Mired in Miers
Oct. 11th, 2005 12:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
topazAs the Harriet Miers nomination marches on I am becomingly increasingly convinced of a grotesque irony: the Republican wing of the Senate is putting up the hue and cry against someone who is probably exactly the person they most want to have on the Supreme Court.
Who is Harriet Miers? While almost none of us know, the inner circle of the Bush administration certainly does. Bush, Rove and crew know who Harriet Miers is and what sort of judge she will make; you can put that in the bank. James Dobson's ominous remark this week, about how he is very satisfied with Harriet Miers but he's not allowed to discuss why, puts the lock on it. The people who have nominated her know exactly who she is and how she will rule. If she's good enough for James Dobson, she's good enough to send shivers down my spine.
Moreover, while Bush himself may lack good judgement, he has unquestionably surrounded himself with smart and politically capable operatives. Everything about this nomination says that Bush's team has learned from 41's "mistake" with David Souter, and that they have taken care to choose someone who will not disappoint the base as Souter did.
And in response, the GOP revolts — because Bush's nominee is not another Scalia or Thomas, someone with a documented track record of eating fire and belching dissents. I wonder just who Tom DeLay was expecting Bush to nominate. Who did he imagine might survive the confirmation process at this point? Was he hoping that, after almost twenty years, Robert Bork would finally have his moment in the sun?
Miers is Bush's perfect stealth candidate. She is exactly the person who his base wants on the court, and the only kind of person who could survive a confirmation hearing at this point. Yet there is a chance that the GOP will scuttle this nomination because, in effect, she is too confirmable for them. If the Republicans succeed in killing this nomination, NARAL should send Tom DeLay a thank-you card.
Who is Harriet Miers? While almost none of us know, the inner circle of the Bush administration certainly does. Bush, Rove and crew know who Harriet Miers is and what sort of judge she will make; you can put that in the bank. James Dobson's ominous remark this week, about how he is very satisfied with Harriet Miers but he's not allowed to discuss why, puts the lock on it. The people who have nominated her know exactly who she is and how she will rule. If she's good enough for James Dobson, she's good enough to send shivers down my spine.
Moreover, while Bush himself may lack good judgement, he has unquestionably surrounded himself with smart and politically capable operatives. Everything about this nomination says that Bush's team has learned from 41's "mistake" with David Souter, and that they have taken care to choose someone who will not disappoint the base as Souter did.
And in response, the GOP revolts — because Bush's nominee is not another Scalia or Thomas, someone with a documented track record of eating fire and belching dissents. I wonder just who Tom DeLay was expecting Bush to nominate. Who did he imagine might survive the confirmation process at this point? Was he hoping that, after almost twenty years, Robert Bork would finally have his moment in the sun?
Miers is Bush's perfect stealth candidate. She is exactly the person who his base wants on the court, and the only kind of person who could survive a confirmation hearing at this point. Yet there is a chance that the GOP will scuttle this nomination because, in effect, she is too confirmable for them. If the Republicans succeed in killing this nomination, NARAL should send Tom DeLay a thank-you card.
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no subject
Date: 2005-10-11 12:32 pm (UTC)If so, why not just say "abortion" instead of "women's choice?"
The reason why there is a conservative rebellion (a weak one, which will probably not get far) against Miers is because Bush's base is fed up with Bush throwing them rhetorical bones and they want some actual action from him. Miers' record (or lack thereof) on abortion is one thing angering conservatives, but it's not the only thing: a summation can be found here (http://www.professorbainbridge.com/2005/10/why_the_miers_f.html).
I note that abortion is still legal, and Bush's actions against abortion have been marginal and directed against social groups with no real clout to speak of-suggesting to me, at least, that he regards abortion as a useful issue to rally the base, but not something he really wants to tackle. (I regard the amendment banning flag burning and the tussle over the pledge (written, originally, by a socialist, not compeleld until 1942, and without the phrase "under God" until the 1950s) as similar issues that are used to rally the base but which will never be actually be enacted, because if they were enacted, why, what would there be left to rally the base with? The amendment against gay marriage, so prominent during the 2004 campaign and such a dead letter now, may be a similar thing.)
Personally, I think the Miers nomination is all about cronyism and Bush's confusion of personal loyalty to him with loyalty to the Constitution, and a sign of how arrogant Bush is (also factors in why Bush's base is angry at him). When George Will comes out and says that Bush has proven to be a poor guardian of the Constitution (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/04/AR2005100400954.html), part of his base is really, really unhappy.
(I'll make an observation that it says quite a lot about the Democrats that they didn't take the issue Will is upset about and make it a campaign point.)
no subject
Date: 2005-10-11 01:00 pm (UTC)Because it polls better. You know this.
Anyway, women's choice encompasses other choices that people want to restrict - the choice to use emergency contraception, the choice to use birth control, the choice to be artificially inseminated even if you're not married (e.g., the bill introduced and hastily withdrawn by State Senator Patricia Miller in Indiana), the choice to have the same access to insurance coverage for artificial insemination if you're 41 that you'd have if you were 39 (new regulations in CT). This is a broad umbrella and covers a lot of different issues, but they're linked to some extent, and so to some extent one might reasonably infer what a potential judge's decisions might be on one of these matters (esp. those at the start of my list) by looking at her decisions on another of them (abortion).
no subject
Date: 2005-10-11 01:08 pm (UTC)Kind of like I want someone "pro-life" to admit that they're anti-abortion.
Both are, I guess, "framing." It's hard to be against "choice," "life" or "women."
You might infer a judge's ideas on other "women's choice," but you might be wrong. In Mier's case, I think she's shown a tremendous amount of logical inconsistency, so it's hard to tell what she'll do once on the bench.
Frankly, I wouldn't want her on the bench even if she was consistent and we had a clue what her rulings on the subject are likely to be, given that the primary criteria for her nomination seems to be Bush's expectation that she'll continue to be a faithful lackey.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-11 01:15 pm (UTC)I don't see how Mier has shown a tremendous amount of anything. Which is precisely why she's the nominee.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-11 01:43 pm (UTC)I shouldn't have to explain this to a self-professed libertarian.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-11 06:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-11 02:21 pm (UTC)Believing one should be able to decide for oneself what to do does not mean believing the person in question must have an abortion. I also believe in legalizing (and heavily taxing) drugs; this does not mean I think everyone should be taking drugs.
Every abortion is a failure. It could be a failure of technology (birth control fails), a failure of law (rape), a failure to meet a trust (date rape drugs), a failure of luck (genetic problems with the critter), a failure of society (to provide a good adoption system). There are times when the failure of abortion is the best of a series of lousy options.
Support the right. Reduce the need.