The right wing is every bit as disillusioned as the left wing. Compare the quotes below with the posts in our own threads here.
From Daily Dish:
From Right Wing News:
George Bush’s decision to appoint Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court is bitterly disappointing. Miers is a Bush crony with no real conservative credentials, who leapfrogged legions of more deserving judges just because she was Bush’s pal…. To merely describe Miers as a terrible pick is to underestimate her sheer awfulness as a selection.
More below the fold:
From Redstate, via Andrew Sullivan:
And more:
I cannot believe that I ever trusted this man. I am such a fool. I cannot believe that I have been so foolish as to look past the open borders, the excessive spending, the support of moderate Senators over Conservatives, the nation building in Iraq, the twisted bankruptcy “reform,” etc.
My favorite:
could have picked a real conservative. instead, he picks a 60-year-old woman who’s never been married and has never had kids. are we really to believe that she’ll vote to overturn roe? are we to believe that this woman hasn’t had sex outside of marriage over the past several decades? and if she has, hasn’t she been counting on the right to abortion just as other career-oriented women do? bush has betrayed us. i will never again contribute to the republican party.
Ah! So many people are abandoning the two parties in response to this pick. Isn’t that interesting?
But we have finally reached a moment of supreme (heh) bipartisanship. We all agree Bush is a hopeless idiot and cannot be trusted. Now, what to do about this judge?
are the chances that any Republicans will vote against her? They have followed Bush lock-stepped thus far…
With DeLay’s Hammer temporarily sheathed — perhaps some of the more traditionally conservative repubs find gumption enough to say “no”? I guess, we’ll see…
let’s just say that we are not the only people that routinely get screwed by our party leaders.
I don’t know whether this judge is going to provide the swing vote on Roe, or whether Roberts will stick with Rehnquist’s position either. And neither do the wingnuts. That is why they are apoplectic.
I say we join hands and demand this judge JUST ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION.
for me. Any press releases from Frist or others across the aisle? I’ll go look for something.
Frist appeared with Harriet this morning on camera and gushed all over her. I didn’t pay attention, to tell the truth. I can’t give you particulars, but he supports her.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/
I love your title, Boo!
You must’ve been reading that John Locke fellow again. Damn commie-pinko-islamofascist scum!
Frankly, I do not think what we do has anything to do with the nomination or selection or gratification or passing of this person to the supreme court what so ever! It is a done deal, just like I described about bush himself back in 99! we do, simply do not, count and never have as far as I am concerned. Lets face it..both parties simply do not care about us at all…it is what they want that is important.
that this woman hasn’t had sex outside of marriage over the past several decades?
Why, yes. It’s core to the bi-partisan support of abstinence programs.
She’s perfect!!
Did the person who said that know what she looked like? Not that looks are everything, but sheesh!
with th ebags under her eyes, she is either drinking tooooo much or she has a heart problem with chf to boot. Makes one wonder.
“ebags under her eyes”
What you have in the morning when you were on the internet late the night before? lol
A bipartisan moment. I would assume that (in this at least) we’ll be getting a lot more company in what will soon become a very crowded room. Why has it taken so long for some people to see that Bush’s agenda is to provide benefit the to rich and nothing more than this?
so so what. Poor poor freepers though!
for cosmopolitans yet?
I once had this annoying friend who always asked if it was Beer:30 yet…..Cosmo:30, it just doesn’t seem to have that ring huh?
I can drink one before anyone comes home from school… 🙂
Vodka:30 could work.
Arrr, me proud beauty, the old captain lets the ship fall off a point or two from the wind and Shiver me timbers, the sun’s over the yard arm! Arrr, I’ll have one too.
Is this the straw that broke the Republican bases back? I have a feeling it is!
Bipartisanship or just one party?
You know it is only ONE PARTY nation … when the opposition helps you in screwing over your base.
Sorry, I don’t buy this “The Freepers are angry” for one second … this was a set up and with Rosenbergs help they created a nice little echo chamber…
What to do about this judge?
What can we do… Reid has already set up his echo chamber and will just do a two step Kabuki dance if questioned… How in the hell Reid expects to even compete in 2006 is beyond me… it is like they are purposly tried to dismantle the Democratic Party.
