Political dodge ball (Krauthammer on Miers Nomination)

Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | 10-10-2005 | Charles Krauthammer

[Stellar Dendrite]

In nominating Miers to the high court, Bush not only ducked a fight - he insulted the institution.

When in 1962 Edward Moore Kennedy ran for his brother's seat in the Senate, his opponent famously said that if Kennedy's name had been Edward Moore, his candidacy would have been a joke. If Harriet Miers were not a crony of the President of the United States, her nomination to the Supreme Court would be a joke, as it would have occurred to no one else to nominate her.

[Cicero]

Well, the more I think about it, the more I think the decision to pick Harriet Miers was an epically stupid mistake. That is a reality that won't go away, no matter how much some of the "Bushbot Koolaid drinkers" wish it would.

She is unqualified.

Her opinions are unknown.

Her nomination is a kick in the teeth of conservatives who have worked for decades to get us to this juncture, especially in the last three elections.

It's a sign of fear and weakness on Bush's part that will make it impossible for him to get a stronger candidate confirmed by the Senate if another vacancy opens up. Believe me, the Democrats and RINOs, Reid, Specter and McCain, are tasting blood.

It will discourage every conservative judge in the country from expressing a conservative opinion or making a conservative decision, because if he does he will have no hope of moving up in his chosen profession. The Democrats will hate him and the Republicans will tell him to get lost.

This nomination was politically stupid, morally stupid, and bad for our country. Yet if Miers is withdrawn or defeated in the Senate, we will still be in trouble because it will confirm that Bush is acting from a position of weakness and arrogance. What a depressing situation. There appear to be no happy outcomes at this point.

[inquest]

You're worse than the DUers by a long shot.

Cool. Another Bushbot driven completely off the deep end.

[Neville72]

"When the Republican Party's staring down the barrel of minority status-and deservedly so-don't say that you weren't forewarned."

Not hardly. When Harriet Miers is confirmed and casts her vote on the two or three issues this session that validate her conservative bona fides, you and your Jim Jones wing fellow travelers will be exposed for the wingnuts you are.

You'll be marginalized assuming you haven't begged for forgiveness and the party will be better off without you.

[foofoopowder]

Agree. The fact that Bush knows Miers very well makes it more likely she will not turn into another Souter or O'Connor.

[Flux Capacitor]

----You'll be marginalized assuming you haven't begged for forgiveness and the party will be better off without you.----

The party will lose both houses of Congress next year because people like you are too politically stupid to understand that you don't win elections by deliberately alienating your own base of support. I've been all for strategic party politicking in the past, but something this brazen, arrogant, and futile deserves every bit of the massive conservative backlash it's getting. The party will be begging US for forgiveness when enough of us decide on Election Day that voting really has become pointless.... and stay home. And then we shall see whom will be better off without whom.

-Dan

[inquest]

You'll be marginalized assuming you haven't begged for forgiveness and the party will be better off without you.

Tell you what - tally up all the conservatives who are upset at the Miers nomination, and subtract them from last year's voting rolls. Where do you think Bush would be today?

[inquest]

The party will be begging US for forgiveness when enough of us decide on Election Day that voting really has become pointless.... and stay home.

Or vote CP or LP, which would be a lot better.

[wardaddy]

LOL

what you said

maybe Mark meant "televised"

[TheForceOfOne]

Welcome to Free Republic

[jdhljc169]

http://stopmiersnow.com/

[Flux Capacitor]

The Constitution Party has a national defense platform shaped around the very latest and most highly considered technologies and geopolitical realities of the 18th Century, and the Libertarian Party these days is little more than a stealth wing of the Democrats, so neither of them are realistic options. So what the heck are we left with? Maybe I should write in Forrest Gump next time around....

-Dan

[Republic of Texas]

She will let the Consitution guide her.

How do YOU know this? Don't ask me to trust anyone. I want written, historical proof based on her writings or actions.

[Republic of Texas]

I would want Walter E. Williams as a Justice, Chief Justice, President, whatever he wanted. The problem, and the reason he is the Smartest Man in America, is that he wants none of those jobs.

[bray]

Your absolute hatred of someone you know nothing about is disgraceful. Please leave the Party for some people who will follow their President. Thank you. Puchannon's Party will be glad to have you.

Pray for W and Harriet Miers

[inquest]

You're not going to find one that's perfect. But a strong showing for the CP is certainly better than a strong non-showing at the polls. A CP vote at least will indicate that you're for smaller government, judicial professionalism, and sanity on the borders. Non-voting will lump you in with all the disaffected socialists and nihilists and people who feel that the "system" failed to solve their own personal problem and other assorted flotsam and jetsam. It won't give any indication to the powers-that-be of what they're supposed to do to keep from getting booted out of power.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

What is an elite? Someone using words in the second paragraph of an article causing a wellread, 51 year old woman has to look up.

Tabula rasa (Latin: "scraped tablet", though often translated "blank slate") is the notion that individual human beings are born "blank" (with no built-in mental content), and that their identity is defined entirely by events after birth. (wikipedia )

Well, I did learn a new phrase, but I'll be damned if I will try to use it in sentences tomorrow. I like Krauthammer, but Congressman BillyBob uses words I know.

[Neville72]

Oh boy, some threat. So stay home next election, nitwit, then you'll suffer right along with the rest of us because of your childish, selfish reaction to not getting your way.

Go look in the mirror or around your dinner table if you want to see who'll be punished for your petulant, numb-skulled reaction to this nomination.

[Republic of Texas]

It's the Republican Party NOT the Bush Party. He is SERVING the party at the moment. Try to remember that.

After he is gone, the Republican Party will still be around attempting to put forward an agenda. They will need the people who support the Miers nomination AND the one's who oppose it.

There is a party which never has any disagreements, it's in North Korea.

[inquest]

Your absolute hatred of someone you know nothing about is disgraceful.

Saying that "she's a piece of film that refuses to develop" means that we know nothing about her, and that's exactly the problem. I can't read the mind of the person who posted it, but the statement itself is not hateful.

[Tribune7]