Oct 27 2005
Miers Was A Mudblood
UPDATE:
I have been getting comments that illustrate that I may have left the wrong impression. I am not talking about people who had doubts about Miers, but would allow her an opportunity to be heard and make her case. And there may be some gray areas between that group and those I am most concerned about. I can give a specific example of what I mean: George Will determining Bush did not have the intellect to make the proper selection. That is the kind of violation of the 11th commandment I am talking about.
I also find the examples of her ‘liberalness’ offered up to be unpersuasive, and in many cases they could be interpreted many different ways. Who is not for self determination vs being told how to act? All the while those who argued these supposed clear examples ignored her survey answers on abortion. Something absolutely clear.
If people feel I have insulted them, my apologies. But at the same time, the anger and vehomence launched at Miers before she could make her case (which by tradition she will not do publically until the hearings) was telling to those of us who find some minor faults with some of the conservative positions. Calling into question Bush and his motives and his intellect was an insult to those of us who stood by him. We were not blind or incapable of understanding the fears of those who opposed Miers. He is not stupid and we are not stupid to support someone stupid. Goerge Will needs to focus on baseball from here on, where he can do no harm.
People feared the unknown. It was how that fear was handled which was disturbing. Am I upset? No. Do I see serious problems for the GOP out of this? You betcha. Sorry folks, I just am going to find it real hard to support people who insulted Bush because they feared what Miers might be. I don’t think people can blame me for being taken aback by the most outrageous comments and actions we saw over Miers. And I am a hard core conservative. If you have folks like me, The Anchoress and others struck by these acts then maybe there is something to it? What worries me are the moderates who are not solid conservatives who need to be persuaded their voice and views are welcomed. It is harder to make the case now.
I liked this quote from Senator Warner – VA
“In effect, she was denied due process by members of her own party,” said Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican.
END UPDATE
The anti-Miers crowd won a pyrrhic victory today. The extreme right’s confidence and tolerance was tested, and found wanting. Instead of debating the merits of Miers, and allowing her to get to the confirmation hearings – too many in that crowd demeaned Miers and those, like me, who wanted to know who she was before rising in opposition. Their confidence was a charade as they panicked and lashed out in a way I thought republicans had outgrown and only liberals still did.
It is clear now that us impure conservatives cannot be allowed to participate in any meaningful or leading roles. We are not pure bloods with clear lineage to the far right cause. If Ronald Reagan had been nominated he too would have been pilloried for tolerating people who were not for making abortions illegal, or tolerating gays openly, or hoping for diversity in the workplace. Harriet Miers was in many ways a version of Ronald Reagan. She is a convert to what was supposed to be a broader cause.
Now we have Danforth and Scowcroft and other moderate (way too moderate for my blood) conservatives attacking the religious right for being intolerant to non-believers. The civil war did not end with Miers withdrawal. Unfortunately it just went into a cold war position. I am mudblood conservative. I was raised a democrat since my grandfather was a democrat Congressman back when being a democrat was obviously an honorable position. But I am not pure enough for the anti-Miers crowd. When I warned the anti-Miers crowd they were acting like zealots and fanatics (definitions that aptly apply) I was called a moron and an idiot (trust me when I say those words do not apply).
When the anti-Miers crowd dove down near the gutter with elitist comments which had no basis in fact – but were simply meant for character assassination – the Republican party left me where I prefer to be. In the independent camp waiting for adults to bring civility and honor back to politics. Miers deserved the respect to be heard – not to be ridiculed. I deserved the opportunity to learn where she stood before making up my mind – and not being left with a withdrawal and no clear indication what kind of judge she would have been. We all deserved less Carville/Begala imitations from the punditry – armchair experts in everything on the planet it seems.
And the great John Roberts just made a terrible decision to allow a challenge to the Blackberry company for patent rights to halt Blackberry service and all those who rely on it. Harriet Miers, I would guess given her real world backgound, might have argued that the patent debate could go on and be decided without punishing all the users of the technology. This is why theorist judges like Roberts pass things like Kelo.
The message from the Miers fiasco is clear. Only purebloods can be offered for positions of responsibility. If you are not a pureblood, then there is no depth the purebloods will go to knock you down as a mudblood.
I am against abortion – but do not think making them illegal is the answer or will stop the majority of abortions. I am for controlling our borders – but not for ripping people out of their homes and away from their jobs and dumping them over the border jobless and homeless because their paperwork is not in order.