I always liken it to the stronger boxer having to take a dive and is holding up his opponent on the ropes…giving him time to recover… Reid is taking a dive and he can barely make it look “natural” as he hits the mat.
Remember the Washington Generals, the fake team whose job it was to lose to the Harlem Globetrotters night after night? Well that’s what the Democratic Party has become.
(I wish I could claim credit for this comparison, but I’m stealing it from a comment by catfish over on CrookedTimber.)
Check out this quote from the latest AP article:
Splinter, crack, crumble. This only works in our favor if the Dems unite and make this nominee explain her views.
They are doing this for “OUR” benefit…trying to cover Reid’s sorry ass.
let’s get real for a moment.
Picking this judge has enraged Bush’s base. And yet, she might be the the long-awaited savior of the anti-abortion movement. They are utterly unconvinced. But maybe they should be popping champagne corks.
If we want to defeat this judge without a filibuster, we will need some conservative Senators, like Brownback. So, the rage is good from that point of view. On the other hand, if she is not the savior of the wingnuts, then confirming her will protect Roe and all our worries are on other issues that come before the court.
Either way, at least in the short-term, this is going to further erode Bush’s political capital. And, while that is small consolation in the long-view, it is something.
let’s get real for a moment.
This is the EXACT SAME PANTOMIME they did when Roberts was first nominated for O’CONNORS seat… suddenly when he was put forth for the more conservative Renquist seat he was “conservative enough”.
Shall I put up the Charlie Brown picture again…
that the right-wing reaction is some kind of conspiracy?
Seriously?
The problem, in my view, is that both Roberts and this woman were selected because no one could ascertain their judicial view on Roe.
So, if the right-wing thinks they are getting sold-out now is the time to join with them and say, “Yeah, you might be getting sold-out, how about we all demand to know whether you are getting sold-out.”
Because that puts them in a vice. They know that they can only get their anti-Roe judge by stealth, and yet they are not willing to take the risk.
Let’s make the fuckers pay for their inconsistent position.
Are you saying that you have forgotten that they did the EXACT SAME THING FOR ROBERTS?
Okay, lets.
Yes, this is a (small) victory for our side. Perhaps we could even capitalize on it and fracture their base. Unlikely that we’ll even try beyond Harry hugging Harriet, but who knows.
Now lets get serious.
This is an administration known for mastering spin and political outcomes.
Could Bush have just flubbed up and made a mistake? Bush, from team Bush and Rove?
A more likely scenario —
The Republicans capitalize on this “moment of doubt” they themselves created over this nomination.
Bush begs them all to trust him, to stay the course, to ignore the press and pundits and naysayers.
Harriet is confirmed (maybe with more Dem support than Repub, maybe with a fully unified Republican front and the usual Democratic crossovers).
Harriet is a true conservative who delivers on Roe and other Righty hotbutton issues.
Bush looks like a hero who has outfoxed the liberals and the media.
BOOM! Automatic immunity to press criticism and attacks. “You remember what they said about Harriet? Well, look what trusting me got you?”
Rove walks to an easy victory in 2006, as libs defect the Dems (publicly played for fools), the press is clipped (wild speculation proven wrong), and Repubs rally around the Pres (he supported us even when we doubted him).
If that’s not what’s going on, Rove has lost his touch.
if anything has happened this year that would lead you to believe that Rove hasn’t lost his touch?
Seriously?
Rove knows the court of public opinion only matters at election time. Its an extension of his detailed “get just enough votes from just the right precincts to win” philosophy. He knows they’ll forgive him in plenty of time for elections, once they see Harriet in action.
So my evidence? Umm… I’d have to go with all the unanimous Republican Senate votes, and passing CAFTA by just enough (including a Republican who swore he’d never vote for it).
Katrina totally caught the man off guard, but he was playing with kidney stones, and the pres was on vacation and out of harms way, and besides, its just a hurricane, right? Dealt with dozens in Florida (yeah, he biffed this one big, but then he’s just an evil genius, not an infallible evil genius).
