|
|
October 3, 2005Miers: Keep this in mind…(updated)This is my last writing on Miers, today, because there is already way too much noise out there about her. I am - unsurprisingly - getting flamed by some very ill-tempered folks on the far-right who seem to be reaching into their own gullets and turning themselves inside out on the nomination of Harriet Miers. You guys can flame me all you want, it doesn’t change the way I think. I still think this nomination is a tremendous head-fake and you guys on the right are falling for it. If you’re hoping for more conservative justices down the pike, though all you’re doing right now is further weakening President Bush’s ability to do give them to you. How is that? Consider the following, please. Stevens is ancient. ANCIENT. And Bader-Ginsberg is reputedly unwell. Breyer may keel over from sheer boringness! Bush has three more years in office. He could, conceivably, name yet another justice. And another. And, maybe… another. If you want your Luttig’s and your Rogers-Brown’s, you are not going to get them by further weakening President Bush by abandoning him because you didn’t get them this time. Haven’t you folks figured it out, yet? The man is a chess player. He’s not thinking of one justice nomination - he wasn’t thinking of just one when he nominated Roberts. He’s thinking of possibly five. Why in heaven’s name do you think the left and the press are so incredibly motivated to (at worst) either cripple him into ineffectiveness or (at best) impeach him and get him thrown out of office entirely? They figured out the possibilities that Bush might name 5 SCOTUS justices a long time ago, and that is why the attacks on him have been so relentless for 5 years. Since so many on the right fell apart with the media at Katrina, really impacting the public’s confidence in Bush’s honesty and leadership abilities, the left and the press will now do or say anthing, at this point, to further erode public confidence. And you’re helping. Bush did not come into his second term as a lame duck. But barely 9 months into it, he is on his way to being just that. And you’re helping…because you’re yelping, before you even give this nomination a few days scrutiny. As the saying goes, “Be still…” Believe that something greater than yourself is at work, that there are things seen and unseen, and that more is at work here than we know. Sometimes things happen that are not so easy to comprehend, at first. President Bush has three more years in office. They are going to be exhausting years, for all of us. I have absolutely no doubt that the press’s ongoing, non-stop negativity will continue and perhaps even be ratched up. Every possible attempt will be made to keep Bush off balance and the right in doubt of him. The nation is going to be SO exhausted - SO full of Bush-fatigue - by the end of his term in office, that many will simply be too exhausted to care about the ‘08 elections. And some will, of course, decide to “sit it out and teach the GOP a lesson,” as they did in 1992. And of course, the Democrats are counting on exactly that. Large portions of Bush-fatigue and conservative high-dudgeon are precisely the recipe by which the left will cook up something profoundly distasteful for 2008. 2006, if they can manage it. And we’ll have to sit there and eat it, my chickadees! The right used to love Bush because he was surprising and undaunted, because he made choices from his gut and not from polls or consensus or advice-giving. I wonder if the conservatives right now are truly falling out of love with those qualities, or if they themselves are running a bit scared and tired, believing that Bush is all of the things the press says he is, becasue it’s just easier to do that? Who has actually changed, here? Bush, or us? Goodness, a year ago some on the right were trying to figure out how to amend the constitution to allow Arnold to run for President. Now many of the same folks can’t stand him. Things change. Things turn on a dime. Three more years. A lot can happen. But very little that is pleasing to the right will happen if Bush is completely crippled by the press and deserted by his suddenly-distrustful base. A choice must be made, here. Do you stand by the president, trusting that he knows this woman and is not abandoning his values in nominating her? Or do you go running off, screaming, into the night because you don’t quite get this nomination? Ask yourself if you were one of those folks who also went off screaming into the night a few months ago when John Roberts was nominated? [Understand...I think the objections to Mier are not unfair. She is, after all, an unknown entity. My reaction today has been to the unbelievable gnashing of teeth, prophecies of utter doom and hiccuping whining that went on within the right. It just seems that mature adults should hear about this nomination and think...hmmm...not happy about this...what is he up to? Let's check this woman out before we go off half-cocked, load the other side with ammo and perhaps end up with egg on our face....instead it was weeping and wailing from 8:15 on! I think some diappointment is fair. But...I also think my sense of giving this nomination some space before going off half cocked is also fair! :-)] It is absolutely staggering, to me, to watch the right have a collective break-down without at least - at the VERY least - giving this nomination a day or two of research. I DO think the president, and the honorable lady he has nominated, deserve that much. We are in for a long, hard slog. Gird up thy loins. And as Forrest Gump would say: That’s all I’ve got to say about that. The [bracketed] section was added later for clarity. Check out Beldar - he’s a lawyer and he says it better than I do. Bill Kristol on the other hand, has his dress up over his head and is weeping copious tears. Kinda reminding me of Donald Sutherland… Jimmie at Sundries Shack is not agreeing with me which is at least proof that I don’t count my friends by how many times they nod their heads! Lorie is thinking along the same lines as I am, though. So is Fred Barnes. Stingray believes I have misidentified Bush’s game See also: See also: http://theanchoressonline.com/2005/10/03/miers-keep-this-in-mind/trackback/ 14 Responses to “Miers: Keep this in mind…(updated)” |
October 3rd, 2005 at 2:38 pm
I wish I could be as upbeat as you.
I just don’t see where the President has shown he can be trustworthy at all on Constitutional matters. In fact, his record shows that we shouldn’t trust him.
