Posted on 10/31/2005 10:18:38 AM PST by freedomdefender
When Harriet Miers nomination was first announced, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley called her an amazingly bad choice. This morning, he weighed in Samuel Alito:
JONATHAN TURLEY: Hes the top choice for particularly pro-life people. Sam Alito is viewed as someone who is likely to join the hard right in likely narrowing Roe and possibly voting to overturn Roe.
KATIE COURIC: So he is a strict constructionist in every since of the word? I know President Bush is looking for a conservative jurist, so he fits the bill in terms of someone who will interpret the Constitution literally and may disagree with the right to privacy, which is the foundation of Roe v. Wade?
TURLEY: Oh absolutely. There will be no one to the right of Sam Alito on this Court. This is a pretty hardcore fellow on abortion issues.
COURIC: Not even Antonin Scalia?
TURLEY: Theyll have to make a race to the right, but I think it will be by a nose, if at all.
COURIC: And ideology trumped gender in this case, right?
TURLEY: I think so. I think the president wanted, first of all, to show he could pick someone who was clearly qualified and has the resume, but he also wanted to rally his base. Hes done both with Sam Alito. No one on the conservative base can be unhappy with Sam Alito. The question is whether they can weather this storm that will be coming, I think, and whether there will be a filibuster.
I agree with you completely. Anyone who thinks we don't have a right to privacy from unreasonably governemnt intrusion completely misunderstand the intent of the 4th and 5th amendments.
We'll fix that with the next nominee. :-)
[[And what will the Meirs supporters do]]
Promulgating a further divide and providing a mischaracterization. The vast majority who battled the anti-Miers crowd were pro-Constitution, not pro-Miers. While there may be a few who will carry the bitterness from that battle forward, the vast majority will support Alito. You do the conservative cause a disservice by continuing to feed that division and diminish support.
I was not pro-Miers. So we were on the same side of that argument. But your statement about evangelical or fundamentalist christians is just completely inaccurate. This evangelical fundamentalist wanted an originalist judge. In Alito, we got one.
Really, I think the pro-Miers crowd was mostly composed of three groups: (1) Folks who felt we had to support Bush in his decision or it would destroy his presidency; (2) Folks who felt like we were compromising our up-or-down mantra by opposing Miers; and (3) Business republicans who really don't care about the social issues at all. I think group three was by far the largest contingent.
The whole evangelical issue was a red herring tossed out by a defensive White House hoping it would rally the evangelicals. It didn't.
Jonathan Turley is generally fair. I tend to listen to him.
If true I am now curious about something (in water cooler gossipy way). I wonder if the nomination of Harriet Miers was part of a dem set up?
Senate to President: "These are acceptable names "blahblahblah blahblahblah. You know we are impressed with your counsel, Ms. Miers blahblahblah blahblahblah [exploiting the loyalty the President is famous for]."
Mmmmm. Dems are not stupid, they only wanted to see if he would fall for it. He took the bait, nominated Harriet, base rebelled, Dubya stood firm, she resigned, he began to suspect he had been had by the dems, he knows the whole Joe Wilson story but cannot (or willnot) discuss it and he is Texas pissed. VOILA!!! He is in "Bring it on" mode.
"You want a fight? Get 'er done!"
Now if anyone thinks he will shut off a dem filibuster because he is a strong lerader, well, it wont happen.
It was Frist that called Bush and told him he could not produce on Miers. And she was the best Bush could find.
Privacy rights have gained a bad name because a misguided court "found" a right to abortion imbedded therein which is tantamount to holding that a murder committed one's abode is protected by the right to privacy. There are many private aspects of a person's life in which any government has no right to interfere.
Furthermore, there is no such thing as Constitutional rights. The innate rights of man are guaranteed by the Constitution by prohibiting the federal government via the Bill of Rights and the states via the 14th Amendment and the Bill of Rights.
The Ninth Amendment is quite clear that the rights, more accurately the prohibitions of the federal government, are not limited to those specified in the first eight Amendments.
My question to you is the Ninth Amendment meaningless or merely a placeholder? If Ninth is not meaningless, what are your ideas of what such rights might be?
No. :)
Do you deny the fact that "people" were royally pi$$ed off when certain factions worked exceedingly hard to vilify Harriet Miers from the instant of her nomination (before anything at all was known about her)? I don't give a flip whether or not we can "all get along", but you obviously live for the division.
My nickle's worth of free advice? Get over yourself.
Yes; as were the AUTHORS OF THE CONSITUTION....you remember them.....the Founding Fathers????
Oh, I was referring to a very small contingent, not fundamentalists as a whole.
any win (or loss) on a fillibuster fight has little to do with Frist. its all about McCain (and his gang of 7) and Spector. I don't know what people here expect Frist to do - take the family members of these RINOs hostage until they vote to break a Dem fillibuster? What do you want Frist to do, he can't force anyone to cast a vote in a particular direction.
" White House hoping it would rally the evangelicals. It didn't. " .... but, the nomination of Samuel Alito will.
[[So which assumption do you disagree with?]]
I contend your assumption/evaluation of Miers is unprovable, and will never be proven, one way or the other. So why the need to create that characterization ?
I also disagree with your assumption of preference. It was not a matter of preferring Miers over Alito. Those that argued against withdrawal were arguing for her to have her hearing before deciding. Your statement is not just an assumption, on your part, it is a pejorative allegation with no basis in fact.
[[Anyway, do you deny that people are upset that another Catholic was nominated?]]
That may turn out to be the case, but I have seen nothing that engenders or supports the argument that his religion will be a major factor in the confirmation process. This will be a battle over ideology, not over qualifications or his personal religious allegiance.
There are either defenders of our Ratitfied Coinstitution or seditionists/traitors. The DNC/Clintonazi Politburo is comprised of enemies of our only Constitution which allows this government.
I agree. Finally after 30+ years we get a chance to step up to the battle lines with the DemonRATS and RINO's... and I think they will blink IF Bush & the Repubs stay strong and keep hitting back hard. No more pansy. capitulating, appeasing wimps - ok, President Bush & the GOP Senate Repubs? Do the job that we elected you to do. I feel really good about Alito's nomination...as good as I felt when HM withdrew her nomination.
God, I hate DemonRAT B@#s@rds and RINO's!!!
I might add to my #67 that disparging the right to privacy because of Roe v. Wade is akin to attacking the Second Amendment because guns are used illegally to commit murder. Rights should not be disparged because people, governments and courts misuse misuse those rights.
No, but then again most of else felt that the simple fact that nobody knew anything about her was reason enought to be against her.
I don't give a flip whether or not we can "all get along",
Me neither.
but you obviously live for the division.
Which one is that?
My nickle's worth of free advice? Get over yourself.
Sounds like somebody is very bitter about something. It isn't me.
Amen! We are ready to rock-and-roll. This appointment will turn out to be the defining moment of Bush's second term.
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