Posted on 10/09/2005 3:28:25 PM PDT by Pukin Dog
I decided to end my self-imposed exile from posting due to information that I received this past weekend from ‘a little birdie’ in Washington, which I subsequently had confirmed by another ‘insider’ if you can call him that.
You know I won’t tell, so don’t bother asking me for names, links, or further information. I trust these individuals, and have received accurate information from them before and shared it here on Free Republic. Of course, all are free to either accept or reject what I am about to share, but if you know anything about the Dog, I don’t change my mind often, and my only goal is to pass on information that can help support the Conservative agenda.
Issue 1.
Information was shared with me on Saturday, which described in no uncertain terms that Harriet Miers stands as the only nominee on Bush’s list which has any chance of confirmation by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The reasons for this are numerous, and would be embarrassing to the Conservative movement should one or many of the ‘stars’ who we hoped Bush would select be shot down in Committee, which again, if true, would be a certainty.
More than one of the persons we might have wanted made it clear to the President that they would not accept his nomination if selected. You can draw your own conclusions as to why, but the only hint I will provide is that data mining works too damn well these days. What we saw back when Clarence Thomas was nominated would seem like a walk in the park, compared to what would be done to some of our most popular jurists.
Our Democrat opponents have been quite busy, especially after John Roberts embarrassed them, searching for any information that would allow an open personal attack on a nominee. Sadly, many of the folks we wanted badly would have had their lives destroyed had they attempted confirmation to the bench, and wisely declined. There is no one among us who has not done (or had a family member do) things that we either regret, or would rather keep to ourselves. Because none of us are perfect, it is possible that had one of our choices been selected, we might have lived to regret that day for a very long time.
Issue 2.
Arlen Specter is in my opinion, a traitor to the Conservative movement. He has made it clear to the White House that he is determined to protect his legacy, by NOT supporting any name among those who might make it possible to overturn Rowe V. Wade. What that means, is that had Bush put up someone who might make us proud, Specter reneged on a PROMISE to support Bush’s judicial nominees in return for his, (and especially Rick Santorum’s) support for his re-election. This promise was made when there was strong consideration for removing Specter’s pending chairmanship in favor of John Coryn, or an extension to the term of Orrin Hatch.
The removal of Specter from the Chairmanship would have been disastrous, because he would have remained a committee member, and would have sided with Democrats against the President’s selections out of spite. So, why not simply remove Specter from the committee? That would have been really bad PR, considering Specter’s health issues at the time these decisions were being made.
One could argue that it might have been best to send up nominee after nominee, even if eventually defeated, but remember that O’Conner is only around hoping for a quick confirmation so that she can be with her ill husband. Bush was under the gun to come up with a confirmable candidate, or risk a Supreme Court not running at full strength as important rulings came under review.
I am told that Arlen Specter has gone back on every single promise he made when his chairmanship was still a question, and feels untouchable now that he is ill, because any punitive measures taken against him would be seen as ‘less than compassionate’ by the MSM and Democrats, who admittedly would have a field day, were Specter punished for his duplicity. The sad thing is that after “Scottish Law” or even the “Magic Bullet theory” that some think that anything that Arlen Specter says can be trusted. Sure, he supported Clarence Thomas, but does anyone believe that Specter would still be a Senator if he had not?
Issue 3.
Let’s face it; our Republican Senate is an embarrassment. From the weakness of Frist, to the petulance of the dude who ‘thinks he is leader’ McCain, down to his McCainiac compadre Lindsey (tinker-bell) Graham, to the nut from Mississippi who thinks he can actually get his leadership position back by actively rebelling against the President, we aint looking to good at all.
Our Republican Senate has as members at least 7 Democrats who could have never gotten elected as Democrats, who nonetheless support the Democrat agenda whenever they can get away with it, which unfortunately due to the weakness of Frist, is all too often. I find myself wishing Tom Delay would run for the Senate against Hutchinson, just so we can have someone in the Senate not afraid to break some heads to get things done. Why can’t we have a Republican Lyndon Johnson when we need one?
Because our Republican Senate is so weak, President Bush cannot rely on them for much. He could not have gotten majority support in this current Senate for any judicial nominee that would have made us proud. The usual suspects have made it clear to the President that any nominee who would have put their re-election prospects at risk would vote against that nominee. The bottom line, is that the Republican Senate is made up of too many who want the job, but not the work. The only job they see before them is that of getting re-elected to another six year term.
Luttig, McConnell, JRB, Owen, Alito, or anyone else you want to name, would have been defeated, and probably defeated in committee, in order to save other Senators from having to vote them down on the floor. Of this, I am now convinced. Only two names were considered allowable for Senate confirmation; Miers and Gonzales. When Bush met with Senators, he was reportedly told that these two names were the only ones that stood a chance to be confirmed, but Gonzales would face pointed questions about Abu Gharab, Gitmo, and the administration’s policy on torture. It would have been ugly, but he would have been confirmed against the added damage done by dejected a dejected conservative base, and liberal attacks on the President’s agenda. There would have also had to be a new search for an Attorney General, which would have been just as ugly.
Had Bush put up selections that would have been defeated, the chorus of ‘Lame Duck’ chanting coming out of Washington would have drowned out the President’s agenda. A defeat in the Senate would have also signaled to Congress that they were on their own, and no longer had to back up, support, or even listen to President Bush. They would have been free to play the political-calculation game that the Democrats have been playing for 6 years; avoiding tough votes that would be used against them in a future campaign.
So, what’s the bottom line?
The bottom line is that Bush did his best to give us what we want, in a way that will not hurt the prospects of the Conservative agenda. The primary thing that must be considered, is that the Congress can NEVER be put back in Democrat hands, for that would destroy all progress made up to now. Our day will come, but this aint it. If we had a Republican Senate made up of real patriots without the odd liberal in Republican clothing, things would be a lot better.