I know you’re getting all excited because the right wing blogs are unhinged. Bush doesn’t have enough political capital to satisfy their demands for specific candidates. Too many scandals to manage. But rightwing bloggers will be happy enough with what they find under the tree once their initial disappointment wears off.
And if he pushed through who they say they want now, he’d be passing up the opportunity I spelled out above.
The right wing bloggers are demanding all home runs.
Bush will deliver a decisive victory.
It’ll be enough, they’ll still be on the winning team.
That’s a huge gamble, especially with conservatives attacking Bushco for its anti-conservative stances on spending, big government etc. Along with grumblings about Miers at this point, those conservative shortcomings at this point will just be amplified as the base becomes more infuriated. I don’t know that this type of “honey, I’m sorry I punched you last nite but I bought you these flowers” strategy is going to fly much longer.
Yes, but what’s the alternative?
Bush just decided to throw the Dems a bone?
Bush doesn’t know Harriet’s stand on Roe, doesn’t care, and doesn’t care what the conservative reaction will be?
The corporate interests demanded Harriet, and he’s just delivering?
He figures he owes her for being so loyal, but not Abu Gonzales?
I’m not saying my previous theory has to be right, but I’m just not seeing anything that makes any more sense right now. The fact there are angry right wing bloggers is pretty irrelevant in the long run, unless they were to stay that way. Why on earth would Bush nominate Harriet if that were the case?
I’m not discounting that “angry rightwing bloggers” equals “good news for us today”. But the election isn’t today.
And with all the scandals, I think the White House is getting desparate to get ahead of a story. This might be their way of doing that. As you say, its a gamble, but the payoff is potentially huge.
And that’s the problem I’m having with the other theories behind this… there simply isn’t any payoff behind them.
I’m not a political strategist. Perhaps Bushco decided that while his poll numbers are so low they weren’t prepared to deal with the whole filibuster situation in order to satisy the more militant base. This may just be the easiest way out. I don’t know. I think that’s the problem here – nobody seems to know.
When I do go to church here in BAMA I go to St. Lukes Methodist, it is like the only church I can see any kind of eye to eye with down here…..I guess he’s right Bawaahahahaha!
Being seen in church is the most important thing for the adults. We like to do lots of kid stuff too, it is a small town and it helps to pay attention to the kids…….if your family has an abortion moment though just keep it to yourself and make sure you dress nice NEXT Sunday and come to church and be seen in church Okay? That’s all folks!
more conservative reaction, thanks to David Corn:
I worked with Harriet Miers. She’s a lovely person: intelligent, honest, capable, loyal, discreet, dedicated….I could pile on the praise all morning. But there is no reason at all to believe either that she is a legal conservative or – and more importantly – that she has the spine and steel necessary to resist the pressures that constantly bend the American legal system toward the left.
I am not saying that she is not a legal conservative. I am not saying that she is not steely. I am saying only that there is no good reason to believe either of these things. Not even her closest associates on the job have no good reason to believe either of these things. In other words, we are being asked by this president to take this appointment purely on trust, without any independent reason to support it. And that is not a request conservatives can safely grant.
It’s a lengthy article. Check it out.
I agree. Brownback should get his wish.
Where we and the red-staters are the same:
Where we and the red-staters are different:
We’d be fools to think that upset red-staters means any sort of victory for us.
If any leading bloggers figure that just because their side is in the dark that our side somehow comes out ahead, they’re fools!
After Harriet is confirmed, she’ll please Bush’s base, and they’ll forgive him. Their leaders will come out and gleefully explain they were in on the fix all along, but the only way to get it past a mean-ol Democratic filibuster was to keep everyone, even their footsoldiers, in the dark. But all will be forgiven, when she lives up to expectations.
… in plenty of time for the 2006 races, too.
Thank you…
At the end of the day Meirs and Roberts will do what Bush or any bigotted GOP will ask them… The word “conservative” is too good for these people.
Reid killed the Democratic Party today and is smiling in the cameras…
from the kitty-killer’s website:
Translation: The Democrats better play nice, or else.
Phuck. That.
in part:
IOW, don’t even think about pushing for documents because you’re not getting them.
Still think this is kosher?
now hand over the cheesecake.