One would think that we could trust him when he promised that he’s nominate people like Scalia and Thomas. Well, he didn’t do it with Roberts. I held my fire because Roberts wasn’t blatantly *horrible* and he showed some signs in his earlier work that he might have some deep originalist roots.
Miers? Well, all we have is a wink and a “trust me” from the President. Well I don’t because, on matters Constitutional, he’s untrustworthy.
October 3rd, 2005 at 2:55 pm
I too was thinking that maybe, just maybe, George W. nominated someone who wasn’t going to draw any major fire from the left because he does not want to scare Stevens and Ginsburg from stepping down as well. If he had nominated a fire-breathing conservative, Stevens and Ginsburg might have felt compelled to dig in and try to hang on for four more years. Again, I might have to renew my prescription for Xanax, and I hope and pray (as apparently I must, despite my dismay at having to do so) that Miers will be the one to help bury Roe once and for all. But, whether she is or not, at least at this early hour, it looks like this pick will lead Stevens and Ginsburg to think that it is safe to retire.
October 3rd, 2005 at 3:03 pm
Bill Kristol??? Yeah, now there is a guy that got where he is on his own merits, without any cronyism or nepotism at work. Where would that lame, mediocre, and always wishy-washy pseudo conservative be without his way having been paved by father Irving, a founding neo-con, and mother Gertrude Himmelfarb, herself a conservative and traditionalist scholar.
October 3rd, 2005 at 3:53 pm
Bush taps counsel Harriet Miers for Supreme Court
President Bush on Monday nominated Harriet Miers, White House counsel and a loyal member of the his
October 3rd, 2005 at 3:54 pm
Harriet Miers nominated for Supreme Court (UPDATED ALL DAY)
If there’s one thing we know about President Bush it’s that he places a very high value on trust and personal loyalty up to and beyond a fault. Today Mr. Bush nominated White House counsel Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court of the United…
October 3rd, 2005 at 4:23 pm
Anchoress, FWIW, I am 100% with you on this. From what I am hearing, some of the griping almost sounds like dismay at being cheated out of a big triumphant, “take THAT” kind of a showdown with the Dems, which another candidate might have provided. But Bush focusses on the end result - he doesn’t care about putting on a show for ego gratification. So I have great hopes that this will turn out surprisingly, bewilderingly well.
October 3rd, 2005 at 4:47 pm
You are a very bright Anchoress. You were the only one of the ten in the RWN poll that predicted correctly, and you are absolutely right about the very good possibility that he will have additional picks. Did you see how Stevens stumbled going down the steps with the new CJ?
Get off Bush’s back. He has known her a lot longer than any of you do, and I think she will do a good job, and be a lot easier to get through than some of the people we might have preferred. I personally would have preferred Janice Rogers Brown, just as the Anchoress did. I dont know why she preferred Janice Rogers Brown, but I wanted her because I knew the Dems would fillibuster her, and tape of what they said about this Black Woman would have been very useful in 2006 and 2008. But Bush will probably still get a chance to name her.
October 3rd, 2005 at 4:55 pm
I heart you, Anchoress! ♥ ♥ ♥
October 3rd, 2005 at 6:45 pm
[...] And finally, especially, this. It is absolutely staggering, to me, to watch the right have a collective break-down without at least - at the VERY least - giving this nomination a day or two of research. I DO think the president, and the honorable lady he has nominated, deserve that much. [...]
October 4th, 2005 at 12:26 am
[...] And, lastly, The Anchoress urges us to take the long view. The right used to love Bush because he was surprising and undaunted, because he made choices from his gut and not from polls or consensus or advice-giving. I wonder if the conservatives right now are truly falling out of love with those qualities, or if they themselves are running a bit scared and tired, believing that Bush is all of the things the press says he is, becasue it’s just easier to do that? [...]
October 4th, 2005 at 10:16 pm
[...] The Anchoress and Jeanette have told those naysayers to stop whining and start thinking. I told a few at one thread that prudence is key here, that they don’t know her yet, so it’s better to wait and see. [...]
October 5th, 2005 at 12:26 am
The Cotillion Ball For This Week - An Additional Version
The Cotillion (conservative women bloggers) is doing something different this week. Instead of the usual carnival of posts hosted by four members of the Cotillion, there is one small round up of posts at The Gray Tie (and the Cotillion’s…
October 6th, 2005 at 10:17 am
Y’know, from the wailing eminating from my wing of the Republican Party, you’d think Bush had nominated Lawrence Tribe!
I have to admit I was a bit surprised with Bush’s choice because Meiers IS an unknown to the majority of Americans. But, as with Roberts, I can wait to see how she turns out should she be confirmed.
‘Course I was hoping Bush would really shake things up by nominating … wait for it! … Robert Bork!
Can you imagine the explosion THAT would have caused? Heheheee!
October 9th, 2005 at 1:39 am
[...] Actually, I got so flamed for it, I said it twiceRobert Novak’s and Thomas Sowell’s assertions that the GOP told Bush they would not fight for Owen or Rogers Brown, (which is not difficult to believe, considering the GOP agreed in advance not to ask Gov. Kathleen Blanco any questions about how her administration handled Hurricane Katrina) I wonder if Bush didn’t take a look at Harry Reid’s list and see Harriet’s name (probably included, btw, as a disrespectful lark) and thought…”okay…you gang-of-14 heros and you moderates don’t want to fight? I’ll bring old Harriet into this. Then, when Stevens steps down, and I try to name Luttig,let me see you say you will not fight…” [...]