Now, with the Court split 4-4 on ideological grounds, the left knew that the real fight would have to be with this next vacancy. If the Bush administration got the conservative voice it desired for the Court, it could radically alter the social agenda for years to come. The stakes were high, and the left came loaded for bear.
So, on October 3, 2005, President Bush gave them Harriet Miers.
I can just imagine the conversation at the White House: Harriet, we need to send you out there as the nominee. You’re going to get skewered for a month or so, and then you’ll withdraw, and we’ll send in Sam Alito before the opposition can reload. Then you just come back over here to the White House.
Besides, think how good it will look on your resume…
And that’s exactly what happened. Both sides of the aisle voiced vehement opposition to the nomination, and many indicated that Mr. Bush had finally lost it. When Justice Alito was nominated, the left was depleted and done. They had attacked Mrs. Miers primarily on qualification and not ideology. When Justice Alito was nominated, he was clearly qualified, and the opposition could not overcome its own arguments. Mr. Bush now had the conservative Court he so desired.
Genius, I tell you. Mr. Bush set a political trap, and the opposition fell for it hook, line and sinker.
And they know it, too.
Yesterday, the Court upheld the ban on partial birth abortion. The left is outraged. It has always felt that the right to choose was a constitutional right, and any restriction erodes that right. Let’s face it, any right that involves the sacrifice of another life is no right at all, and should not be protected.
The left also says that this does not take into consideration the life of the mother in critical circumstances. It appears that this court disagrees. If you are concerned the blanket "right to choose" is going away, your concerns are valid.
This Court seems to be leaning towards a full ban on abortion, which will then allow the debate to center around exceptions, especially in the area of the protection of the life of the mother. The left, since 1973, believe that this is an all or nothing fight. In their minds, the right to an abortion is and should remain constitutionally guaranteed.
Remember, the conversation does not have to be all or nothing.
It just has to be 5-4.
Article comments
1 - steve
Bush can be called "dumb" day in and day out...which I disagree with...but what can you do about it? Answer: blindside the liberals.
He made wise choices in Roberts and Alito. Both men are in their early fifties...they will be on the supreme court for at least 20...maybe even thirty years.
2 - steve
anyone who believes a partial-birth abortion should be legal...such as rosie o'donnell...should be strapped to a chair with their eyes taped open to watch a video of a baby's skull crushed again and again...maybe that will change her tune
3 - zingzing
steve, partial birth abortion should be legal, but should only be used when no other option is available. i don't know just when that situation arises, but making partial birth abortion "illegal" is not the way to go. "severely restricted," sure.
4 - steve
you cant have it that way...people will always be looking for your suggested loophole..its all or nothing
5 - zingzing
you have to have it both ways. it's not a loophole, it's a woman's life. if you mother's (or wife's or daughter's or sister's) life is a loophole to you, STEVE, you go ahead and tell her that.
6 - Baronius
My problem with this analysis is it assumes some crazy high-stakes gambling. A fake Supreme Court nomination? I dunno. It's hard to believe Miers was a diversion, but it's also hard to believe she was a real nominee.
As for the practice itself, the AMA has said that it's never required for the life of the mother. It's physically more traumatic than a standard abortion, because the child is halfway down the birth canal before the skull is collapsed.
7 - Mark Schannon
True or not, the article is brilliant. I'm skeptical too -- like Baronius -- and don't think the Busher could think this up. But I do think Rove & Cheney are smart enough to do it. Now I'm really scared. A dumb bunny Bush I can sort of tolerate. A smart wascaly wabbit Bush -- omigosh, there's no end to the trouble he could cause.
Anybody have Elmer Fudd's number?
In Jameson Veritas
8 - bliffle
steve: "anyone who believes a partial-birth abortion should be legal...such as rosie o'donnell...should be strapped to a chair with their eyes taped open to watch a video of a baby's skull crushed again and again...maybe that will change her tune"
Can I do the crushing? Or have you reserved that for yourself?
9 - Servant
Now, now, let's not be rude. The legalization of abortion has caused many more problems then can be solved. Just look at Europe. Their labor shortage will send them into a death spiral, and it's anti-baby legislation that pulled the trigger.
Just think. If we passed a law the banned a minority, you'd be crucifed by the media. Yet we terminate babies continously. I mean, I'm all for the sanctity of a woman's privacy, but what about the life of a future woman? Whose privacy are we violating then?
10 - Zedd
I'm not sure if GW is behind the maneuvering.
I'm not sure if he personally cares about partial birth abortion.
I'm not sure how this affects the right for women to get normal abortions either.
11 - Sisyphus
"Genius, I tell you. Mr. Bush set a political trap, and the opposition fell for it hook, line and sinker."
Genius? More like a couple of slop shots. Actually, there was little the minority could do to stop the nominations from being confirmed. Harriet Miers was done in by Bush's own base. Remember the threat of the "nuclear option" by the Republicans to thwart any filibuster attempts by the Democrats? Nothing genius about it, just pure power politics.
12 - Dave Nalle
You show a unique talent for stating the obvious in this article.
Except that you're dead wrong on the longterm outcome for abortion rights. Worst case it will become an issue for the states to decide as it always should have been.
Dave
13 - Michael J. West
you cant have it that way...people will always be looking for your suggested loophole..its all or nothing
"All or nothing" is another way of calling it "a black-and-white issue," of which there's no such thing.
14 - EasyAce
Some forget that Mr. Bush was deadly earnest in nominating Harriet the Mere in the first place, and that only a ferocious explosion of outrage over such a crony nomination with little if any basis in sound constitutional thinking ("I know her heart") prevented her from graduating beyond mere nominee status. That it left little if any wiggle room to deny Mr. Alito was purely a matter of coincidence.
Are we to hear next that Harriet the Mere, in pure vengeance for being sent forth as a Supreme Court sacrificial lamb, did her part, whatever it was, to bring about the business that now has Mr. Gonzales under fire?
Mr. Bush isn't exactly the epitome of stupidity he is so often portrayed, but neither is he (nor his two primary henchmen, beyond electoral politics pre-2004, anyway) the epitome of genius his sycophancy so often urges. That said, the partial-birth ruling is certainly welcome enough.
15 - J.J. Hunsecker
Someone forgot the Satire tag.
The only way you can imagine that conversation between Bush and Miers is if you haven't been paying attention to his Presidency.