I am for diversity and against quotas and set asides, and against racism. I am for civil unions for same sex couples, but against marriage for them, while I support their right to do what they want in private, as long as they keep in private and away from my kids.
I am a mudblood conservative. And if I am not careful, I now know the purebloods will stop at nothing to take me down if I were to put their ideology at risk. It happened already at Redstate – where I was called a moron and idiot before being banned for not following their rules on name calling!
And that is what is left of the conservative movement. We now have two factions who will never trust each other, and where name calling skirmishes will break out more and more often. It has already started. The genie is out of the bottle and cannot be put back in now.
Make sure to check out this post at Decision ‘08 which covers a lot of the reactions from those of us who are not gloating right now. I especially like DJ Drummond’s response. The Anchoress has a good post out too. Our side left a bad taste in my mouth I will not soon get over.
31 Responses to “Miers Was A Mudblood”
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Easy, AJ. It’s not that bad. My politics are probably about the same as yours – strong on GWOT, supply side economics, personally conservative socially but not interested in telling other people how to live. I was disappointed with the Miers choice, but figured it was a political judgment that was the President’s to make. Movement Conservatives were very heavily invested in this issue, and couldn’t quite control themselves. That doesn’t mean we won’t all pull together going forward. The first reaction on Redstate was “back to the barracks.” The next pick should be someone the Right can support but who will not be seen as a capitulation to them – I’d say Ted Olson. In six months this will be an unfortunate misunderstanding of the past.
Sorry, but it does mean ‘we’ won’t pull together. I believe that was my point. I, like DJ Drummond, are not talking about those who had doubts and wanted to hear her out (that was me too). I had begged for respect and civility and was rebuffed. I sit in my own barracks so I am fine where I am at. I am an ex-democrat independent conservative – who doesn’t tow party lines for anyone.
This move has a lot of conservatives repulsed and now hesitant. The damage is done. There is a way to repair it – but it is not going to be by pretending nothing happened here.
I am back to Janice Rogers Brown myself. But if she is smart she will decline the offer.
[...] I think DJ Drummond makes some excellent points and probably is quite right about how the Dems will use all this for each and every future judicial nominee that comes down the pike. This is not, for all the gloating going on on a few sites, a glorious day for Conservatives. AJ is feeling bitter. [...]
AJ, I’m a cradle Conservative. My family has voted Republican since Lincoln so I guess I’m what you’d call a pureblood. However, I share your views completely. I don’t know what to make of that anti-Miers crowd. The entire episode has been deeply disturbing.
Lesley,
If you do not believe there is one pure conservative view – you cannot be a pure blood! I am strongly conservative, but I also want a broad tent with many voices to perfect the conservative policies and ideas.
“I want 340 million mini-mes”.
“Austin Powers 4 – Dr. Evil Takes over the USA”
That will put a Conservative in the Courts… All Courts.
And if I can’t have that, I will take anyone but Miers. She was put in a bad position, but she should have turned it down. No offense Mr. President, but she was an unwise choice, and I praise all who had a hand in the withdrawal of her name. It was not done through malice, and I see no harm to the Party. I am relieved that we have a chance at a true Constitutionalist. A really Conservative one! That is why you were Elected Sir! Now save the World and Pick A Conservative!
BurbankErnie,
It was too done with malice by many. Not you, but many.
I objected to Harriet Miers simply because I felt we can not take a chance on having another Souter. I objected to Roberts for the same reason.
There were enough questions about her history that it made me nervous. I didn’t spend all that money supporting Republicans so that I could be nervous about judges nominated to the courts. The two biggest issues for me in the 2004 elections were the War and the Courts. For too long liberals have lost at the ballot boxes and won in court. Time for that nonsense to end.
Affirmative action was and is a disaster.
The McCain Feingold campaign reform act was blatantly unconstitutional.
The Kelo decision was a disaster
On an on, activist courts have slowly eroded what makes this country great. I am tired of it. I don’t want a mystery on the Supreme Court. The President doesn’t like philosophical fights but that is exactly what is required here. We must take on the idea that its ok for the courts to mold the country into their vision.
Sorry you were insulted by some on my side of the argument, having been the target of insults by someone who couldnt argue with me I know that pissed you off. It is entirely uncalled for. If you cannot make your arguments without namecalling then shut the hell up.
