito, not Harriet Miers, had been nominated on October 3. The mere fact of his maleness would have been enough to set off the whirling dervishes of the Left, and his conservative reputation would have completed the escalation of the debate.

There's a lot of wild speculation in this article, but this point is absolutely correct.

11 posted on 11/02/2005 4:09:14 PM PST by Alberta's Child (I ain't got a dime, but what I got is mine. I ain't rich, but Lord I'm free.)
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To: Agamemnon

"many showed their true colors when it came to trusting his judgment"

You posit that Miers willingly "took the arrows" meaning that you agree that her nomination was a ploy.

But, you then condemn pundits and others, who according to you "showed their true colors when it came to trusting his judgment."

Had everyone trusted his judgement, the Miers nomination, that you consider a ploy, would have gone through.

And you still consider this a good thing? Amazing.


12 posted on 11/02/2005 4:17:47 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: xsysmgr

The ROVEEEEEEEEEEE strikes again...damn he's gooooooood!!! :)


13 posted on 11/02/2005 5:01:51 PM PST by RoseofTexas
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To: RegulatorCountry
But, you then condemn pundits and others, who according to you "showed their true colors when it came to trusting his judgment." Had everyone trusted his judgement, the Miers nomination, that you consider a ploy, would have gone through. And you still consider this a good thing? Amazing.

As the article itself implies, the strategy was to withdraw her all along in order to pave the way for Alito.

That "conservatives" couldn't trust Bush's judgment on this task, inspite of every other one of his other supurb judicial appointments for lower courts, says more about the fairweather friends he has among the ranks of those that call themselves conservatives.

He confirmed in his mind who his real allies are now, and those who are loyal and trust his judgment without having to necessarily understand it right away. As the strategy goes, he gets what he wants.

Like Reagan at Reykjavik in 1987, many conservatives didn't understand Reagan's strategy. At the time Richard Viguerie, Pat Buchanan, Howard Philips all wrote Reagan off literally using the terms "lame-duck," and "useful idiot." Reagan also demonstrated that there are those in the conservative camp who would underestimate him about as bad as the libs do.

In that way Bush is very Reaganesque, actually.

All those conservative talking heads will now line up to try to take credit for supposedly pursuading Bush to dump Miers, but like Reagan, Bush doesn't care who takes the credit for conservative successes, so long as the ball gets pushed down the field and a goal is scored.

Bush is 10 steps ahead of the glory hogs of the right and the left and his strategy is what it is: a master stroke of genius.

14 posted on 11/02/2005 5:16:19 PM PST by Agamemnon (Intelligent Design is to evolution what the Swift Boat Vets were to the Kerry campaign)
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To: Agamemnon
As the article itself implies, the strategy was to withdraw her all along in order to pave the way for Alito.

You don't know Bush very well. He would NEVER put a trusted friend of 13 years out front, in a very public way, just so he could pull the rug out from underneath her.

That's not the way Bush operates. He is neither cynical nor cruel.

15 posted on 11/02/2005 5:20:59 PM PST by sinkspur (Trust, but vilify.)
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To: sinkspur
I agree with you, but the writer does make a good point about Roberts taking Rehnquist's seat instead of the O'Connor seat. While I supported Roberts going on the court, I would have preferred that Bush not have moved him into Rehnquist's position as Chief Justice, and promoted Scalia instead to CJ.

Promoting Scalia to Chief, replacing O'Connor with Roberts, and selecting a solid proven conservative (Alito) to fill the open seat would have definitely moved the court more to the right. This was a major reason why I voted for Bush.

16 posted on 11/02/2005 5:30:14 PM PST by IndyTiger
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To: sinkspur
He is neither cynical nor cruel.

I agree. I believe that Miers was a part of formulating the strategy from the start. I don't think she felt put off by the task at all, loyally stepped to the plate to do her part when and where she was needed, and can now return to vetting future excellent court nominees like before. Nothing cruel about that at all.

One has to have a thick skin to survive in politics. She's got it for sure, as her own rise to power attests.

Don't confuse strategy with cynicism. Bush played the game, faked the pass, Miers took the tackle, and Alito the wide receiver will run it straight to the goal. That's strategic team work, not cynicism.

17 posted on 11/02/2005 5:33:48 PM PST by Agamemnon (Intelligent Design is to evolution what the Swift Boat Vets were to the Kerry campaign)
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To: RegulatorCountry

LOL!


18 posted on 11/02/2005 5:35:20 PM PST by ladyinred ("Progressive" = code word for Communist/Nazi)
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To: RegulatorCountry

Genius and Dumb. Trustworthy and Misleading.
He's everything to everyone, I guess.


19 posted on 11/02/2005 5:35:28 PM PST by Gondring (I'll give up my right to die when hell freezes over my dead body!)
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To: sinkspur
You don't know Bush very well. He would NEVER put a trusted friend of 13 years out front, in a very public way, just so he could pull the rug out from underneath her.

Wasn't she the person who was directing the search for nominees? Maybe SHE suggested this strategy, figuring that in three years, when President Bush leaves office, Le Affaire Meirs will be but a footnote to his Presidency, and she can return to her high powered career in Texas.

20 posted on 11/02/2005 5:37:29 PM PST by SuziQ
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