Mark and I think alike on a lot of different subjects. Above all, we’re cool as cucumbers. I haven’t written much on Harriet Miers because she deserves at least one day of hearings before we throw her off a cliff. Who knows: maybe she’s the female John Roberts with a dazzling knowledge of Constitutional law. But all this hand-wringing and tearing of shirts – oy, get a grip people. Here’s Mark:
If the conservative movement is torn asunder by a Supreme Court appointment, it wasn’t a hell of a movement to begin with.Well put. Look, I’m not crazy about Harriet Miers, either. But let’s review some salient points:
#1 – There is no chance that President Bush will withdraw the nomination. That’s not how the Bush family operates.
#2 – There’s no way that Harriet Miers would voluntarily withdraw her nomination. A cursory review of her career reveals an ambitious, headstrong personality; nothing on heaven or earth would force her to turn back now.
#3 – Unless Miers makes some huge gaffe in the Judiciary hearings, she’ll be voted out of committee.
#4 – Despite grumblings from the right, all the Republican senators will support the President and vote for Miers.
If you follow this sequence, Miers will be confirmed to the SCOTUS. Whining about the choice, now that it’s been made, is useless.
Follow-up – Point #3 may be in danger: Andy McCarthy doesn’t believe Miers will get enough votes on the Judiciary committee. Byron York says that doesn’t matter.
Extra – From Opinion Journal: “Give her a break - Bush's judicial picks have been great so far. Why should Miers be any different?” We’ll see.
2 comments:
Spot on. She's going to be confirmed. So, opposing her, as a conservative, accomplishes... what exactly?
I am with you, too, on reserving judgment until the hearings. I would have preferred someone solidly conservative, someone who would've provoked a fight over ideas. But we'll see how it plays out.
Whining about the choice, now that it’s been made, is useless.
Spot on. She's going to be confirmed. So, opposing her, as a conservative, accomplishes... what exactly?
When you boys are done with all this intellectual rigor, be sure to post about how the rudderless, unscrupulous Democrats have no ideas again.
What does "whining" over Miers "accomplish"? Gee, that's hard to imagine... maybe principled disgust that Bush is showing his tin ear by promoting yet another unremarkable, underqualified kemosabe, even before New Orleans has drained? Perhaps to endorse a political culture that values excellence above fealty? Even a momentary brush of shame that your President could cite Harriet Miers as "the most qualified" Supreme Court choice America has... and might even mean it?
We all know the punchline to the old joke, "Why does a dog lick his balls?" We just didn't know that it would form the basis of Bush's policymaking, or unswerving Republican support for anything Bush decides to do.
"Miers may be a hack, but by the blood of Christ, she's our hack!"
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