You can distinctly smell blood in the water around the nomination of Harriet E. Miers to the Supreme Court. Prediction: This nomination gets withdrawn before they ever get to any senate hearings.
President Bush gets to pick the nominees, and he's a stubborn kind of fellow- which isn't always a bad trait. But pretty nearly absolutely NO ONE really likes this nomination, so how's it going to work?
Of course, this nomination immediately got a very bad response from conservative types. You wouldn't necessarily be surprised that Ann Coulter went bloody nuts about this pick. But even such a Bush booster as his former speechwriter David Frum who personally knows Miers was singularly unimpressed.
My first clue that there was serious trouble was the immediate and total opposition of George Will. CLICK HERE This guy's the great American Tory, a spirit of moderation and contemplation who is- for my tastes- too willing to settle for "realistic" options. When even this guy immediately responded that the US Senate should flatly reject this nomination, that's serious trouble for a Republican pick.
I smelled blood, though, when I saw THIS COLUMN on October 13 by Peggy Noonan. This former Reagan speechwriter is generally the most eloquent and reasonable mainstream spinner for Republicans. Instead, this genteel operative was writing a detailed exit plan for just how to back out of this nomination. Bad sign for Dubya, there. Real bad.
Charles Krauthammer has an alternate scenario for backing out of the Miers mess. CLICK HERE
It's only gotten worse. Jonah Goldberg at National Review was one of the last significant conservatives wanting to at least reserve judgment until her hearings, but now even he has gotten disgusted and thrown in the towel. Heck, George Will has gotten even more radical, declaring that any Republican senator who votes for Miers "can never be considered presidential material. "
Ann Coulter offers perhaps the best straightforward and simple explanation of why movement conservatives are so opposed to Miers:
The sickness of what liberals have done to America is that so many citizens – even conservative citizens – seem to believe the job of a Supreme Court justice entails nothing more than "voting" on public-policy issues. The White House considers it relevant to tell us Miers' religious beliefs, her hobbies, her hopes and dreams. She's a good bowler! A stickler for detail! Great dancer! Makes her own clothes!
Article comments
1 - Michael J. West
One thing I'm seriously wondering is this: what are the chances that, if it looks like she could be confirmed, the most ardently opposed Republicans will be the ones to filibuster? Given the ferocity of the opposition, it's not so far-fetched.
That said, I have absolutely no doubt that Bush will NOT withdraw the nomination unless Miers herself asks him to. And even then, he will do everything he can to convince her to stick it out. This is a man who apparently prizes personal loyalty above all else, and he gives as good as he gets.
2 - Al Barger
Oh Bush is bullheaded alright, but if this nomination is just absolutely going down bad, reality will kick in at some point.
I wouldn't expect a Republican filibuster, but it wouldn't likely be necessary. If they're in a position to have one, then it'll be unnecessary.
3 - Michael J. West
I don't know...the Bolton nomination went down pretty bad, bad enough that even Bolton apparently questioned whether it was worth it. But Bush held him to the confirmation....although whether that was because he knew he could make the interim appointment, I don't know.
4 - Nancy
Those waiting for "common sense to kick in" on the part of W. Bush are hopefully not holding their breaths meanwhile. This particular president has shown an uncommon lack of that commodity to date - including needing to be herded by his handlers into attending to hurricane victims nearly three days past the storm date. His experiences, on the contrary, have shown him to date that the GOP congress members are indeed nothing more than Bush toadys. If there weren't an election coming up next year, and a bigger one lining up in 08, you can bet your bottom dollar Republican congressmen would be solidly behind W, hissing & indignantly shredding the reputation of anyone who dared to point out Mier's failings. They could care less about the quality of the next SC justice; they're just practicing good ol' political CYA. To ascribe nobler reasons for their balking would be to give them credit for motives they're far too venal to entertain.
5 - Al Barger
Oh Nancy, I'm not counting on Dubya showing any sense- I'm figuring that some Republican senators will knock him in the head with it.
In fairness, not all politicians are completely venal all the time- not even all Democrats! Still, self-interest and the public good are liable to be lined up together in this case.
6 - Nancy
Al, I'm not counting on any of them doing anything because it's GOOD & the right thing to do, of either party. They're all overprivileged, they're all wealthy - & guaranteed of all kinds of special benefits for the rest of their lives, even long after they've left office, the rest of us will never know. Not one of them certainly can speak from the point of view of a "normal" working stiff citizen of the US, because they aren't, & never will be again. They operate in a total vacuum of disconnect, self-centered, selfish interest, and a "culture of corruption" that is so pervasive most of the time they can't even realize that what they say or do stinks in the nostrils of the average citizen. And I do include BOTH parties in this.
7 - RJ
I went from being a McCain supporter in early 2000, to a Bush-supporter in mid-2000, to a Bush-admirer in late-2000, to a Bush-lover in late 2001, to a hesitant Bush-lover in 2003, to an anti-Kerry voter in late-2004, to a hesitant Bush-supporter in early 2005.
After Miers, I'm not sure I even respect the guy anymore.
However, he isn't Hillary, so at least he's got that going for him...
8 - Alethinos
For once I actually agreed with George Will on this: she is NO choice at all. She still isn't. I am sure she's a nice lady. Suitable for the bench - no.
Maybe Bush will find some other nice church lady to nominate. I heard there's a bunch of them down on the corner of Pennsylvania Ave., having selling homemade perserves...
Alethinos
9 - Temple A. Stark
Al, This post was chosen by the section editor as a BC pick of the week. Go HERE (link) to find out why.
And thank you
- Temple