We ate an entire small cheesecake last night because of your comments…
My comments have driven you to eat? I guess that’s better than being driven to drink by them. 🙂
Oh, I have room for cheesecake AND vodka, believe me!
Bush has just nominated an unqualified judge in an act of pure cronyism that pisses off the right-wing Republican base.
And somehow Harry Reid is the enemy.
The left-wing has become almost as batshit loopy as the right-wing (and before I am attacked I consider myself substantively to be a left-winger).
stop picking on each other and call a spade a spade: the US government is completely and totally fucked up at this juncture.
Who says that they are pissed off…GOP operatives …who don’t even go to the toilet without asking first…
Parker, go read the subthreads at the right-wing blogs. The subthreads show they are genuinely pissed off.
You can’t deny it.
They were GEN-U-WHINE about being pissed off with Roberts too
Please. He’s nominated an arch-conservative Christian nutcase. This woman is from a Church so fundamentalist their use of his name makes Jesus wince in pain, and she’s so pro-corporate that Ayn Rand would smile in approval.
Her qualifications are irrelevant. She gets in, the right wins the culture war.
And you support her.
He’s nominated an arch-conservative Christian nutcase. This woman is from a Church so fundamentalist their use of his name makes Jesus wince in pain, and she’s so pro-corporate that Ayn Rand would smile in approval.
Then why are conservatives and Republicans complaining?
I don’t know, you tell me. Why’d they complain about Roberts? I mean, he’s so right-wing, he makes Mussolini look positively reasonable. Yet from their complaining, you’d think he was the second coming of Jesus or MLK or something. And yet, as soon as he hits the real confirmation process, they all shut up. He got unanimous support from the right, despite their complaining.
It’s the same strategy the right uses over and over and over again. They’re trying to make her look less extreme than she is by complaining about her.
It doesn’t require much coordination. The opinion leaders in the Republican blogs start the ball rolling, the sheep follow along, noise gets made. The opinion leaders shut up, the sheep screech to a halt, the party falls into line. The implication? “We hated her, but we’re supporting the President. Why aren’t you, you traitors?!?!”
wingers are United Methodist or United Baptist, all other versions of Methodist or Baptist cannot be fully trusted as to exactly how they splintered off and why and where and nobody even knows if they are toeing the line damn it!
about calling out a so-called Dem leader who preemptively approves of Bush nominating an unqualified judge in an act of pure cronyism? This would hardly be the first plague-on-both-their-houses moment in recent political history. Some of us actually care about what happens to the country more than some petty political edge that the wishful thinkers imagine they see.
What’s loopy about saying that Harry Reid is the enemy? As you rightly point out paulucia, Meirs’ nomination is “an act of pure cronyism.” Reid, on the other hand, says that Meirs offers “a different and useful perspective.”
Those of us who can walk and chew gum at the same time understand that just because Bush is the enemy, everyone else is not our friend. Reid, Schumer and other Democrats had the opportunity to jump all over this nomination. Miers is an unqualified religious fanatic, who has said that she believes George W. Bush is the “most brilliant man” she has ever met. In a White House of fanatic loyalists, she distinguishes herself in fanatic loyalty. She is Michael Brown in a skirt. And for the first time in this administration’s term of office, the public is beginning to understand that the Bush admistration is riddled with cronyism and incompetence. It would have been the easiest thing in the world for a Democratic Senator — preferably one of the 20 “yes” voters on Roberts (remember how strategically brilliant that was supposed to be last week) — to take to the floor of the Senate and immediately denounce Miers as Ted Kennedy immediately denounced Bork. For once, wingnuts would have been back on their heels because Miers is such a black box that even they have questions about her.
So, yes, paulucia, Harry Reid and the Democratic Party are another obstacle to this country getting back on the right track. And in that sense they, too, are the enemy.
Boo: With all due respect, you’re out of your fucking mind. We got the same bullshit with Roberts. He’s a good moderate because neither party likes him blah blah blah blah blah. Only it turns out that Roberts was really an arch-conservative that they were perfectly happy with, and they were just complaining to try and make him look more moderate while they thought he’d be taking O’Connor’s slot.
Oops.
can be found here
Here’s one:
+++++
I ALSO THINK THAT Bush — who we know has a small mind and no capacity for abstract thinking let alone imagining — is most apt to select someone who is smack dab IN FRONT OF HIM.
