After having a day to reflect, and research, President Bush's decision to nominate Harriet Miers for Supreme Court Justice I must say that I don't find myself as upset as some Republicans. There were alot of knee-jerk reactions yesterday by such prominent political commentators as Rush Limbaugh and Bill Kristol, both challenging Bush's nomination. Everyone was hoping that Bush would pick the most openly conservative justice he could find, perhaps one of his appellate court nominations, however I think Bush was pretty smart in going the route he did.
The nomination, and eventual confirmation, of Justice Roberts ended up being a larger fight than I had anticipated. It's true, there was no question about his confirmation, and the only ones that really opposed him were the leftist grand-standers who oppose everything Bush does, but do you honestly think Bush would have been able to push someone like Janice Rogers Brown through? Sure, technically it could have happened, since we have the majority in both parts of Congress, but it would have been a vicious battle that would have only served to hurt the President's approval rating even more. Bush has never been one to back away from a fight, but he also knows how to pick his battles. I see this more of a strategic move: pick someone that doesn’t have much of a record, who hasn’t been a judge before, and who’s motives are largely unknown to the public. That way Teddy, Hillary, Schumer, and the rest of the gang have hardly anything to complain about. So when Miers flies through the confirmation process, Bush wins another easy victory, and fulfills another campaign promise.
And yet conservatives are freaking out. Why? Because Miers isn’t a flag-waving anti-abortion protestor who is riding into the Senate on a white horse that has “Save the Babies” written on the side of it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as pro-life as can be, but conservatives, especially those who only vote on abortion issues, freak out the minute a justice isn’t completely open about their views. Come on people! It’s all strategy! Why on earth would a conservative judge show their hand and tell the judiciary committee that he/she is against abortion and will overturn Roe v. Wade ASAP? With Specter heading up the questioning, that’s a ticket straight to the unemployment line. Take a hint from Roberts, who is a Catholic and a Constitutionalist; he didn’t reveal any of his views when it comes to ruling on cases. Bush himself said that these judges should not go through litmus tests, despite BOTH sides wishing they would. And so people are concerned that Miers isn’t a true “conservative judge” because she has no past record. They fear what they don’t understand, but I say hold hope. It’s true that we don’t know a whole lot about her, but slowly the facts are rising to the top… Miers has donated money to Texans United for Life, a pro-life group run by Kyleen Wright; she was also getting good marks from James Dobson from Focus on the Family. It’s these little hints that tell us where she could be headed in terms of ruling on certain cases without her coming out and proclaiming it.
Dick Cheney was interviewed on Limbaugh yesterday, and repeatedly said that she would be a conservative judge who would not legislate from the bench. I have no reason not to believe him, and I trust our President and Vice President. Bush is hoping for a speedy confirmation process so that she can get on the bench before the end of the year. He made a good move by nominating her, in my opinion.
