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October 5, 2005Infantile and needlessly injurious: UPDATEDOkay, I think the whole Harriet Miers pro-con side-taking is officially now out of control and is getting embarrassing for the conservatives. Michelle Malkin coined the term “Illin’” in response to Patrick Ruffini’s Coalition of the Chillin’ - then I get this email from Macho Nachos directing me to his site where he is trying to - it seems - amass a great Coalition of the “Illin,” and I guess all of this is supposed to be the drawing of battle lines between… Between what, folks? Between the “elite” conservatives vs. the “bluecollar” conservatives? Between the “pure” conservatives on one side vs the “pure” conservatives on the other? I am appalled to see conservatives running headlong into this adolescent game of line-drawing, side-taking and base mockery. It is beneath us all. Everyone needs to stop it, cool their jets and recover their dignity and their senses. This woman has not even had the opportunity to appear before the Judiciary committee so that we can all get a sense of her, before she is either confirmed or dumped. One month ago, everyone on the right was saying to the left that the President was entitled to his nominee. Suddenly, this is not true? The president and this woman - who seems to be a completely honorable woman - deserve at bare minimum the respect due the Office of the President, and the respect due a professional woman who has served that Office well for 5 years. I am frankly amazed to see that so many on the right have forgotten what was supposed to be a basic tenant of conservatism: respectful debate rather than shrill jeering, name-calling and underarm farts. Clearly, Ann Coulter’s hot-headed sorts of excesses are winning the day here, and taking the right down a path that looks very similar to the one trod by the left. This is absurd and disgraceful. I am seriously disappointed by what I am reading everywhere - from The Corner to Hugh Hewitt and all spots in between: overheated rhetoric, defensiveness, barely-concealed (and too-effusively denied) contempt and class-conscious snark. I’m consistantly telling the left to “grow up.” Now, I say it to my friends on the right, fully aware that I will most likely be taken to the cyber-blogshed for it by folks on both sides (and go ahead and dump me from your blogrolls, too): GROW UP. For heaven’s sake, GROW UP. [I grant that "trust me" is a rather cringe-inducing reason to solely support a nominee...but there is a system here bywhich she will be voted yea or nea.] Meanwhile, an insider-war between “pure” conservatives and “pure-er” conservatives, or whatever the hell the distinction is, will serve only to weaken both the party, and the president who may yet get to name two more jurists to the SCOTUS. Some may think that they are “sending him a message” by carrying on regarding this nominee, but this president has already demonstrated that he follows his heart, not polls or pundits. You used to love that about him. From my undereducated and mildly dyslexic corner, from where I can only observe and then comment with whatever sense God gave me, I have to say - this is an appallingly swift descent into joint-ly stupid behavior, a descent into precisely the sort of behavior we abhor from the left, precisely the sort of behavior that has so weakened them. Send your messages, snark at each other, form opposing coalitions within the same party, and then blast each other all you want. I’m not joining. A pox on both. This sort of “in-fighting” to see who is more correct is why I left the Democrats. There are things seen and unseen, always at work, and more in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophies or imaginings. In all of this carrying on, while countless little, puny Masters of the Universe pound their keyboards and declare to know what is the “absolute best thing” under every circumstance - God still has HIS hand in all of this, too. And that always leads to surprises. And hopefully, to a little humility, too. Go ahead. Fire away. Blast me too, if that’s something you feel you need to do. Bedtime comes soon enough. I’m certain that I cannot be alone in this feeling. But if I am…that’s fine. …some jobs are so dirty, you can only send in someone who has the finely honed hatred of liberals acquired at elite universities to do them. The devil is an abstraction for normal, decent Americans living in the red states. By contrast, at the top universities, you come face to face with the devil every day, and you learn all his little tropes and tricks. Not that she needs to care what I think, but I have always thought Coulter was smart and funny and way too brash - her vitriol too often undercuts her good points. In this particular piece, I think she’s offering a disingenuous canard - “some jobs are so dirty” you need the pristine ivy leaguers to fight them. How about, some jobs are so dirty, they take a pitbull in size 6 shoes? I wonder if - unintentionally - Coulter has not in this piece exposed precisely Bush’s reasoning for selecting Harriet Miers: A wariness of these heady conservative “diamonds…” Perhaps the president is enough of a student of human nature he is aware that a Supreme Court with too many intellectual “diamonds” flashing their brilliance - and corresponding egos - will lead to competitions and more importantly vanity and all the sometimes surprising turns justices (and politicians and pundits) will unexpectedly take, simply because they want their vanity served - we’ve seen it happen before. It is a predictable part of human frailty. As I wrote in my piece…there is more going on here than we all realize. There always is. We conservatives are supposed to be the “God-minded” folks…since Bush is a prayerful man and Miers a prayerful woman who very likely took all of this to prayer before the Lord, before undertaking this extremely controversial move (a move made not in Clintonian fashion, to please the talking heads, but for some other reason) I am going to try to look at it all through other-than-earthbound eyes. I’m going to give them the benefit of a doubt! [Bracketed section inserted for clarity] There, now. If you need a laugh, check out Stewie and the LA County Fair (Thanks Shawn and Julie). http://theanchoressonline.com/2005/10/05/infantile-and-needlessly-injurious/trackback/ 34 Responses to “Infantile and needlessly injurious: UPDATED” |
October 5th, 2005 at 6:24 pm
I stand with you.
I am the most angry about the comdemnation before giving Miss Miers (she’s Southern, I’ll bet on Miss rather than Ms.) a chance. How dare ANYONE prejudge?
Almost worse, we’re giving the moonbats a reason to laugh at us. We’re better than this.
October 5th, 2005 at 7:09 pm
Amen, Amen. I have always felt that Republicans act like ‘adults’ while dems act like two year olds in the midst of a breath holding tantrum. Many conservatives have just entered the sandbox.
October 5th, 2005 at 7:19 pm
You are not alone. I agree with you completely
http://donsingleton.blogspot.com/2005/10/chill-out.html is my trackback (since for some reason I cant get normal trackbacks to work on your site).
October 5th, 2005 at 7:20 pm
Superb- and if anyone can’t see the truth and worth of your words- well, they aren’t worth caring about.
Mr Bush has yet to float a dud, get it wrong or otherwise really screw up. In fact, he has a track record of getting it right.
That is why he won the last election. period.
To all the backseat drivers and armchair quarterbacks- George Will included- I say, take a pill and chill out. Mr Bush is a lot smarter than people give him credit for, has access to people who are a lot smarter than the rest of us (unless of course,the WH has been in touch and has desperately asked for advice)and is possession of facts that the rest of us aren’t.
Anchoress is right- you don’t pull a winning quaterback becasue you don’t like the play he called.
October 5th, 2005 at 7:36 pm
“Infantile” is exactly right, Anchoress! My mom always said one of the interesting things about raising kids is that you get to recognize the places where various “adults” stopped maturing! Well, I’m going to use this as a chance to practice forebearance, which I can certainly use…..
October 5th, 2005 at 7:39 pm
To echo Singleton’s comment: You are not alone. This whole Crying Wolf noise is quite upsetting. I for one will form my opinion about Harriet Miers in the usual way. I will wait to learn the facts. That’s what the hearings are there for.
October 5th, 2005 at 8:11 pm
[...] Look at this from the always thoughtful, analytical, reasoning Anchoress. But she doesn’t seem to notice that there are only two basic schools of thought on this: There are those that still trust Bush, and there’s the rest of us. [...]
October 5th, 2005 at 8:18 pm
Re the Update- While Coulter et al, may provide a menu of WH reasons to explain itself- as if it had to- it comes across as no more than those who need to rationalize religion.
We elected a president to lead a nation- not to serve an agenda, or those who promulgate an agenda. As I said earlier today, we either trust the president or we don’t.
October 5th, 2005 at 8:26 pm
Can someone please tell me — Who was the smartest, most educated, and most elitist of the original 12 apostles?
October 5th, 2005 at 8:32 pm
Heh, Bender, great question. It wasn’t Peter, and yet he was the one given the keys to the kingdom.