Pierre Legrand
Hey Pierre,
Hope things are returning to normal. I understand your views. But I guess I do not have the same mind reading powers of others
What I was pointing out (and I am not angry or upset – just coldly logical about it) is that some on the right were so frightened of the unknown they threw out their principles and attacked Miers and those who wanted to hear what she had to say. By the exact same token, the arguments against Miers would also work against Ronald Reagan. When emotion and fear overpower reason and logic then we have lost it all. I have yet to get a feeling anyone who crossed the line cared that they did.
I get the feeling they were so scared the ends (fantasized as they were) justified the means that we saw in too many. That kind of method for dealing with concerns is the same thing that caused me to leave the democrat party. It’s not a big mystery. The way Miers was treated was terrible. And the fears about her were not founded in anything firm. Every frightened post pointing to some words of hers I could read in many ways. It all depends on the context. Just like when some conservatives say their should be no litmus tests, but then pound a nominee for not passing a litmus test……
AJ,
I saw questions raised, speeches scrutinized, and Pundits wondering if she was qualified. I saw no personal attacks, but maybe I didn’t look hard enough.
Coulter was brutal, but that is what I like about her, with a grain of salt of course.
Buchannan is just too out there to take seriously. Other then that, I must not have paid too much attention.
This was so “inside the Beltway”, that the usually close to being informed (me) saw it as just a bad choice. People opined about it being a bad choice and made arguements to that effect.
Glad it is done. Now Nominate a Conservative Constitutionalist!!
AJ – Peace My Fellow Republican…..
There are no factions within the conservative movement! I would suggest more reading on Reagan and his conservative principles and you might have a different view. With that said, I offer the following Peace from the always sexy and beautiful Peggy:
……. the fact that we’re leaving our kids with a bill no one can pay. A sense of unreality in our courts so deep that they think they can seize grandma’s house to build a strip mall; our media institutions imploding–the spectacle of a great American newspaper, the New York Times, hurtling off its own tracks, as did CBS. The fear of parents that their children will wind up disturbed, and their souls actually imperiled, by the popular culture in which we are raising them. Senators who seem owned by someone, actually owned, by an interest group or a financial entity. Great churches that have lost all sense of mission, and all authority. Do you have confidence in the CIA? The FBI? I didn’t think so…….
…….. One of the reasons some of us have felt discomfort regarding President Bush’s leadership the past year or so is that he makes more than the usual number of decisions that seem to be looking for trouble. He makes startling choices, as in the Miers case. But you don’t have to look for trouble in life, it will find you, especially when you’re president. It knows your address. A White House is a castle surrounded by a moat, and the moat is called trouble, and the rain will come and the moat will rise. You should buy some boots, do your work, hope for the best……
PEGGY NOONAN
A Separate Peace
America is in trouble–and our elites are merely resigned.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/
You know Lucky, I hated that pessimistic, dower piece by Noonan. She basically said all the hard times we are facing is due to Bush’s lack of leadership. All I got out of that is she is depressed and looking to blame Bush. I could make a list just as big of all the things that are going well too – and many I could blame Bush for (Iraq’s new democracry for one). Sorry, more Bush bashing just ain’t the kind of peace offering I was in the mood for. Appreciate the effort though. Don’t feel like you are not welcome here, you very much are.
I feel the same as AJ.
I am disgusted with the self righteous hypocirites who could not even give this woman an oppurtunity to defend herself before they attacked.
I used to be a Demcorat and while I consider myslef a conservative I am sure I would not be good enough for the rigid right.
I think affirmative action may have served some purpose at some time but it has run its course and should be done away with. I don’t want some fanatical busy body telling me how to live my life therefor I don’t find phrases like “self determination” to be bad things. It is enlightening that so many Republicans do.
The difference between me and the fanatic is that I will admit that once upon a time there is a possibility that minorities may not have always been treated fairly.
So sue me.
The treatment on Miers has simply reminded minorities, Independents and Bush Demcorats that while we might be handy during elections…we are just not the right kind of people.
And I also resent the piling on by loud mouth pundits. I voted for Bush, not Noonan and not Will and not Kristol and if any of these people actually ran for office they would get their butts kicked. So Noonan can go whine elsewhere, as far as I am concerned the pundits have too much power as it is.
I think the treatment of Miers and the people who supported the process and thought she had a right to defend herself was atrocious.
