Bush on Roberts – Bush on Miers
06 October 2005 10:39 am by Taylor Marsh
“I’m the Commander, see …
I do not need to explain why I say things. That’s the interesting thing about
being the President … I don’t feel like I owe anybody an explanation.”
President George
W. Bush to the National Security Council
The most insulting and unacceptable thing to me about the Harriet
Miers nomination is the obvious “old
fashioned affirmative action” that George W. Bush is applying. The
other is something conservatives and just about everyone else seems to be missing.
The sheer arrogance of the president’s nomination is palpable. But as we all
know, arrogance is actually a product of immense insecurity. Couple together
arrogance and insecurity and you have the most dangerous brew possible for a
president. We are seeing that outcome in Iraq and Bush’s continuing refusal
to admit the realities in that war, as well as every
other measure this president is pushing. W. is simply in denial.
President Bush doesn’t care what anyone thinks, including conservatives,
which, if I were one, would fight this nomination until hell froze. If a Democratic
president nominated someone so obviously unqualified, I’d skewer him/her from
dawn ’til dusk. But Bush wants Harriet, so that is how it will be. Never
mind that if she were a man this nomination would have come to nil.
Lou Dobbs did something recently on his show, comparing Bush’s
announcement of Roberts to his Miers announcement. (The fact that the Roberts
nomination was done with much flurry and fanfare, as opposed to Miers being
rushed into a room, then rushed off, also speaks volumes.) I’ve taken Dobbs’
idea and expanded it. You be the judge.
BUSH
on ROBERTS: “John Roberts currently serves on one of the
most influential courts in the nation, the United States Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia Circuit.”BUSH
on MIERS: “For the past five years, Harriet Miers has served
in critical roles in our nation’s government, including one of the most important
legal positions in the country, White House Counsel.”BUSH on ROBERTS: “He’s
an honors graduate of both Harvard College and Harvard Law School. In his
career, he has served as a law clerk to Justice William Rehnquist, as an Associate
Counsel to President Ronald Reagan, and as the Principal Deputy Solicitor
General in the Department of Justice.”BUSH on MIERS: “She went on to receive a bachelor’s
degree in mathematics and a law degree from Southern Methodist University.
Over the course of a distinguished legal career, Harriet has earned the respect
and admiration of her fellow attorneys.”BUSH on ROBERTS: “In public
service and in private practice, he has argued 39 cases before the Supreme
Court and earned a reputation as one of the best legal minds of his generation.
Judge Roberts has earned the respect of people from both political parties.”BUSH on MIERS: “She has a record of achievement in
the law, as well as experience as an elected member of the Dallas City Council.
She served at high levels of both state and federal government. Before state
and federal courts, she has tried cases, and argued appeals that covered a
broad range of matters.”BUSH on ROBERTS: “After
he was nominated for the Court of Appeals in 2001, a bipartisan group of more
than 150 lawyers sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee. They wrote:
‘Although as individuals we reflect a wide spectrum of political party affiliation
and ideology, we are united in our belief that John Roberts will be an outstanding
federal court appeals judge and should be confirmed by the United States Senate.’”BUSH on MIERS: “She’s been a leader in the American
Bar Association, and has been recognized by the National Law Journal as one
of the most powerful attorneys in America. Harriet’s greatest inspiration
was her mother, who taught her the difference between right and wrong, and
instilled in Harriet the conviction that she could do anything she set her
mind to.”BUSH on ROBERTS: “The
signers of this letter included a former counsel to a Republican President,
a former counsel to two Democratic Presidents, and a former — and former
high-ranking Justice Department officials of both parties.”BUSH on MIERS: “When I came to office as the governor
of Texas, the Lottery Commission needed a leader of unquestioned integrity.
… As president of the Dallas Bar, she called on her fellow lawyers to volunteer
and staff free neighborhood clinics. She led by example. She put in long hours
of pro bono work. Harriet Miers has given generously of her time and talent
by serving as a leader with more than a dozen community groups and charities,
including the Young Women’s Christian Association, Child Care Dallas, Goodwill
Industries, Exodus Ministries, Meals on Wheels and the Legal Aid Society.”
As far as “pro bono work,” that Bush would even mention it is an
insult, more of the “old fashioned affirmative action” resume packing,
so Bush could put everything possible into the announcement to make Harriet
Miers look as hefty as possible. But over 5,000 lawyers in this country do pro
bono work, but you didn’t see any of their names on Bush’s short list. That
women choose to work for free is nothing new. In fact, it’s very, very old.
And to drive home the point, let’s go back up to Bush mentioning that “a
bipartisan group of more than 150 lawyers sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary
Committee” in enthusiastic support of John Roberts. To say that Harriet
Miers has not received such praise is an understatement.of massive proportion.
It’s been just the opposite, including the shock from leading conservatives
George Will, William Kristol, Peggy Noonan, Patrick J. Buchanan, the Cato Institute,
the blogosphere and many, many others.
The one thing not in the Miers announcement is that rumor has it she’s an advocate
for the International Criminal Court. Does Bush even know? (UPDATE via DailyKos: Then there’s the fact that Miers brought feminists to Southern Methodist U, that included Gloria Steinem. Again, does the president even know?)
Some have even suggested that we look to her church, her evangelical roots,
to get a window into this woman. Are they kidding? When did it become necessary
to look into a person’s religious background to see what kind of associate justice
for the Supreme Court he or she would make?
It’s all about Bush.
Frankly, the only people to gain from the Miers nomination, it could be said,
is the Democratic Party, as we watch our adversaries, especially the die hard
and true conservative Republicans, pull themselves away from the president’s
political moorings, as the nomination threatens the last shred of clout and
credibility Bush and his Incompetents have left. I stick by my first impressions
of this nomination: the
Honorable Senator from Nevada set Bush up.
Unfortunately, in the process, the president has made the Supreme Court, the
most powerful court in the world, his latest plaything.