Cheney
Gonzales
Miers
all of daddy’s old friends
I was just over at Reid’s site. Multiple opportunities to donate — a PAC and an ACTBLUE page so that you can donate to your fav candidates like Feinstein, Casey, Clinton …
That Feinstein needs my money is something that I have a hard time wrapping my brain around. But, I digress from the PLAN.
The problem: we have lives to live, bills to pay. But our government is in absentia. In turn, if posts by Senators are believed, they need our support to continue doing … what they do.
The solution: Set up an ACTBLUE page so that they can contribute to us for our support. This way, we can pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, and they, well they can continue doing … whatever it is that they do. They donate to us.
Sumpin’like this:
————————————————-
ACT BLUE
Donate to the netizens now!
Netizen Number of Contributions Total Amt
bostonjoe 8 $3800
dblhelix 6 $3100
militarytracy 7 $3122
moiv 6 $4200
Parker 10 $5000
susanhu 12 $5122
ubikkibu 7 $2900
great idea, but did you forget someone?
She is multi talented in the field and is as comfortable mixing up tablets as drinks. She has more than one medium she works in and I for one think we really need her! It is about time we started choosing people that are really qualified for their jobs!
just lifted names at random from the last thread.
for a change
And I’ll share my winnings with all of you! 🙂
GOP LUCY: Harry “Charlie Brown” we hate that <strike>Roberts<strike> Miers is not conservative enough…/really now kick the ball.
specifically NCLR and MALDEF:
Note: I’m just relaying reactions, don’t shoot the msgr.
Boston Globe article:
“I do not know Ms. Miers well and I did not meet her until recently, six months after she became the White House counsel,” he said. “What I do know is that she has a reputation for being loyal to this president, whom she has a long history of serving as a close adviser and in working to advance his objectives.
“In an administration intent on accumulating executive power, Ms. Miers’ views on — and role in — these issues will be important for the Senate to examine,” said Leahy. “It is important to know whether she would enter this key post with the judicial independence necessary when the Supreme Court considers issues of interest to this administration.”
Noting that the White House and Congress were both firmly in Republican control, the senator said he believed it was particularly important that nominees to the Supreme Court were not partisan ideologues.
So, ultimately the check and balance is in the courts,” he said. “Now, if the courts become an arm of the Republican Party, there’s no checks and balance left.”
Leahy also comments in that article about his support of Roberts and states that Miers was not on his list of recommended nominees.
Remember this:
and this
and this
That was a long BooMan thread.
Some personal experience. In the process of becoming a judicial clerk, I was vetted by my boss. Far different league than that which we discuss, of course. But the same principles apply — the appointor wants to know very badly what the appointee thinks. So does anyone actually believe that Bush did not sit down with both Roberts and Miers and talk to them very candidly about their judicial and political beliefs?
I often refer to Bush as an idiot, but I am convinced that he is still some kind of sentient life form. And as such, knowing that these appointments are the one thing that will likely allow him to affect policy for the next quarter of a century or so, I believe the man definitely had heart-to-heart talks with Roberts and Miers.
Assuming that he did have the chat with the prospective nominees, which I think is a pretty safe bet, then I think there are only very limited ways in which Roe v. Wade will continue to be good law. 1) Bush had the chat, and Bush is not truly a social conservative, so he made sure they would support Roe, and not cause untold injury to conservatism for decades to come (Because you know we are all going batshit when Roe is overturned). 2) Bush had the chat, and the nominee very skillfully ducked the question, or out and out lied, and will take a pro-choice viewpoint to the bench. 3) The nominee was pro-life during the chat, and in some way is open minded enough to actually reconsider that position when the legal question presents itself (I doubt this a lot). Other than this, I think we are probably stuck saying bye-bye Roe.
