Why DIDN'T Bush nominate a hard right judge to the SC?

I mean, it would please the base, and would probably get through anyway, since the Dems promised not to filibuster.

Is it just about making sure Roe vs Wade stays viable as a political issue?

Is it just about getting a VERY close pal on the SC in case something comes up?

I don't get it.

Unless Miers is just a decoy, and when she gets shot down, Bush will bring out his real nominee.

Theories? It just seems weird to me. He could have it all, couldn't he?

Their rule of action seems to be "what can I get away with?" and "Who from my small circle of acquaintances can I reward for being my buddy now?" It's pathetic.

Are you Karnac the Mindreader?

Bush has known this woman for over 30 years - he knows her political ideologies but the rest of us will have to keep guessing!

The RW wanted a public execution of the left via this nomination - and all they got was a RW Court.

and it would be so easy to make them happy.

Yet, he chose not to.

Of course, this woman might be even more nuttily right wing than anyone... but why piss off the fundies while we wait to find out?

His love for cronyism outweighs his love for what he says he believes in.

Moreover, this lady is perfectly prepared to overturn Roe v Wade, no doubt about that.

Nevertheless, the real danger behind Roberts and this lady is that they are both completely loyal to the BushCO empire. Seriously.

But the Repukes are angry because it isn't obvious. She's doesn't do the "Heil Bush" salute well enough, although her loyalties are quite clear.

They want to be publicly validated in their fascist tendencies. He didn't do that, here.

This could be a serious problem for him, though. If they don't perceive that he did something for them (whatever it is that he has done), the Repukes could be in trouble in 2006.

I get the feeling the Nazis were really wanting blood, in the public square.

,...to take a position on Roe v Wade that is contrary with that ruling (eg anti-abortion or anti-legal precedent or anti-Roe v Wade, however one may put it).

That's PUH-LENTY to satisfy the christofascists.

That political capital that he was crowing about like a three year old on a day pass when he supposedly won this last election has all dried up. He doesn't have enough left to get anybody who is hard right through the nomination process.

He might only get them thru with 65-70 votes instead of 80, but it's entirely doable. They're once more going for the lazy route. This president hates to take on anything too hard to accomplish.

you know, that he got w that whopping 2% victory in the (padded) popular vote.

He's a sociopath. He probably sits back and laughs the whole time...and heaven knows, it's all about making that bastard laugh.

who will rule in BushCo's favor when all those indictments finally make their way to the SC.

Still -- has Bush ever been so forward-thinking??

Wow, he's actually proactive when, his butt is on the line...

one would think.

and there is no rule that a Supreme Court Justice has to recuse themselves even if the conflict of interest is blatant.

his being AWOL and he caved.

Why NOT Priscilla Owens?

Miers may be pretty hard right, but the wingers aren't convinced.

that alot of the public would not mind being fillibustered. The RWers aren't convinced because they are as much in the dark as we are.

What scares me is knowing who's NOT in the dark, the piece of shit in chief and his minions.

that's how cronyism works I guess.

40% approval rating doesn't exactly make him a powerhouse.

He squandered all the political capital he had.

He is badly weakened and his party knows it.

...he'd nominate Janice Brown... I wonder if she waiting in the wings????

That is the bottom line. Between Terry Shiavo and insider trading, Frist just doesn't have the muscle to keep the moderates in line. It is simply a numbers game and they knew they didn't have the numbers to push through a known wacko like Luttig or Brown.

She'd do anything for Herr Chimp.

or the way Scalia and Thomas tell her to vote. In future without Bush** in office, it will be follow the party line, whatever it is. What's the need for an in-your-face RW nut? They can just do it with stealth.

But chose a stealth, UNKNOWN.

Now if he REALLY wanted to do what he said on the campaign trail for the Rapturist Right, with a Republican controlled Senate, he could have picked any number of GUARANTEED wingnut variety judges for the SCOTUS. Why avoid the fight with the Dems...I mean why would he care?

Appears to me that the Republican party USED THE EFUNGELICALS once again.:spray: They never learn.

It would be so **easy** to nominate Owens, though...

He's playing to the centrists in order to keep pushing through his agenda. This is just enough snow to confuse them while he finishes off all environmental regulations with the Endandered Species Act and Katrina regulations, keeps Davis-Bacon suspended, etc.

And he STILL got enough centrist votes in the REpublican party.

Why pander to the centrists now? The zealots have marginalized the "RINOs" for years without apology so why didn't he just DO IT?

A little pat on the head, go on back to American Idol now..

He'll throw some red meat to the fundies soon enough, Head Start religious teachers, Oregon's death with dignity, NH parental notification,

THAT part of his base is happy.

Operation Rescue press release concerning Miers nomination
Operation Rescue: “Supreme Court Reform Does Not Come in a Brown Paper Bag”
OR Will Not Support Miers to the Supreme Court

Washington, DC- Oct 03, 2005 Today, President George W. Bush has nominated White House Counsel Harriet Miers to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by retiring Sandra Day O’Connor.

