Sponsors

Waiting to Exhale Email Print

By btyarbro
10/27/2005 09:48:47 PM EST

What was interesting about the Miers' nomination to SCOTUS was that it came at a time in Bush II when the cracks in a fragile coalition united by narrow interests emerged in such an embarrassingly public way.

Similarly, her withdrawal is more significant as an act of weakness than as a condemnation of the candidate:

The radical right wing of the Republican Party killed the Harriet Miers nomination. Apparently, Ms. Miers did not satisfy those who want to pack the Supreme Court with rigid ideologues. Harry Reid

Harriet Miers' demise as a SCOTUS nominee was predicted for many reasons, particularly on the right, but only one mattered: Miers did not have 51 votes in the Senate.

Given the level of demonstrable incompetence the WH has publicly displayed over the last couple of months, Bush simply could not afford another public humiliation that a full hearing would bring.

Some have speculated that putting Miers up was a deliberate act of anticipated, certain defeat, or an attempt to play a cagey game of "bait and switch" with the radical right, or even a well-meaning attempt to reach out to Democrats or other moderates.

Nonsense. The glaring weaknesses of the Miers' saga are self-evident, and no doubt many will continue to dissect "What went wrong" on this single appointment until the next breaking news event occurs. (Pssst. Tune in tomorrow.)

The significance of the Miers' withdrawal ultimately has little to do with the candidate, despite her lack of credentials. She didn't have 51 votes because Miers is emblematic of a failed Administration, its ideology, and its methods. Putting her name forward simply exposed too many cracks in Bush's governance.

To the left, Miers' nomination provided bemusement, more than anything else. A welcome respite from what has become the daily drudgery of fighting against "corruption, incompetence, and cronyism".

Although those on the right viewed the nomination differently, they freely accept credit for destroying it. To them, she wasn't a clear enemy of the left. So, give them their due: they destroyed their own.

But while the radical right is breathing a sigh of relief, others are still waiting to exhale.


KEYWORDS: , ,

Sign up for a Complimentary Member Account... Join the community! It's fast. And it'll allow you to take advantage of all this site's great features!

Related Articles

Disclaimer: "Related Articles" are provided as a service to our readers (Via Google News Feeds created using this article's 'Keywords' as the search terms to generate the feed). It is important to note that if a "Related Articles" list is included with this story, the list will be updated frequently subsequent to the posting of this story and may thus contain articles with information not yet known at the time of this story's original publication.

< Meet a Hero of American Constitutional Democracy | Joseph Wilson's Official Statement >
 Display:
Waiting to Exhale | 12 comments (12 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Symbiotic (none / 1)
There's a symbiotic relationship between the religious right and the neocons.  But I've been trying to figure out if the tail was wagging the dog or vice versa.

The Miers nomination and subsequent self-withdrawl has convinced me beyond any doubt that neocons are indeed, the dog.  The religious right to a neocon is something near the base of the tail and between the legs, unless it's election season of course.

by ColdFusion04 on 10/27/2005 10:08:42 PM EST

The funny thing is ... (none / 0)
I think both factions think they're wagging the other.

by SusanG on 10/27/2005 10:16:30 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Emblematic, I think ... (none / 0)
as the perfect symbol for this administration's pure LOVE of mediocrity. And also Bush's innate laziness ... I don't think he wanted to bother having to go through endless resumes of smart people, nor to have to interview them.

by SusanG on 10/27/2005 10:15:30 PM EST

This was SO obviously... (none / 0)
...Dear Leader's pick.  He did this one himself to show he was in charge, and look what happened.

The Albany Project. The best damned blog about New York State politics.

by NYBri on 10/27/2005 11:26:16 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Right, Susan. (none / 0)
Even Pat Buchanan called this one. He said Bush went down the hall looking for a woman, and grabbed the first one he found. :)

Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle. FDR

by btyarbro on 10/28/2005 11:42:22 AM EST

[ Parent ]
right on (none / 1)
there is a piece of the Inside the Beltway Conventional Wisdom that has been knocking around for years. This diary beats the crap out of it, throws it to the ground, stomps the living daylights out of it and tosses it down the storm drain.

This piece of CW goes like this: "George Bush is the leader of the religious right."

If W was the leader of the religious right, don't ya think that the religious right would believe W that Meirs is A-OK and supported the nomination?

Bush is not now, nor has he ever been the Leader of the Religious Right.

by Frederick Clarkson on 10/27/2005 10:49:56 PM EST

Hadn't made that leap, yet, Fred... (none / 0)
...but you are so right.  He's been proven NOT to be the leader of the religious right...and this is big.

The Albany Project. The best damned blog about New York State politics.

by NYBri on 10/27/2005 11:27:04 PM EST

[ Parent ]
You've got it, Fred. (none / 0)
Rove's campaign plan was to make the radical right (I don't consider them "religious") and the neo-cons think they were all in the tent together.

Trouble is, George doesn't get the whole "big tent" thing. It's his playground. If he wants to, he'll take his toys and go home.

Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle. FDR

by btyarbro on 10/28/2005 11:37:38 AM EST

[ Parent ]
oh, there were and are in the tent (none / 1)
they a critical part of the GOP coalition, adn they are not merely being manipulated by Rove. they are not stupid.

My point is different.  There is a line spun by some in the democratic party and in liberal interest groups that W is the leader of the religious right. That's crap. Its always been crap. The current developments further reveal the dimensions of the crapitude, that tends to confuse good political analysis and hamper the making of sound political strategy.

Part of what I think is going on is that the religous right is not content to be merely part of the coalition. They are feeling thier oats and they want it all. Whether they have overplayed thier hand, remains to be seen.

by Frederick Clarkson on 10/28/2005 03:13:36 PM EST

[ Parent ]
"Dimensions of the crapitude" ... (none / 0)
earned you a 5.

by SusanG on 10/29/2005 08:07:53 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Agreed. (none / 0)
I was alluding to a different point, though, I think.

Shrub doesn't get the fact that the RR thinks they have a reserved pew in the revival tent. He knows he's the revival leader, but when they objected to his choice of Miers,' he got all pouty.

After all, if you're the one serving the Kool-Aid, the "guests" don't get to use their own recipe.

Shrub wants them in the tent at election time, but he doesn't speak for them unless he uses their hymnal (which we know he doesn't). That's just part of his act.

However, with their newly "revived" power, they think they can make this next call. And Bush knows it. They are willing to blow up the tent to do it. In fact, they've been waiting to use their bombs for 30 years.

Let's see how far he'll go.  

Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle. FDR

by btyarbro on 10/29/2005 11:39:21 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Thanks to all for commenting. (none / 0)
I'm still updating a piece from when Miers was first appointed on the fractures within the party. But then, oops, she was gone, and here we are all waiting for Fitz to unwrap the presents.

I'll get back to a longer posting on this when I don't have one eye on the halls of justice.

Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle. FDR

by btyarbro on 10/28/2005 11:40:13 AM EST

Waiting to Exhale | 12 comments (12 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
 Display: