A Departure's Lasting Damage (fallout of Miers resignation)

From EJ Dionne of the WaPo.
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The damage President Bush and the conservative movement have inflicted on their drive to pack the Supreme Court with allies will not be undone by Harriet Miers's decision to withdraw her nomination.

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Republicans had railed against Democratic efforts to press court nominees (including Chief Justice John Roberts) for their views on legal issues. Back in July The Post disclosed a planning document circulated among Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The document said nominees for the Supreme Court should avoid disclosing "personal political views or legal thinking on any issue." Liberals were terribly gauche and inappropriate for wanting to know someone's opinions before awarding that person life tenure on the nation's most powerful court.

But it was neither gauche nor inappropriate for conservatives to de mand that Miers clarify her views on a slew of issues, notably Roe v. Wade . When liberals asked for clarity, they were committing a sin. When conservatives asked for clarity, they were engaged in a virtuous act. Thus are conservatives permitted to alter their principles to suit their own political situation.

There was also that small matter of a nominee's religious views. Conservatives condemned liberals who suggested it was worth knowing how Roberts's religious convictions might affect his judging. But when Miers started running into trouble with conservatives, the Bush administration encouraged its allies to talk up Miers's deep religious convictions to curry favor among social conservatives. I guess it's okay for conservatives to bring up religion whenever they want, but never appropriate for liberals to speak of spiritual things.

More at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/27/AR2005102701849.html

The thing that got to me was this endless stuff about what church she was in. Said to me that she thought just like those people and that I was not happy with but why were the far right unhappy with her? She looked like a winner to me, for them. Can the far right nuts really hope to get some one in that is even more far right than Miers? I am sure I have missed something.

this scenario was written ages ago. Put up someone who is absolutely unqualified to throw off the Democrats, have some ultra right wing senators going against her, enough noise is made to have her "withdraw" and then slip a real loser in: Priscilla Owen, etc who will really try to change the court to suit Republicans. They will probably be able to do this. But Democrats didn't cry foul when she was nominated as they were supposed to do. This has mastermind Rove written all over it. Even the fact that Miers botched her questionnaire was planned. My God, I am beginning to think like THEM!

give too much credit to herr rove. That is not to say that I am not comforted that people are always suspect of the chimp crowd, we need to be. However, quite a bit of their success depends on a uninformed/willfully ignorant populace. I mean, how often do you hear the msm talk about rove being fired by bush Sr. for leaking shit to novak? Almost never. I really believe the chimp wanted miers. A quick reading of her letters prove her perverted loyalty to him, and I have no doubt that she would have been every bit the threat to pro-choice as p.owens, or whomever else he chooses. The right-wing overreached, and revealed their hypocrisy, and the Dems for the most part, framed the issue perfectly yesterday. And bush looks even weaker than he did just prior to this, and it will almost certainly make the slowly awakening people in this country ask: "Who is really in charge in the White House?"

and one democrats and lefties of all persuasions should keep in mind -- the is willing and has the know how to change and defend it's point of view at the drop of a hat.

while i never wanted miers on the supreme court -- for the left i think it was a mistake not to go down fighting bush nominees for the federal bench earlier on.

we will -- i think -- have one hell of a fight on his next pick.

the only way we will avoid that is if bush decides to put his thumb in the eye of the religous right -- yeah that will happen.