And I am feeling about as loyal to conservatives right now as they apparently are to Bush…the man who brought them the majorities they enjoy.
For the time being.
Fear not, AJ; I’m as pureblood conservative as any–well, maybe not Dobson conservative, but then again, he was on Miers’ side too. Anyway, you know I was with ya.
I’m about to hurl, reading all the post-mortem “Snoopy dances” and the continuation of the damnation of Miers. It’s over, fer Chrissakes. Move on, people. Some of them just can’t get enough of themselves.
And FTR, I’m done with RedState too. It got to look like the right-wing version of the DU during this episode. Bleccch.
…and I share your opinion of that ridiculous Noonan piece.
Terrye,
I wish you had written the post! Well said. The pundits overshadowed the voters wishes – you nailed it. And yes, I feel as loyal to them as they did to Bush.
Well Beth, then I am in awesome company! I thought we were above all that stuff. And what is with Noonan????
Terrye I am not a fanatic. I am a Goldwater republican who worked for and donated to Reagan in Nevada.
My problem with the Miers nomination was simple. We cannot take a chance on an unknown when there are so many terrific jurists who are NOT unknown. It was not personal. Waiting till the confirmation hearings would have been too late as the momentum to getting her nominated would have been overwhelming.
I relish the debate that will occur should President Bush nominate someone along the lines of Scalia or Bork or Thomas. Apparently he does not relish the debate preferring instead to try and stealth his way past the debate. Sorry but I agree with Rush that he is as much a leader of a movement as he is a President. By avoiding the fight with the left he hurt the movement. We can defend our ideas. The left cannot.
Furthermore I believe that President Bush may yet go down as one of the greatest Presidents to have lived. This doesn’t mean that I think he is above criticism. He has failed to get the borders under control. He has failed to get spending under control. Norman Mineta is still in power. Tenet recieved a freedom medal. Able Danger is being covered up by his own Dept of Defense.
Having said all of that President Bush is probably the canniest political figure to have walked the earth in the last 100 years. He plays games within games and is a master of rope a dope and bluffing.
I thank god every night that he is our President. But I still reserve my right to disagree with him.
Pierre Legrand
Pierre,
I do not think you are being included in the criticism. Unless you posted Bush is an idoit!
hehe…Well didn’t think so but seeing as how I believe Goldwaters admonition to us is correct maybe its not far off.
“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
Perhaps one of the most brilliant quotes in modern political history.
Pierre Legrand
AJ, I supported Miers nomination. I thought she would bring practical lawyering experience to the court and a perspective on tort reform that seems to be lacking in the current court. I thought Will and Krauthammer were way out of line in their attacks. The NRO crowd were just as bad. She should have had a hearing so people could make their own judgements on her. Not that it’s their choice. It used to be that the hearings were a formality unless the candidate had real problems, like Abe Fortas. Not any more. The choice has to placate the base of the party, get past the gang of 14, avoid a filibuster, and be prepared to have their life shredded in public.
Oh well, I’m just hoping Bush nominates Ken Starr. He’s extremely well qualified and would make a great justice.
The Noonan piece? Narcissistic baby-boomer marginal hysteria with more than a tad of that insider/elitist/aren’t I ever so thoughtful-nuance. Get a grip, Lollypop Girl, I suspect the rest of us “ordinary” non-beltway, non-elite Americans will rise to the challenge, whatever that challenge might be, because we always have and we always shall.
Dang, when you grow up in ranch country, there’s only so much of that pap you can endure.
[...] AJ Strata says about all I have to say about Harriett Miers, and it’s not so much about her as about her detractors: The message from the Miers fiasco is clear. Only purebloods can be offered for positions of responsibility. If you are not a pureblood, then there is no depth the purebloods will go to knock you down as a mudblood. [...]
Pierre,
There is no way I am including you in this. You are no George Will!
AJ,
I’m a 9/11 Republican and just recently changed my voter registration from Independent to Republican. As a Black person in L.A., I’ve taken heat for it but 9/11 showed me that everything I hated about politics turned out to be liberal / Democratic policies.
You’ve expressed what I’ve been feeling ever since Miers was nominated. I was surprised at the venom and ridicule directed at her from the start. Miers was savaged for not passing a conservative litmus test. I thought Republicans were against litmus tests?
