|
|
October 3, 2005Miers may be Derek JeterEgad, people, EGAD! I have never seen the right so oomps-a-daisy about anything in my life! Everyone cool your jets and think about Derek Jeter for a second. Yes, of course I’m serious. He’s been the Yankee Shortstop for ten years - he has tremendous heart, a baseball IQ that is off the charts, two things that are both intangible and invaluable, and yet his whole career he has never been called “the best shortstop playing…” by people who spend all of their time memorizing stats and looking at box scores to tell them “the whole story.” And yet, Jeter is proof that checking off stats in a column can never give you a complete picture of a player and what they bring to the game. During Jeter’s career we’ve had to hear about how Nomar Garciaparra was “the greatest shortstop playing…” uh-huh… Then we had to hear that A-Rod was “the greatest shortstop playing….” uh-huh. Then there was Omar Vizquel…yeah…you were just thinking about him, weren’t you? He was “the greatest shortstop playing….” Nomar is over, A-Rod (aka Slappy McFumble) is on third where he demonstrates rather ungentlemanly behavior by slapping balls out of first basemen’s hands before denying it, makes a fielding bobble almost every game, and plenty of errors… Omar Vizquel…did he get 200 hits this year? Is he going to the play-offs? And then there is Derek Jeter, still there, everyday, just doing his job, still full of those intangibles that stats can never reflect, with the sort of heart that makes him jump into the stands to catch a foul ball, or slide head-first to slip into second, or run across the field to intercept a bad throw and somehow get a guy out at home plate…ask yourself if Nomar or A-rod or Omar ever worked that hard, for so little reflection in “the stats” or so little praise from baseball “experts.” Some things are simply intangibles…they cannot be tallied up and put into columns. Jeter is never anyone’s first pick for anything - everyone has their reasons why he’s not “the best choice.” But ask any manager in baseball if they would like to have Derek Jeter on their team. Ask Joe Torre if he’d ever give him up. Bush knows this woman, Harriet Miers, very well. He knows her like he knows Condi Rice. That does count for something. Intangibles count. Often they make the difference. The cronyism charge that is unavoidable with Miers’ nomination is unfortunate due to the press excesses which caught up to Michael Brown (who somehow managed to do very good work on three huge Florida hurricanes before he needed to be lassoed). Newsweek and Time - among others - are declaring this week that Bush invented cronyism, so the timing for Miers’ nomination is off, but very little in his presidency has worked perfectly for Bush. The thing that is surprising to me - besides some of the howling from the right - is this charge I am reading that Harriet Miers is “too old” to be a good nominee. Miers is too old? She’s 60! In an age where people are living longer than ever, that ain’t old, folks. Reagan was older than that when he was elected president! Pope John Paul II was 58 when he was elevated to the papacy. That’s only two years younger! And for that matter, I thought we conservatives were supposed the ones who understood that age has nothing to do with value and ability, that people are not sidelined because of their grey hair, or their old-lady shoes or their need, eventually, to use a cane or a hearing aid or even, a wheelchair. If Antonin Scalia gets Parkinson’s and needs a chair - even though his mind is still fine - would you folks declare he should step down from the bench? Suddenly, only youngsters will do? Remember that Sandy O’ Connor retired at a relatively YOUNG age, compared to some of the gasbags still on the bench. Who is to say Roberts will not declare that he’s “had enough” and retires early? Everything turns on a dime, folks. I’m just…well, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at some of the things I am reading today. See also: Quoting Harriet Miers http://theanchoressonline.com/2005/10/03/miers-may-be-derek-jeter/trackback/ 12 Responses to “Miers may be Derek Jeter” |
Site SyndicationAdvertise on this blog   
      
 BlogrollMeta Data
|
October 3rd, 2005 at 12:54 pm
Sixty is the new fifty, isn’t it? Roberts was too young, Miers is too old…must “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” decide every National debate?
October 3rd, 2005 at 1:35 pm
I don’t know how well this analogy holds out. Derek Jeeter has at least been playing baseball. Miers has never been a judge.
That doesn’t disqualify her in my book. But it doesn’t quailify her either and something has too. What has she done that is so great? Where has she shown that she is one of the best people in the country to be a supreme court judge?
Obviously Bush likes her. For the most part I am impressed with Bush’s judgement of people. Supreme Court Judge though seems to require that the nominee give some indication of why the President’s trust is warranted.
In Ronald Reagan’s words ‘trust but verify.’ I want verificataion that Miers will be a Derek Jeeters at least, and not a Michael Jordan playing baseball. I trust Miers is a good and loyal lawyer. Does that mean she is a good Judge? Maybe, but maybe not. The skills are similar but not the same. Sorta like Basketball and Baseball.
