Unwise Counsel - Why was the White House so unprepared for the Miers flak?

OpinionJournal.com (WSJ) ^ | October 23, 2005 | Glenn Harlan Reynolds

[Wonder Warthog]

"Conservative Republicans want a strict constructionist on the Supreme Court and we thought we heard President Bush promise us that during his campaigns."

Yup--just like we heard his daddy promise "Read my lips, no new taxes", and "Souter is a conservative".

[BIRDS]

Thankfully, I missed that history in FR (outrage over Ashcroft).

And here I thought the latest here on FR was unusual, due to 2005 registration.

I HAVE found it shocking, the degree of denigration of Bush about Miers. Itend to think a lot of it is liberals in disguise, and that includes some among the so-called conservative media.

[counterpunch]

As Mr. Bush faces calls to withdraw the Miers nomination, he should think seriously about whether to accept them--along, perhaps, with the resignations of those responsible for this mess.

Things To Do
    Withdraw Miers nomination
    Nominate Janice Rogers Brown
    Fire Andy Card

[Miss Marple]

Some of the denigrators never were Bush supporters. A few of the names I recognize as having been Buchananites or other third party types.

A certain segment of conservatives have a visceral dislike of the President. Nothing he does or doesn't do will change that. You can see it in the comments they make; it isn't that they are just critical of the nomination, but that they use it to hang every grudge they carry against him around his neck.

I'm not surprised at those here on FR who are acting in such a way. The columnists, who are supposedly smarter politically, are the ones I don't get. I am led to the conclusion that some people care more about winning this "fight" than in the long-term damage their public rants do.

However, only another 10 days or so until the hearings. I'm hoping Ms. Miers will either prove to be way better than the critics, or makes an early error and withdraws.

Of course, then we will have the problem of a different nominee. I wonder if ANYONE would be foolish enough to leave a confirmed judgeship for life and put themselves in front of this bunch. All the detractors now might be surprised at who a different nominee would be.

[beyond the sea]

Nah.................... everything will be great. And on the Miller/Plame front, Fitzgerald is going to indict Wilson, Cooper, Grunwald, and Hillary. Light at the end of the tunnel.

;-)

[beyond the sea]

If it wasn't for the Swifties I'm not sure Bush would have won.

That is a fact. And if it weren't for FR I don't think the Swifties would have had half of their exposure and effect! In other words, I think FR basically was greatly influential in putting Georgie boy into office.

[beyond the sea]

"What's next, the White House gardiner for Secy. of Agriculture?"

'Chance the Gardener' would do for me.

;-)

***

"As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden."

[beyond the sea]

Just saw this. LOL!

[Prince Charles]

LOL. Cue the Deodato tune!

[George W. Bush]

Earl Warren, after all, was a politician, and expected to be easily manipulated by the court's brighter intellects. William J. Brennan Jr. was a state judge of no special reputation when Eisenhower nominated him, yet he so came to dominate the court that some observers referred to the early Rehnquist court as the "Brennan court."

Neither justice was any surprise to Ike. Leaving office, he was asked if he'd made any mistakes as president. He said, "Two. They're sitting on the Supreme Court."

[PhilipFreneau]

>>>I HAVE found it shocking, the degree of denigration of Bush about Miers.<<<

Why do you find it shocking, BIRDS? You act as if it is his first offense.

[writmeister]

The President is loyal to his friends. And that's admirable but in the case of Harriet Miers, it also placed him too close to the problem. What I mean here is that it blinded him to any shortcomings she might have had. So he wasn't really in a position to assess her qualifications objectively. And it all came out in a way that was a disservice to the President, to Miers, to the process and to her prospects of confirmation by the Senate. The right thing to do now is for Miers to withdraw gracefully, for people involved in the fiasco to resign and to start over. Its time for the President to seek advice from conservatives as well as Democratic senators. After all the first rule of politics is never leave your base unhappy. Chances are there'll be a better replacement for Miers down the road.

Well said!!!!

[Surtur]

Yeah, he's loyal to his friends, but there is something fishy about his methods for choosing people for important positions. For example, Dick Cheney was asked to find a good candidate for Vice President before Bush's first presidential campaign, and after an extensive, exhaustive search, he chose Dick Cheney. Now, Harriet Miers, legal council to the President is asked to vet a nominee to the Supreme Court, and who does she come up with? Why, Harriet Miers, of course. I just wish he would let me choose the next head of the Federal Reserve. I do believe that after an extensive, exhaustive search of my own, I would announce to Pres. Bush that I couldn't find any candidate for the position better than myself to serve at his pleasure. I wonder how THAT would go over?

[hinckley buzzard]

I remember when Bush appointed Ashcroft, the rats were jumping ship here then talking about how Ashcroft was a wimp with no spine and didn't deserve anything more that dogcatcher.

Now that you mention it...considering that the entire federal government had been infested with unapprehended felons, what exactly did Ashcroft do? Now he's long gone but the clintonoid felons are still riding high.

[trubluolyguy]

Nothing he does or doesn't do will change that.

---

Now now. If he were to close the border and have ICE start rounding up illegals in the Home Depot parking lots, that would go a long way towards shutting me up.

It is not a "viscaerl dislike" of Bush. It is that we have shut up and swallowed when we wanted to spit over so many issues that many of us are just sick of being his Bitch. No more. I for one, am sweeping up what is left of my principles and taking them home. Maybe through '08. Depends on who the Repubs nominate.

[trubluolyguy]

visceral

[Miss Marple]

You know, your use of vulgar terms does not make your point. In fact, the crudeness and disdain you have for the President seeps from every word in your post.

In fact, I don't believe I saw such crudeness used when people were criticizing President Clinton.

Well, I know what I have seen, and I stand by my statement.

[BIRDS]

Yeah, very well said. I'm trying to imagine this same process with yet another nominee after Miers (either to replace if that's what transpires or to follow, anticipating more vacancies while Bush is in office).

I do say, in retrospect, that Republicans were far more accepting of a President's privilege of nominating to the S.C. than are the Democrats, now in opposite fashion. I doubt at this point that any nominee by Bush will ever escape being Mier'd.

And, like I wrote and as you did, too, yes, the conservative media has shown itself to be startlingly cruel about Miers, and Bush. A shocker.

I have complaints but for most of us voters, Bush was a vast improvement over Gore and/or Kerry. I can barely imagine the horrors that both would have resulted.

We do need a rising star among conservatives at this point. Think it will have to be someone apart from the Bush Administration.

[gpapa]

Ultimately, it is the voters choice.

[garylmoore]

Being a strict Constructionist requires an enormous amount of experience in Constitutional Law and a very nimble mental acuity.

I think that your going a little too deep here, all it takes is common sence and a degree and the right morals, she has all of that.