From day 1, Laura Ingraham ranted against Miers and how the true conservatives had been working for 30 years blah, blah, Buckley, blah, blah, blah, Reagan. Well, that’s not me. I turned off her show and I don’t see any reason to turn it back on. It was a moment of great clarity. Ingraham, NRO, Will, etc. had their Jacques Chirac moment and told the rest of us to sit down and shut up. I became a Bush Republican. Like Miers, I’m not one of them (thank God!).
Pres. Bush has nominated some amazing conservatives to the bench and Miers should have been given a chance to be heard. NRO, et al, trashed Bush and Miers for 3 weeks and now claim that it’s over and we should all just move along. There is the obligatory “Miers is nice woman, I’m sure she’s a good lawyer but she should have known she was unfit for the court” talking points. How patronizing!
Even more amazing, after trashing Bush for not being sophisticated enough to make good SCOTUS choices, they then put forth their list of appropriate nominees. After humiliating Bush and his friend, I don’t see the President being pushed into selecting one of their nominees. I don’t see it happening. It’s possible that the NRO crowd has ensured that Luttig, McConnell, etc. will never be nominated.
I now understand that when the pundits argue that conservatives should be on the court they actually mean ivy-league conservatives who are one of them. I’m one of Bush’s people and I’m looking forward to his next nomination. It’s certain to be a doozie!
My favorite reactions to Miers
Black Redneck,
Great comment. NRO has one problem – we won’t sit down and shut up. We also will not forget. I too have turned off the AM talk shows. They are all way too giddy about what they did. BTW, we turned off Rush when he went on a rant about children. The guy is a cold fish about children. One has to wonder why we listen to him – a person who dislikes the thought of parenting – and ignore President Bush (who has twins like us).
AJ: I’m coming late to this party, but this is a great post. The comment that is sticking with me is Frum’s response on the NRO’s Bench Memos yesterday–he says “The system worked” and then thanks the people that supported him. It’s a victory speech–and for what victory? What system? Is there some secret system in place about which I know nothing, because constitutional process was not followed here? Who voted for Frum?
The Noonan piece was pretty bad. Here’s a thought: she took several months off last year to work for the Bush campaign and made a big deal about how she was spending her savings to further this cause. How successful was this venture? For the first innaugural she was overlooked as speech writer for Kristol and Krauthammer, and as far as I can tell has not gotten any additional attention from the White House. She’s been persistently gloomy ever since.
And she should watch it. The last person who went on about the malaise in American didn’t do so well.
Nope not George Will but definitely along the lines of Reagan, Goldwater and Bush. All people who have, contrary to the prevailing wisdom, sought the expertise of intellectuals. Yes President Bush has made some terrific appointments to posts throughout the Government but he has also made some awful ones. And he made the awful ones for bad reasons. Can anyone say Norman Mineta? How about Michael Brown? Snowcroft? The list is long.
To say that you are being left out of the Republican party because those bits of the party who have worked since Goldwater to make it strong won the argument about Miers is an exaggeration. Many of you changed to the Republicans after 9/11 because you believed that we represented a stronger vision of what to do in regards to Terrorists. That vision did not come out of a vacuum. It came about because many of those people you now vilify as being the epitome of evil fought back the Rockefeller wing of the Republican party. You lost an argument with your brother. You didn’t lose a war with the terrorists.
Bush is not an anti-intellectual, and you do him a disservice when you lump him into that category. He has put some of the most brilliant Conservative intellectuals into positions of great power. I submit that he is a stealth intellectual who loves for his opponents to misunderestimate him.
I do agree with you about the NRO, they are past useful. Have been for quite sometime. It was most recently seen by the shameful performance of Podhoretz in regards to Able Danger. But on the otherhand Andrew McCarthy is a gem in the war on terror. As is Jed Babbin, Frank Gaffney and some very few others. Jonah Goldberg can be a lethally sharp wit when its required to cut down some leftist to size. But by and large they are very much full of themselves.
Pierre
[...] This is the Kennedy-Souter mistake where you let people like Bill Kristol dupe the party into believing they, and only they, know what a ‘true conservative’ is. I was not happy with the way elitists and talking heads pilloried Miers and her supporters without having a chance to hear her statements. I was on the fence – but I have no idea what Miers represented [...]
[...] began with Harriet Meirs nomination and the civil war that broke out in the conservative coalition. Here is what I wrote would happen to the conservative movement in 2005: The anti-Miers crowd won a pyrrhic victory [...]