October 3rd, 2005 at 1:36 pm
I like your take on this, A. As usual, sensible and judiciously hopeful. I have come to love this president and trust his wisdom….just can’t seem to get myself too riled about this nominee, and I can’t wait to hear her speak for herself.
October 3rd, 2005 at 2:08 pm
Yeah, Bush invented cronyism.
Remember travelgate?
October 3rd, 2005 at 2:18 pm
SCOTUS Pick Open Thread
Soon to be announced in the next few minutes: Harriet Ellan Miers. Who? She’s the current White House counsel. Other than that, we don’t know much. So I offer this thread up as a vehicle for speculation, discussing, and some…
October 3rd, 2005 at 2:27 pm
[…] And while I’m asking questions, let me toss another one out there. The Anchoress says that Miers may well be Derek Jeter, that she has intangibles that we just can’t see but that, because he knows her so well, the President sees clearly. Villanous Cassandra makes much the same point in her comments, but from a different angle. […]
October 3rd, 2005 at 2:33 pm
The president is due his choice. Haven’t we been saying that to the Dems for months now? They can’t be ideologues but we can? I am embarassed by the self centered attitude of those on the right on the blogs. “He didn’t do what I wanted so now I will never again support him.” they say. This is childish and sacrifices the good for the perfect. And the perfect could not have happened because Republicans would lose big time with the country if they used the nuclear option.
October 3rd, 2005 at 3:16 pm
Meirs as Derek Jeter
Quick! Read this before Senator Biden tries to abscond with this analogy. “The Anchoress” advises readers to “cool their jets” on the Miers nomination. On that I must agree. Then she plays her baseball analogy: Derek Jeter’s intangible assets: He’…
October 3rd, 2005 at 3:30 pm
[…] Coverage: Michelle Malkin, aclj.org, Ace of Spades HQ, Bench Memos …, TAPPED, The Anchoress (also here), Southern Appeal, Confirm Them (also here), Blogs for Bush (also here), Stop The ACLU (also here), Underneath Their Robes (also here), The Strata-Sphere, The Washington Monthly, cut on the bias, Project Nothing!, Law Dork, Opinions You Should Have, democracy guy, Begging to Differ, Right Wing Nut House, Billmon, MaxSpeak, The Hotline’s Blogometer, The Politburo Diktat, In the Agora, Greg’s Opinion, GOP Bloggers (also here), PoliPundit.com, Swing State Project, Outside The Beltway, California Conservative, World Magazine Blog (also here), The Volokh Conspiracy, The All Spin Zone, The Political Teen, Confederate Yankee, euphoricreality.net, etc., TAPPED, http://www.AndrewSullivan.com, Begging to Differ, ACSBlog, Daily Pundit, PoliPundit.com, JunkYardBlog, QandO, irishpennants.com, The Blue State Conservatives, One Hand Clapping […]
October 3rd, 2005 at 5:33 pm
[…] And this: Egad, people, EGAD! I have never seen the right so oomps-a-daisy about anything in my life! Everyone cool your jets and think about Derek Jeter for a second. Yes, of course I’m serious. […]
October 3rd, 2005 at 9:23 pm
Much wailing and gnashing of teeth at Open Book. I posted this over there:
Now, I have no claim to legal expertise, but aren’t these all of the possible way this can play out:
1. The Machievellan-Karl-Rove plot scenario: She is not confirmed, and we’re back at square one. Bush then nominates someone who is both more well-qualified and reliably pro-life and the Dems have a harder time opposing that pick, because they’ve already used up their firepower, or;
2. She is confirmed, and;
A. The best case scenario:
Turns out to be both pro-life and a much better justice than everyone thought she would be, or;
B. The not great, but still acceptable scenario:
Turns out to be a pretty mediocre justice, but still votes pro-life, or;
C. The scenario everyone fears:
She’s Souter in a skirt.
Not only does everyone (including me) fear 2C., but it looks like a lot of people are already convinced that it is going to happen and that it is, in fact, the only possible thing that can happen. Calm down, folks. We just do not know right now. Nobody knows.
When I wrote that, I didn’t even stop to consider the fact that Bush will probably have the opportunity to name several more justices, which makes me see it in an even calmer light.
Yesterday at Mass, Archbishop Dolan spoke about how worrying is sinful. Looks like a lot of pro-lifers are indulging in that sin today (including myself - my initial reaction was over-the-top too, until I poured myself a glass of wine and did some thinking.)
October 4th, 2005 at 1:13 am
Everyone cool your jets and think about Derek Jeter for a second.
Is that supposed to calm me down?