Sigh. Bush is a genius.
Why? How?
Miers is a win-win candidate for him. If she is approved, she'll most likely promote his agenda for the rest of his life (see Dee'’s analysis of this). But at the same time this pick will anger and re-energize the Far Right, who may have gotten complacent after handing the Middle, the Left, and Democrats their respective asses time after time in recent elections. While everybody else sits back and anticipates watching the Evil Republicans beat each other to death, instead they will come back more Evil and more powerful than ever before.
And if she'’s rejected? Then he comes back with an Right-Wing ideologue activist judge who will gladly legislate from the bench in favor of the Far Right. And that nominee will easily be approved. And then we'’re all screwed.
The Wingnuts (the Far Right folks who fancy themselves "conservatives") say they don't want ideologues. They say they don't want activist judges. They say they don't want judges who will legislate from the bench.Bullshit.
They're lying. They're lying to us, and they're lying to themselves. They want what they want and they don't care what they have to do to get it. They go on about their principles, about things like "originalism" - a philosophy akin to Martin Luther's Sola Scriptura (which my Jesuit Medieval History professor, Father Scott, challenged by pointing out that the thesis of Sola Scriptura is not in fact contained in the Scriptura), but they would gladly abandon it all in exchange for a guarantee that the next person appointed to the Supreme Court would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Nobody knows what the future holds. At this point there's not a lot we can do about this situation - that opportunity was lost last November in the bowels of a computer somewhere in Ohio. We can only hope and pray that things turn out for the best, and then work like Hell to make our country and our world a better place.
That's some Manichaen worldview you've got there, DB. Eeeevvvvviiillll Republicans. Farrrrr righttttttt crazzzziieeeeessss! At 4 o'clock all the evil people will be exactly TWO FEET TALL ...
ReplyDeleteBill
I think a certain element of the anger on the right really arises because they wanted a more in-your-face-Democrats pick from Bush, even if Miers votes with Thomas every single time.
ReplyDeleteProbably the bigger element is that they've tolerated a lot of non-conservative crap out of Bush, but they supported him with plenty of ass-kissing for the sole purpose of getting the pick they wanted. Now they feel cheated.
You can understand their sense of betrayal, but I'm be surprised if they really follow through. More likely in a few months the conservatives will all fall back into line.
I would say, however, I find their willingness to criticize Bush on any level a bit refreshing. Even if it disappears in a few months of controlled crowd appearances, etc.
SuperG's characterization is close to the mark, but not quite accurate. We wanted one of our stars on the court, plain and simple. A pick designed to flip off the Democrats is really a Democratic-o-centric way of looking at it ... and a little paranoid. The GOP doesn't intentionally try to irritate the Dems. It's just a side effect of trying to accomplish our agenda.
ReplyDeleteBill, you're foaming at the mouth. Ease up on the coffee.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind that Adam is a political satirist. We tend to play fast and loose on his site, with a sense of humor probably not seen within the Wingnut CircleJerk - except when they're cackling about denying health care benefits to the elderly and education to the poor. Things look a little different from outside that circle.
Actually DataBoy I was ridiculing your foaming. Telling that you missed it.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your left-wing circle jerk. And yes, things look differently to those outside that...and stop drinking the kool-aid. It's twisting your mind
Deny healthcare to the elderly? Education to the poor?
Having taught in the inner-city, I can tell you that you have no idea what you're talking about. Many of these school systems are well-funded, and not only don't they work, many of them can't even say where they spent the money. But that's a little more subtle than eevvvvvvillll!
As far as denying medical care to the elderly, what about Medicare and the prescription drug plan? Oh, but if we talk about who's going to pay for it, we're evil. Let's just print the money and everyone can be rich! That's it!
The problem, DB, is you on the left feel entitled to spend other people's money on other people, and believe that those who have a different paradigm for living must be evil. You want to help educate the poor? Go do it. I did. And let me tell you, the problem in inner-city schools isn't funding. Go teach there first, then talk to me.
But to do that, you'd have to see things with more shades of gray. But that's difficult. You might have to think. You might have to change.And that would be too big a threat, wouldn't it?
"Kool-Aid?" Honestly, you guys need to come up with some new cliches.
ReplyDeleteI assure you I am not foaming. I am trying not to laugh as you guys have your Miers-induced meltdown, because I know how seriously bad any decision made by this dumbass President is likely to be.
"Shades of gray?" I thought the problem the side of Light and Truth had with us filthy steenkin' Lib'ruls was that we see everything in shades of gray already. I heard that from an Evangelical who accused us of embracing "moral relativism." This was about a week before the Abu Ghraib pictures came out, and Dubya had to try to explain how torture was sometimes OK.
And do you read the folks you cite in your entries?
"When candidate Bush vowed to make education his top federal priority, and to provide prescription drugs for seniors at state expense, conservatives reassured themselves, and others, that these were mere campaign promises."
Of course. Mere campaign promises. Nobody in their right mind would actually intend to follow through on these, right?