While many pro-life groups were frustrated with the lack of information about the abortion stand of Bush’s first Supreme Court nominee, John Roberts, even less is known about Harriet Miers. Some have placed her in the same category as pro-abortion administration officials Condoleezza Rice and Karen Hughes.

“We must reject the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court of the United States,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.
“President Bush promised that he would appoint strong constitutional constructionist to the Supreme Court in the mold of Thomas and Scalia, but Miers is no Thomas or Scalia,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “We must be given a nominee that will restore the protections of personhood to the pre-born. If your head was about to be crushed, would you want to trust you life to someone who will not state their position on your murder?”

“Bush was given one mandate by the American people in the last election and that was to reform the Supreme Court. Reform does not come in a brown paper bag,” said Newman.

She filled out an application years ago that said she was anti-choice, she was against the repeal of the Texas sodomy law, she's a corporate whore from way back, jeez, how right wing does somebody have to be.

the secret signal or something.

Unless all this freaking out is just for show.

Man, I just can't stay on top of the machinations.

Cheney was on the radio today with both Rush & Hannity. Mier is a born again. In a few days the word will spread.

that the Republican Party has reached a point where they can no longer hang onto power with the sole support of the far-right and the fundamentalists. Too many people hate them, and they're crumbling. So they're trying to look a little less Christo-Fascist.

what I gather and can be easily controlled as she seems to be VERY close and in awe of * (he's the MOST brilliant "man"). I see an unqualified hack, a micheal brown with breasts.

it's elementary. when you nominate a mediocre person who isn't qualified for the job in the first place, that person will be beholden to you forever. she will do their bidding, just as thomas has so reliably, regardless of her views because she obviously lacks principles. a principled person wouldn't accept a job s/he wasn't qualified to do.

To automatically think of our opponents as dumb (After all, anybody that doesn't see things our way has to be stupid - right?) is a big mistake.

At first look over, she has an impressive record. Head of a 400 member law firm, president of the local bar, president of the state bar. She was a Democrat until around 1990.

Not stupid. Turncoat. Traitor. Yes. But not stupid.

not exactly the same as hiring a horse trainer to handle federal emergency management, but...
one would think that EXPERIENCE AS A JUDGE would be a prerequisite for becoming a judge on the highest court in the land :shrug:
the ever-diminhing expectations of the american public continue to work well for bush, inc.

never been judges, both Democrat and Republican. However, my point was to head off what I saw as the "She is stupid." meme.

and her lack of experience as as a judge is evidence of that. it's a favorite trick of bush, inc to nominate those with no track record for the position, so even democrats end up defending their nominees under the guise of fairness or reasonableness...this for a regime that defintely stole one election and very likely stole two. no wonder this administration, the most corrupt in recent history, can continue its destructive agenda with the consent of the 'oppostion.'

is not very smart.

that "he hated those people" when referring to the religious right. He doesn't like the religious right, never has never will. He just uses and abuses their stupid asses and the rest of the country has to pay the price. I'm so tired of this bull shit, it so obvious. George Bush is not religious he never was and never will be, he doesn't give a shit about Roe V Wade. He's backed by big money and this is all about big business stacking the bench with judges that favor big corporations over the little guy.

Why have a big fight over a Janice Brown, when he can slide in a stealth RW and not use up political capital? Have any of this other nominations been anything except RW?

For purging the AWOLness from his military file. It's a debt paid.

Oh I forgot. We are supposed to be celebrating our victory.

I'm just wondering why not please the righties with an obvious pal... I mean, what have they to lose? Not much.

I'm beginning to think that all this gnashing of teeth on the part of the fundamentalists is just show: Miers is probably as right as any of them.

Oh, well. Time will tell all.

I was flipping the channels, and James Dobson was kinda praising her on FOX, I mean we are talking James Dobson...I'll find out for sure when I see Pat and Jerry praising her...and I'm sure those assholes will say something soon enough.

be...anyone who would call the Collapsing Puppet the "most brilliant man she's ever known" has to have a brain clouded by some form of irrationality.

And as another poster above also said, the scary thing is that the Cabal knows.

What can probably be guessed at is that she will protect Corporations vs protecting people. The Corporatists in power only care about Choice as a goad to bring out their Fundie "base" - and since georgie-porgie isn't running again, they can trot out their next candidate as the Great Hope for the anti-woman/anti-gay agenda.

I am still sick over Roberts, and the Senate allowing its' "advise and consent" role to be nuetered by his and the WH's stonewalling.

seriously, he can't afford another blow to his numbers right now. He's betting he'll get another vacancy to feed the sharks with.

I believe that the dimson-cheney gang don't give a rat's ass about Wingnuttery's social issues. They used them to get elected* and re-elected**, and tossed them a few bones, like the stem cell ban and some anti-gay shit. But the oilmen care only about enriching themselves and their mega-corporate buddies. Judge Roberts and now Miers are strongly pro-big business, and that's what it's all about.

Some hardliner from SC is apt to overturn Roe vs. Wade, which would be a disaster for the RNC, in rural areas.

He cares about money and power and rewarding his cronies.