October 5th, 2005 at 8:41 pm
I’ll give you all a hint — Matthias was chosen to take his place.
October 5th, 2005 at 9:02 pm
Well said! And I notice it made Polipundit, so I think it is having an effect.
Miers is not who I would have chosen, but I think I’m less qualified to choose than President Bush.
Ahhh - I’ve never been that fond of Ann Coulter. Wasn’t she just having hysterics about Roberts?
Maybe conservatives are just having hysterics about all the SC nominees, because they feel they have been so disappointed in the past.
October 5th, 2005 at 9:04 pm
When I voted for George W. Bush twice I put my trust in him that he would do a good job. He has not betrayed that trust. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 that we should pray for the people in authority. We are commanded to do that and I pray daily for the President, VP, cabinet and Congress regardless of party. I pray this silliness with them will stop for one thing. But I also pray the president will surround himself with Godly people who will seek God’s will just as I believe he does and will take that counsel and so advise the president.
Harriet Miers is an evangelical Christian who had a truly life-changing experience in finding the Lord, just as the president did. Why would anyone think she’s not conservative if she is Christian? At the same time I want her to be able to take her personal feelings out of any rulings and rule according to the constitution. Sometimes I won’t like the position she takes, but you takes whats you gets. She’ll be a fine justice and I have quit going to PoliPundit for the most part this week because I have seen cyber friends actually insulting each other over this. Truly sad and embarrassing, but certainly not all conservatives are speaking that way.
As for Ann Coulter, I used to like her when I first saw her but soon got tired of her putdowns because I felt they were unnecessary. I bought a couple of her books and couldn’t finish them for that very reason.
I’m also fed up with Michelle Malkin, the goddess of blogdom. What makes her so darned qualified? If we wanted their picks we would have elected them, but we didn’t and I’m going to dance with the one who brung me.
October 5th, 2005 at 9:07 pm
I’m beginning to be quite fond of Miers, the more I read about her. I like that she’s not Ivy League, and I keep in mind the fact that SMU is one of the best law schools in Texas, and that it turns out some of the best lawyers in the nation. I like the fact that she worked at Locke, Purnell, which, at least when she was there, was a stellar law firm — and that she made partner in that good ol’ boy environment speaks volumes for her practical and personal skills.
I’m beginning to think that the screaming on the Right is a feint, intended to deceive the Left into thinking that Miers is “their candidate,” when she really is “ours.” Even to say this is to realize how stupid it sounds, but I’ve simply got to believe that the fact that Reid likes her is because he’s been tricked, not because he knows something we don’t — otherwise I’ll just be too depressed.
October 5th, 2005 at 9:10 pm
Bravo, Anchoress! I couldn’t agree more. I’m not even reading my usual blogs because I’m sickened of it all. As you say, she’s not even had the opportunity to answer for herself. This is hypocracy from my own ‘kind’ and I’m seriously disappointed.
October 5th, 2005 at 9:11 pm
I’ve said several times on other blogs, “Wait and see what the lady has to say before you vow you’ll be strung up by your heels before you ever vote GOP again.” I’ve been told that while I might be “complacent” some people out there “really care about pro-life issues.” So a call for fairness and prudence is now complacence and a sign you’re wishy-washy on life issues?
And, yet,….,the one anti-Miers argument I find I agree with is this one: A President, any President, should choose SC nominees on the basis of clear-cut, objective qualifications, not on the basis of how much he likes her, how well he knows her, and how loyal she has been to him. That does set a bad precedent and it isn’t something we would cotton to if the other side did it. I’ve thought about the very emotional reactions some on the Right are having to this, and ironically, I do think that it is partially due to the fact that they are on the Right, not the Left, and as such, unwilling to accept “Trust me. I know her heart.” as a reason for picking her. The Left is all about feeeeeelings; the Right demands evidence and credentials - and conservatives, we now know, have no problems displaying their own feelings when solid credentials do not appear to be there. If Miers does a bang-up job during her confirmation hearings, I suspect many of them will come around.
I’m a Dubya fan. But I know that, like any other human being, what his heart tells him is not infallible. He said he looked into Putin’s eyes and saw his “soul;” Putin’s soul has not shown itself in a very attractive light since then.