I agree with BooMan. We don’t really know anything. But I think some assumptions are safe to make. I am hoping Roberts and Miers turn out to be skilled liars, with some shred of respect for human liberty. And from what I’ve seen of Roberts, I am pretty well convinced that he can lie with the best attorneys on the planet. I rather doubt that he carries the same kind of respect for human liberty that most of us do. As for Miers, well she has pretty much dispelled the notion that she is an effective liar. I mean, the essence of the lie is to be close enough to the truth to retain credibility, and when she said Bush was one of the smartest men on the planet, well — that should pretty much dispel any notion you might have that she could ever lie very well. So I am thinking we’ve got a couple of votes to overturn Roe, or a president who really doesn’t want to.
And the Senate sure as shit isn’t going to get any answers. We have seen the future of the judicial nomination process, and it doesn’t involve a whole lot of substantive discussion about legal doctrine.
And the Senate sure as shit isn’t going to get any answers. We have seen the future of the judicial nomination process, and it doesn’t involve a whole lot of substantive discussion about legal doctrine.
The problem with politics today — which is really just a culmination of a trend that began with FDR and WW2 — is that there isn’t substantive discussion of much of anything. Everything is secret, everything has to be taken on trust.
Democracies don’t function that way. Eliminate the informed electorate, and it really doesn’t matter if you have elections or not. Josef Stalin had elections. Saddam Hussein had elections. Elections do not a democracy make. We’re not down to one checkbox — although, arguably, we’re down to two identical checkboxes — but when there is no way to make an informed decision, you may as well be throwing darts blindfolded.
We are told again and again that the content of policymaking conversations held by powerful politicians cannot be made public because politicians (and their corporate paymasters) would be afraid to speak frankly. That’s true, but it’s also bullshit. They’d be afraid to speak frankly because if they did so in public, they’d be torn to pieces by enraged mobs — and bipartisan mobs at that. The only time democratically elected leaders need secrecy — sometimes excluding military matters — is when they are trying to do something very, very wrong.
What’s happened is an inversion of the democratic order. Politicians are not leaders, for fuck’s sake. They are servants. Our servants. The notion that they should tell us how they’re going to run things is insubordination, and the whole goddamned lot of them ought to be stabbed in the eyes with a fork until they remember that we the people are in charge here.
The next applicant for the position of Supreme Court justice in the employ of the people had better answer the goddamn interview questions, or else get the same treatment anyone else would get when interviewing for a job.
Reuters: Top Stories (YAHOO)
Bush pick for high court outrages conservatives
The #1 story!
Interesting how that segues nicely into the “undirected” echo chamber in the blogosphere started by Kos…
My first thought was “Isn’t that a perfect description of all of george’s women, just like his mommy.” Then “hell, not just the women – all the men, too.”
Darcy told me to check DrudgeReport:
There is actually a lot that I like about this nominee.
She’s certainly not ideal, but we don’t have an ideal president and congress voting on the nomination. Given what I know about her (not much), when I compare that with the possibility of Alberto Gonzales, I find myself breating a sigh of relief.
She is a single woman. Even if she is conservative christian, it is unlikely that she completely buys into the idea of legislating the perfect family at the expense of others.
It’s possible that, like the rest of the monied conservative elite, she is perfectly comfortable supporting a different standard for her own class than she does for the rest of us lowly rabble.
What if this is all a setup? Fools rush in….
or he does not give a damn about voters, supporters and political climate anymore (what next should we expect then?),
or he is just tied by crony favours.
One thing is clear: principles and values mean nothing to him. It is all about favouring close “friends”. Get that, freepers! I will not be surprised if Bush himself will be eaten alive by the same cronies.
…with people that are beholden to him. With people that know his secrets.
I believe that Bush will eventually be tried for some crimes against this country. In years, or perhaps a decade or more.
He maybe be absolved, but as information about his crimes comes to light, only the Supreme Court will be the final arbiter of the situation : A former President indicted in an international court for war crimes. A former President indicted for taking bribes in exchange for legislation. A former President indicted for the treasonous act of lying the nation into a bloody, costly, unjust war. A former President indicted for knowingly fixing one of his own elections.
I am no lawyer. I can spell “lawyer”, but never considered becoming one. But surely there must be some way Bush will end up being brought to justice after succeeding only in becoming our nation’s worst. President. ever.
With Roberts and Miers, he hasn’t bowed to his extreme right base, instead he’s done what he has always done : support the people willing to clean up after his fuckups.