What Is To Be Done?. . . about the Harriet Miers nomination.

Weekly Standard ^ | 10/17/2005 | William Kristol

[q_an_a]

what evidence do you have? McCain created campaign reform, was a leader on the gang of 14, has been on TV every third week telling how he would do Bolton or Ashcroft or the UN differently. I'm open to many things but I'd have to see something new or a series of position papers to make me think McCain is more conservative than President Bush.

By the way every time you look at crime remember that 80% of the people in prison are functionally illiterate. If you cause kids to learn to read at grade -NCLB- in 3rd and 8th grade and you cut the number of people who can't read in half - will crime go down? Is that a good conservative thing to lower crime?

[Pessimist]

"McCain created campaign reform" And Bush signed it.

"McCain was a leader on the gang of 14" Turns out it didn't matter, since Bush will never send up a nominee that he thinks will cause a stir anyway.

Look, I'm not a McCain supporter. But the truth is, if he were in office we don't know what he would have done about a variety of things.

Would he have federalized Katrina? Would he have put tariffs on imported steel? Would he claim racism as the root cause of the violence in NO? Would he have created a new federal department or a huge new federal drug entitlement?

And would he have teamed up w/ Teddy Kennedy to increase the size of the Dept of Education by 50%?

Lets look at the education issue, since you noted it (I guess preemptively) in your response.

Is education a bad thing? Of course not. But do you believe that throwing more federal dollars (and control) at it will make it better?

Is that a good conservative view?

I view Bush's money toss at education the same way I view his money toss at NO: A blatant attempt to pander to the opposition. The worst part about it is its not going to work - in either case. Both the NEA and the blacks will remain firmly in the opposition camp anyway.

Meanwhile you and I will stand on the sideline shouting about smaller gvt... and paying for it the rest of our lives.

You can't be happy about this either. Can you?

[q_an_a]

i'm on the other side of your posting name - most people are not signing up for drug benefits...so it may not be as big as people fear, just like the deaths in NO.

Doing good for the under educated does not have to give me an extra vote - the educated person who is married will do that, take a look at married black voting - we get a fair share.

While the concept of federalizing Katrina is spoken by many - notice how many private programs are being pushed and supported and how Davis Bacon was set aside. Just because people talk does not mean laws are passed.

As to Education and Kennedy, do you think the McCAin Kennedy immigration bill is different from what might have happened with McCain and Kennedy on education? I don't. McCain like Hatch enjoys the company of many democrats.

I enjoy exchanging ideas like this with people who can get their ideas in the post without attacking the poster - I hope to see you views again and again. if not on this topic on others. Good luck.

[Uri’el-2012]

What ever happened to the Reagan 11th commandment :

Never speak evil of another Republican !

The Reagan Revolution has been ended by Elitist Snob Talking-heads

They are doing more damage to this Republic than the Marxist-Anarchists could.

[Pessimist]

"I enjoy exchanging ideas like this.."

Right back at you!

Re the drug benefits: I've heard too that its not very well subsribed at the moment. Unfortunately, at the beginning SS wasn't supposed to be a very big thing either.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Do these things matter at all when it comes to her qualifications for being an Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court? Yes. They speak to her character. And in matters of justice, matters of character count.

I know lots of sweet, caring, candy-sharing liberals. None I want on SCOTUS.

[GraniteStateConservative]

It's not enough that she's a nice old lady.

[indcons]

LOL.....she is a sweet, candy-sharing, conservative(!!!) who created Marxist women's studies programs and expressed her disdain for the Federalist Society. Are you sure you're still against her nomination? /sarc

[GraniteStateConservative]

Her loyalty to Bush would probably make her vote the right way while Bush was still in office. I'm suspect of how she'll rule in 2009 and beyond.

[indcons]

Good point re: the 11th commandment.

"Never speak evil of another Republican !"

P.S.: Can you please convey these thoughts to Ed Gillespie, Ken Mehlman, and Laura Bush too? They suggested that opposition to Miers among Republicans is being driven by sexism.

[RTINSC]

I've never said that she is a nice old lady. There is no doubt in my mind that she capable of holding her own, based on her employment history. I will draw my conclusions about her suitability after she is publicly questioned. Why should you be any different? Have you interviewed her? Do you know something no one else knows, or are you just repeating what others think?

[Jim_Curtis]

Some picks haven't worked out that well for GOP presidents. Understood.

About half of the picks of the last half dozen Republican Presidents haven't worked out. It might be reasonable to expect 2% of nominees to go rat on us but not 50%. With that in mind, the anger at those who are skeptical makes no sense.

If the only SCOTUS picks of GW Bush end up being Roberts and Miers and if they turn out to be great conservative jurists, he would be the only Republican President in 50+ years to not have a SCOTUS misstep. In that his selections are more suspect than the preceding Republicans' selections, it would seem unlikely that this will be the case.