Anyway, I believe we need to let Miers show what she is made of. But I understand the reaction of those who are very upset by this a bit better than I did yesterday.
October 5th, 2005 at 9:17 pm
Bookworm: I was thinking that, too. That if we think she’s so horrible, then the Dems will want her because we don’t.
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I was also thinking that we are(the we that are)reacting to the abuse the Right has been taking for Katrina and the abuse Bush naturally collects from everthing he says, does, eats, drinks and thinks from the Left.
Jeannette: i love you. You and A are the cornerstones of the blogs I like best. Very well said.
October 5th, 2005 at 9:20 pm
Sometimes I think the Republican Party is cursed by having too little imagination…
Harriet Miers deserves a fair hearing…
I had thought until now that only the Dems were capable of lynch mob mentality..
October 5th, 2005 at 9:42 pm
Anchoress & folks, you might appreciate Varifrank’s comments on this called “trust”. There are others who are thinking the same way and are surprised by all this whinning. I think The Corner should lift the Star Trek ban for a week and chill out. What would Kirk have done if the crew had questioned every single decision or order with no trust in the captain. Right. The Klingons would win. Tell me Ted Kennedy isn’t a Klingon.
October 5th, 2005 at 10:38 pm
Is it possible that many of the celebrity conservative complainers are on a first name basis with someone who they think should have been nominated? Why not wait for the hearings? Has the Bush Derangement Syndrome virus mutated and infected Republicans? When President Bush was elected the comment that rang most true for me was, “Now, the adults are in charge.” This is still true but in this second term, otherwise mature people are climbing back into playpens outgrown long ago and throwing tantrums. What is the matter? Why can’t we wait for the hearings?
October 6th, 2005 at 12:03 am
I’m with you. I find the ranting and raving and carrying on to be devoid of substance and unwarranted by the situation and the actual candidate.
As a non-Republican and former Democrat (there, that’s a mouthful!), however, I’ve never considered Republicans to be above this sort of behavior. Yes, we’ve seen a lot more of this fevered and unreasonable hysteria from the left in the past few years, but the right has hardly been immune, historically speaking.
The whole thing makes me happy that I now call myself an Independent, an affiliation (or lack thereof) that I don’t plan to shed any time soon.
October 6th, 2005 at 12:05 am
[...] And The Anchoress… she just came and gave some a well-deserved spanking! [...]
October 6th, 2005 at 12:18 am
First off, Ann went to the University of Michigan Law School(although she did do Ivy League with her Cornell Undergrad degree). So I see a little smile on her face as she typed that column. I believe she really came out against Roberts to help push through his confirmation. And because she enjoys poking a stick at the Left. She would have chosen someone like Robert Bork, or Mark Levin, just to watch some heads explode. She’s earned the right. Do you know how many pieces of hate mail, how many death threats, etc. she’s had to endure? Millions, folks. It predates her columns–goes back to her Paula Jones/ Clinton work..and even before.
All of you opposed to Harriet Miers, I ask you how well do you know all those other “genius”, “true conservative” candidates you are promoting? Be honest now. As well as you knew Sutter? I repeat(from yesterday), Bush41 had another candidate in mind, someone he knew well and trusted. And he caved in to the people who knew better. Meirs has been described as brilliant by those who worked with her. And against her. She is more than qualified for the job. I’ll give you an analogy. I trust the Anchoress enough to nominate her for any job I can think of. I trust her judgement implicitly. I know that I would have to micromanage her work, or spend sleepless nights if I couldn’t. I can’t think of the last time I didn’t agree with her, but even then, I could live with what she decided. I’ll take that any day over “credentials” or a published record.
I know people are frustrated with the Mainstream Socialist Media and the unchallenged lies and distortions of late. Keep your focus on the Left where it is deserved. We are winning this war—REALLY! Just keep the faith. And the Faith.
October 6th, 2005 at 12:36 am
You know you’re not alone, Anchoress, we’re just not as WHINY as the Miers opponents. Besides, the blogosphere is full of a bunch of blowhards and wannabe mavericks. (Which is why I really do hate the blogosphere, with some rare exceptions including your site!)