In Miers, Bush has clearly taken what he can get, and our best hope now is for another vacancy on the court before this administration’s term is up. The current makeup of the Congress will just not allow our agenda to be passed at this time without major sacrifices and pragmatic thinking to overcome the inherit weakness of having traitors in our midst.
It appears to me that Harriet Miers is the best CONFIRMABLE candidate for the Supreme Court at this time. This fact is not the fault of the President. Indeed it is OUR fault. It is us who have supported less than the best candidates for the Senate. We are responsible for Chaffee, Snowe, McCain, Graham, Lott, Frist and other persons of questionable courage. We should not be blaming Bush for our own votes. We selected the people that the President must rely upon to move his agenda forward. If they are losers, then he loses too.
Though they literally suck, we are stuck with these people because we must keep the majority to keep our agenda alive. There have been worse moments for us, but none would be worse than than the day we lose the Senate our House majorities. I now believe that although Bush disapointed many of us, that he did the very best he could do without destroying our momentum.
Yes, like Rush Limbaugh said, it was a choice made from weakness.
But the thing to remember, is that it was not Bush’s weakness, but our own, and that of the people we have elected to Congress that made this happen. Had they been strong, Bush could have selected anyone we wanted.
Because of what I now know about how and why Harriet Miers was selected, I withdraw my earlier statements against her, my statements suggesting anything less than my strong support of the President, and finally, my self imposed exile from Free Republic.
Pukin Dog is back, so deal with it.
"500+ Posts?"
Yes.
Don't act all innocent. You weren't just a bystander. You had to do a lot of work to get it to 500+ posts!
Same way they forget that Janice Rogers Brown languished in committee for two years. Same way they forget that Henry Saad and William Myers are STILL languishing in committee.
So much for Spector's promises.
Once some people get an idea stuck crosswise in their heads it takes a sledge hammer to get it loose even if the idea has no basis in reality.
CAUTOR commented: "So you're telling me she and her firm hedged their bets. Wonder who's side she would have been on if Gore had won. I suppose she would have stayed at Locke Liddell and sucked up to the Dems even more. I am glad to hear Miers hedges her bets. Thanks for bringing that to our attention."
REPUBLIC OF TEXAS REPLIED: "Your [sic] welcome."
The Dems' benefit from party disciplined established by their former party leaders. Understand, they had battles too when they became the majority long ago. What we see today is the prevailing ideology that survived. We're in the midst of a battle with RINO's trying to seize the reins they haven't earned. the only way to defeat them, is to expose them and defeat them in the public arena. That will send a stark lesson to anyone else that seeks to follow their path after it's happened a few times.
But, as acknowledged, you need someone willing to get dirty and bloody in this battle. There is no Delay in the Senate.
By the way, Harriet's mother is 93.
Clinton, with all his baggage and sagging popularity, took on Congress and Newt and revived his dead presidency.
This president is acting like he is weak.
Tell the Republican Senators that absolutley nothing will be passed without his veto and a fight until they confirm his nominee.
You may be right Pukin Dog, but in my opinion it still was a serious blunder on the part of W to nominate Miss Miers.
If I understand you correctly, there is no qualified conservative willing and worthy to serve on the SCOTUS. I do not believe that, and I am against this nomination not because I don't support W, but because I do support him.
As soon as Miss Miers withdraws, we'll have a fight for a true freedom loving patriotic conservative. I trust, no I am certain, W will pursue that fight to the finish.
Whatever Bork's flaws, it seems to me he's more qualified, and more of an originalist than Kennedy.
The more I look back on last years primaries, the more disgusted I am that Pat Toomey fell short in his bid to unload Specter. I certainly voted for Toomey. The GOP MUST work harder to jettison the liberal ("moderate") flotsam.
No, it wouldn't. Not on it's own, that's what I'm trying to state.
A Greater majority leads to more betrayals unless discipline is enforced alongside the additions in majority. You can't have one without the other. That's the fatal error the adminsitration is making. They need to calculate how to effectively dicipline, or greater majorities are meaningless.
Mark
I'm not that much up to speed on Kennedy, but I will accept that.
If it is, I haven't heard anything. PA has been ripe for investigation of corruption, especially Philly, for years, but nothing ever happens.
Sorry to answer that Sam, I couldn't resist.
As I said: Who are you? As we delve deeper - there is this matter of the "current ruling class" which is "subverting the constitution" - Could you possibly enlighten me in this area?
It just strikes me as someone who is starved for attention.
Y'know, there are opuses and then there are OPUSES. I am of the opinion PD's opuses are of the capital letter type. He usually has something valid to say when he does an opus. I may not always agree with the reason he's opusing but he usually engages my mind and makes me think.
It may strike you as someone who's starved for attention but to me it's his way of not getting lost in the crowd because most everyone enjoys reading a good opus.
I must admit that my very first reaction was disappointment. In fact, I was downright p*ssed off that we didn't have an avowed originalist to challenge the libs to a showdown. I was also sorry we didn't have someone (sure Conservative) closer to 50 than 60 in order to have a more lasting effect.
When I couple this nominee with my extreme ire at the President's lack of border protection and enforcement of immigration law I've been at my wit's end. I cant give up almost 45 years of constant battle for Conservative politicians and ideals but sure have felt like it for the last couple of weeks. Needless to say, Dubya has, for whatever reason, delivered a stomach punch to Conservatives.
Personally, I'm not sure if Dubya is a Texas type Republican (rebel) or belongs more with the country club, East Coast elitist part of our party I so deeply resent.
Time will tell, but I will consider your arguments well. Actually, these are some of the same thoughts I've tossed around in my mind these last days.
Nam Vet
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