Monday, October 03, 2005
$.02
Last week, I predicted to my acquaintances that Miers would be nominated. No, I don't have the President's ear, or even his nostril, but I'm starting to figure the guy out. Here's the clues:
How do I feel about it? Like most movement conservatives I'm disappointed. I have friends who are fairly close the Miers, and they think she hung the moon, professionally speaking. Unlike some, I'm not at all concerned about her "intellectual gravitas" because I don't believe you have to be a rocket scientist to be a solid justice. I am impressed with her diverse and groundbreaking background. A friend of mine reminded me recently that when Miers got done clerking after law school, she was offered two jobs in Dallas -- both of them as a secretary -- and yet she managed to become the President's lawyer (and maybe even a member of the highest court in the land). I'm not worried about her competency or lack of judicial experience.
Like most Conservatives, what worries me most is how little I do know. We are only too familiar with how a similar gambit made fifteen years ago paid off. The last thing we wanted was to be placed in a similar situation. Yet here we are. Is Miers another Boomerang Justice? I don't know -- and that's just not good enough.
One of the bigger fights on the Right during the last election was the question of whether Conservatives should hold their noses and vote for Bush despite his "Big Government" Republicanism. Time after time I heard the same argument: We have to support Bush because of the Supreme Court nominations. Like children suffering the pains of being "good" the month before Christmas so as not to make Santa's "bad" list, Conservatives dutifully supported Bush and the GOP in 2004 and went to sleep the night after the election with visions of sugar plums -- looking suspiciously like Thomas and Scalia -- dancing in their heads.
Unfortunately, we did not find a shiny bike underneath our tree. Instead, there's a big, brown box sitting there. A box that is likely filled with coal.
I'm certainly not the first person to point out what really bothers Conservatives here. We have been waiting for several administrations for this moment. We have put up with mediocre presidents (Bush I & II), increased public spending, poor economic planning, and no commitment to conservative principles for one golden shining moment: conservative Supreme Court nominees. We are young girls who have bartered our virtue for a shiny coin, and now the coin turns out to be a wooden nickel with a big "F U" printed on the side.
Is it any wonder why so many of us are pissed? We only asked the Bush Administration for ONE thing, and he couldn't even do that correctly. I suppose I'd be beside myself if I actually were surprised by any of this. Fortunately, I gave up on the GOP long ago, and have abandoned any hope that conservative principles will be pushed on any front.
The only hope we have is that Bush knows something we don't. He may very well know that Miers is a committed rightwinger who dreams of a return to originalist principles. The problem is that we could have had a nominee who we knew though his or her past judicial record would be this person, and not someone who remains an unknown quantity.
If anything, Bush has not helped the GOP today. What should have been an easy bone tossed to the Right has turned into a rock upside the head. While he will never face an electorate without conservative support, his potential successor might not be so lucky.
Addendum: Wow. Even the rats are packing their bags for port.
- He dropped comments about wanting diversity, so I thought the nominee would likely not be a white male.
- The Administration was floating the Miers balloon last Friday. They had floated Edith Jones and faked to Roberts, and I thought they would likely do the opposite this time.
- Miers was the only one on the "short list" with practically no legal record, and I suspected that the Administration doesn't have the stomach for a battle on the issues; and
- Bush is insanely loyal to those around him, and Miers is very high on that list.
How do I feel about it? Like most movement conservatives I'm disappointed. I have friends who are fairly close the Miers, and they think she hung the moon, professionally speaking. Unlike some, I'm not at all concerned about her "intellectual gravitas" because I don't believe you have to be a rocket scientist to be a solid justice. I am impressed with her diverse and groundbreaking background. A friend of mine reminded me recently that when Miers got done clerking after law school, she was offered two jobs in Dallas -- both of them as a secretary -- and yet she managed to become the President's lawyer (and maybe even a member of the highest court in the land). I'm not worried about her competency or lack of judicial experience.
Like most Conservatives, what worries me most is how little I do know. We are only too familiar with how a similar gambit made fifteen years ago paid off. The last thing we wanted was to be placed in a similar situation. Yet here we are. Is Miers another Boomerang Justice? I don't know -- and that's just not good enough.
One of the bigger fights on the Right during the last election was the question of whether Conservatives should hold their noses and vote for Bush despite his "Big Government" Republicanism. Time after time I heard the same argument: We have to support Bush because of the Supreme Court nominations. Like children suffering the pains of being "good" the month before Christmas so as not to make Santa's "bad" list, Conservatives dutifully supported Bush and the GOP in 2004 and went to sleep the night after the election with visions of sugar plums -- looking suspiciously like Thomas and Scalia -- dancing in their heads.
Unfortunately, we did not find a shiny bike underneath our tree. Instead, there's a big, brown box sitting there. A box that is likely filled with coal.
I'm certainly not the first person to point out what really bothers Conservatives here. We have been waiting for several administrations for this moment. We have put up with mediocre presidents (Bush I & II), increased public spending, poor economic planning, and no commitment to conservative principles for one golden shining moment: conservative Supreme Court nominees. We are young girls who have bartered our virtue for a shiny coin, and now the coin turns out to be a wooden nickel with a big "F U" printed on the side.
Is it any wonder why so many of us are pissed? We only asked the Bush Administration for ONE thing, and he couldn't even do that correctly. I suppose I'd be beside myself if I actually were surprised by any of this. Fortunately, I gave up on the GOP long ago, and have abandoned any hope that conservative principles will be pushed on any front.
The only hope we have is that Bush knows something we don't. He may very well know that Miers is a committed rightwinger who dreams of a return to originalist principles. The problem is that we could have had a nominee who we knew though his or her past judicial record would be this person, and not someone who remains an unknown quantity.
If anything, Bush has not helped the GOP today. What should have been an easy bone tossed to the Right has turned into a rock upside the head. While he will never face an electorate without conservative support, his potential successor might not be so lucky.
Addendum: Wow. Even the rats are packing their bags for port.
Centinel 12:58 AM #