Here's A Provocative Question
If President Bush nominates someone to the Supreme Court who is exactly what the conservative Miers opponents want (i.e., someone on their approved list), is he unwisely rewarding them for their inappropriate conduct in opposing Miers? Does rewarding that behavior reinforce the questionable precedent they have set in their opposition?
I am sure that is one question rattling around in GWB's clever head. Some possible others:
- What are the other consequences of rewarding those conservative opponents?
- Do all those consequences outweigh the considerations in favor of a Luttig or McConnell?
- Should the president go another way entirely, one that would achieve his goals for reforming the Supreme Court without caving in to right-wing demands?
posted by Lowell Brown at 9:43 AM
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6 Comments:
Kyl is probably off the table since we here in Arizona are stuck with the quite liberal Gov. Napoleon who would certainly appoint a Democrat to replace him. Cornyn would work, but doesn't sound like he wants the job.
And how is it "rewarding" his conservative base to simply keep a campaign promise--one many of us would argue was the central reason for our support of his candidacy? Yes, I can see that he isn't happy with the result, but if he had nominated a person of who unquestionably "in the mold of Scalia and Thomas" this would never have happened. So if he is distressed with those of us who are conservatives first and Republicans second, he should probably invest in a mirror to find out why.
Posted by Watchman
Rewarding the conservative base for remaining conservative, in the face of attacks from their own is a great idea!
Posted by DL
He must nominate a woman, because it will be untenable and seen as illegitimate if a bunch of men are the ones that overturn Roe. Just as in the fact that most pro-life organizations see the wisdom and necessity of having women at the front of the fight, so too is it absolutely necessary that the opinion to bury Roe is written by a woman.
But, that's getting ahead of ourselves. Potential nominees have eyes. They've seen what has happened. They know that they are absolutely sure to get savaged -- if not from the left, then surely from the right. Who will be willing to go through such a guaranteed borking? We already know that some (many?) on the short list have already said "No" to being selected. This sad affair is sure to lead to more people saying "No."
Speaking of Bork, I just heard him on Hannity, and both were trying to be sympathetic to her, as if they were not the ones heaping scorn and humiliation on her. Given that they just finished gang-raping her, they reminded me of Bill Clinton's suggestion to Juanita Broadrick (or was it one of other victims?) -- "You better put some ice on that."
Posted by Bender
John McCain has never looked better. Thank you conservative extremists. The best thing Bush could do is nominate a young Robert Bork like judge. Give the zealots exactly what they want. Make them defend him, make them carry the water for the nominee and when they fail, as they will, then nominate a moderate who will get approved. Bush doesn't care about his image, he is termlimited. He does care about the ability of the Repubican party to govern after he is out of office. The extremists will have the same result given Barry Goldwater in 1964 (a loser). Beat these zealots at their own game and then keep them out of power. They can't govern and will never be acceptable to the public at large. I hope McCain gets his gang of 14 increased to 25 or 30 moderates. This power grab by the extremist right has gone too far and only proves to me that they are dangerous and scary people to have in power.
Posted by Robespierre
" I hope McCain gets his gang of 14 increased to 25 or 30 moderates. This power grab by the extremist right has gone too far and only proves to me that they are dangerous and scary people to have in power."
Robespierre
Talk about scary people?
Anything to neuter the message - anything to maintain the staus quo - anything to be in the middle - just check with the Democrats to see what they wil allow us to do. The name RINO seeems to fit an awful lot of people that claim to be conservative republicans.
Anyone who is not afraid of the power seeking McCain is a liberal at heart. You guys lost a skirmish, not the war and you find yourselves hating your side more than the enemy. And you talk about conservatives hurting the party.
Pogo was so right!
Posted by DL
I think his decision to nominate Alito did reward the temper-tantrum.
I would have preferred to see alex Kozinski nominated. Brilliant judge, but enough of a maverick to tick off the Beltway-conservative establishment.
Posted by Harold C. Hutchison
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