Conspiracy Theories Dept.: Miss Harriet Miers vs. the Irate Right

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ^ | October 31, 2005 | Editorial

[Cicero]

Let's just get Alito confirmed.

[Carry_Okie]

I guess I'm with theory number 4: IOW theory 3 is correct except that it is a setup, so that they can jam a liberal down our throats anyway, claiming that it's our fault the conservative nomination failed because we don't have 60 conservative votes in the Senate. According to that theory, that's why we got a white male Alito instead of a black female JRB.

We don't want to put those poor McLame RINOs and Democrat "moderates" in a really hard spot, now do we?

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

"You know you are in conservative circles when it is interesting but divisive.”

Two words: Free Republic.

[Cicero]

If Alito fails and Bush nominates a liberal or a "compromise" candidate, his base will never go along with it. His Republican predecessors have played that game a few times too often. If Alito fails, let him nominate Brown. If he nominates another Souter, he will destroy the party.

But I have every hope that the President understands the feelings of his base and that Alito will succeed.

The Country Club Republicans have the money, but the conservative base has the votes. Unless the country clubbers are willing to give in on this issue, they are not going to have the power to do the other things they want. Is abortion the bottom line for them, or are they willing to give in on that issue in return for other things that they value more? I hope they will begin to hear the music.

Moreover, President Bush's campaigns have been supported by a lot of small donors, far more than the Democrat candidates who are supposed to represent the party of the people. The Republicans need those small donors and those loyal campaign workers, as well as all those millions of conservative votes.

[Carry_Okie]

But I have every hope that the President understands the feelings of his base and that Alito will succeed.

Hope? Yes. Confidence? Estrada.

[theFIRMbss]

>the conservative base has the votes

This is delusion!
Elections aren't won in
Left or Right gutters,

rather they're won in
the wide middle of the road.
Elections are won

by whichever side
convinces undecideds
to decide for them.

After the Senate
'Rats voted straight party line
not to impeach Bill,

undecided types
rebelled against Party votes
and Republicans

took back the White House
and the Senate. It wasn't
this-or-that fringe group.

That kind of thinking
is just self-aggrandizing.
And the bad news is

if the Supreme Court
gets a new judge forced on it
by a Party vote,

come next elections,
Republicans might suffer
the same backlash that

the 'Rats suffered when
they did their Party vote to
keep Bill in office.

[conservativecorner]

Amen BUMP!

[Cicero]

So, you think nominating Alito to the Supreme Court is the moral equivalent of offing Ron Brown and Vince Foster and making out with Monica in the Oval Office?

[theFIRMbss]

>So, you think nominating Alito to the Supreme Court is the moral equivalent of offing Ron Brown and Vince Foster and making out with Monica in the Oval Office?

Wow! When you typed that,
did you put down the joint, or
puff it while typing?

[Sam the Sham]

(2 ) W. and Miss Harriet cooked up an insiders’ deal from the git-go: She’d be a pretend-candidate, a sacrificial lamb. She’d go through the process, bringing about the inevitable, unfair Democratic reaction and filibuster. Then the reaction to such obstructionism would be so intense that the president could appoint another Scalia in her stead. Result: a decisive constitutional victory for the Republican majority.

That theory makes no sense at all. The Democrats could have opposed her on the completely valid and reasonable grounds that she was a lightweight who knew nothing about constitutional law.

[Cicero]

I honestly don't think any of those theories make a bit of sense. The President was careless, and allowed Laura to persuade him to nominate their good friend of many years. On the surface she probably looked good. The problem was that she was never properly vetted.

I think that if Bush had known she had all those negatives in her paper trail, slim though it was, he never would have nominated her. For one thing, it was not a pleasant experience for her; for another, it was damaging to him. He has now recovered, but no one would want to go through such a process, which was very unpleasant for all concerned, except the laughing Democrats.

[Holden Magroin]

It's all BS. Bush appointed Miers because he will go to any length to reward a crony. When evidence surfaced that Miers was pro-abortion, Bush went to the mat for her because he would save face even at the risk of undoing all the inroads conservatives have made over the last 25 years. Clearly, the man doesn't give a damn about the Supreme Court.

[George W. Bush]

Harriet is so last week.

Let's try to move on. It's nicer when we don't fight. With Alito, there's nothing to fight over.

[spokeshave]

Starategery / schardenfreude whatever.....we got Alito and the dims heads are exploding all over town.

[spokeshave]

test test....tag line adjustment incoming....stand by

[LibertarianInExile]

"Harriet is so last week. Let's try to move on. It's nicer when we don't fight. With Alito, there's nothing to fight over."

AMEN, Mr. President!

[LibertarianInExile]

You are correct in your assertion that the party might lose if it forces a conservative onto the court.

However, if we don't force a conservative on the Court, we absolutely will lose that seat at the table of 9. If we do force a conservative on the Court, at least we get that seat. We may never get another shot at that seat, so we must pull out all the stops to fill it now. The GOP could still lose the next election either way, so not trying to get the seat on the basis of prognosticating about the effect of getting the seat doesn't make sense.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

To quote David Brooks, a columnist who’s also a kind of sociologist of the right for the New York Times an @ss-peddling quisling and full-time journalistic Judas Iscariot.

Corrected for accuracy of content. :)

[theFIRMbss]

>We may never get another shot at that seat, so we must pull out all the stops to fill it now. The GOP could still lose the next election either way, so not trying to get the seat on the basis of prognosticating about the effect of getting the seat doesn't make sense

That all makes sense, but
what's happening now can't be
just about the seat,

since Miers would have
secured the seat and voted
"properly" or else

Bush never would have
nominated her. Right now
the issue's two fold --

the Supreme Court seat
and what role does the country
perceive the far Right

playing within the
Republican Party. Both
are important but

I think the second
issue, the Lunatic Right,
is more important.