I really hope I DO get delinked by some idiotarian. I think it’ll be funny and show what a bunch of stupid crybabies some of these people are.
Now I think I’m going to go watch a funny video so my blood pressure will normalize, after reading right-wing MOONBAT comments and posts everywhere.
October 6th, 2005 at 1:24 am
I don’t think that some of you know what Bush means when he says he knows someone well. He just doesn’t speak to someone for 5 minutes a day, asking them about the weather and sports teams. They become a part of his life. They vacation with him. They socialize with him and Laura. Harriet Meiers weilded a chainsaw at the ranch clearing brush until W decided that perhaps “firestarter” was a more prudent job. He knows her. Trust that. Who knows what will happen, but she is his choice for this appointment. There will be more. Let’s pretend this week didn’t happen and get back to business. Everyone. Remember this. She would NOT have been the Democrats’ choice! That choice would have made your head explode—and mine. Think of that before you do something stupid: The future of this country is at stake.
October 6th, 2005 at 4:12 am
AMEN, ANCHORESS!!! Here we righties have been given a wonderful opportunity politically–both houses and the Presidency and a chance to get good people of sound mind and right of center thinking–and we’re having silly arguments. We undermine ourselves. And it pisses me off!!!! If we lose our grip politically, it’s because of all this idiocy.
I stand with the Prez. The woman has legal chops. She seems, by all accounts, a godly and decent human being. She’s humble enough to serve in her church in less than ritzy positions. I like that. A lot. Jesus washed feet, Miz Miers teaches kids and serves donuts.
I’m standing by her unless we find out she’s a closet freakazoid. And I’m thinking, her closet doesn’t have much to unearth.
I’ll be praying. For the Prez, for all our politicians, and for the idiots on the right (my side of the park) who can’t seem to just get along for the greater good of our overall agenda and the nation. Geez, Louise!
Mir
October 6th, 2005 at 5:26 am
Jeanette asked,”Why would anyone think she’s not conservative if she is Christian?”
I’m glad you asked that question Jeanette, because I would ask why would anyone think she’s not liberal if she is a Christian? I have always thought Jesus was a liberal if not a radical.
October 6th, 2005 at 5:55 am
Miers Watch
The more I learn about her, the more I like her….
October 6th, 2005 at 6:50 am
Lyle - you’re correct…
The most RADICAL thing in the world is a Christian fully living the precepts of Christianity.
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Why do you equate radicalism with liberalism? Radicalism swings either way!
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I think sometimes we get very screwed up with the idea of what a “liberal” is, these days, because what used to be classic liberalism (Jack Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey) is not what liberalism is, today. The term has rather been highjacked. Kennedy and Humphrey would not recognise liberalism today…
October 6th, 2005 at 9:32 am
The Problem With The “Wait & See” Approach On Miers
The Anchoress, who I think is an excellent blogger even if I strongly disagree with her take on Miers, tells…
October 6th, 2005 at 9:34 am
Gads! Everyone is worked up in a fine lather about this one…
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A little historical perspective. Who was the last conservative SCOTUS nominee who was attacked by the right as being an intellectual lightweight with no juridical experience?
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Anyone?
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William Rehnquist! Yes, CHIEF JUSTICE REHNQUIST! An intellectual Leviathan and honorable conservative… a giant. When he was nominated as a associate justice by Nixon, REHNQUIST HAD NEVER BEEN A JUDGE! Guess who he worked for? The Prez, just like Miers..
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When she makes her first conservative ruling in step with Thomas and Scalia all of the whiners should send an engraved letter of apology to GWB himself.. it is going to happen.
October 6th, 2005 at 4:03 pm
FWIW, count me in your corner. (I agree with you about Ann Coulter, too.)
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And glad to see your typing hand is better!
October 6th, 2005 at 4:09 pm
A Miers Distraction
Everyone is in a tizzy over the nomination of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court. The Anchoress thinks Bush is…
October 7th, 2005 at 5:07 am
By the same token Anchoress, President Lincoln would not recognize the republican party today.