THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VII, Issue # 221, October 5, 2005
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
MIERS NOMINATION: GEORGE BUSH'S EPIC GAMBLE
By Christopher G. Adamo
POLITICAL CONTROVERSY OVER APPOINTMENT OF UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT JUSTICES: THE OUTRAGE OF
CONSERVATIVES OVER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH'S NOMINATION OF HARRIET ELLAN MIERS TO FILL A SUPREME COURT
VACANCY -- DOES THE PRESIDENT HAVE A GRAND STRATEGY TO RETURN THE FEDERAL COURTS TO THEIR PROPER ROLE OF
PROTECTING THE U.S. CONSTITUTION? WHY CONSERVATIVES, IN THE MEANTIME, SHOULD NEITHER DECLARE VICTORY
NOR CONCEDE DEFEAT
FULL STORY:
From the moment President George W. Bush announced his choice of Harriet Ellan Miers to replace Sandra Day O’Connor on the
U.S. Supreme Court, reaction from many Conservatives has been immediate and fierce. Clearly, the Bush administration was
blindsided by the degree of outrage being expressed by certain segments of its loyal base of political support.
In an apparent effort at “damage control,” Vice-President Dick Cheney spoke for several minutes with Rush Limbaugh on his radio
program. In the face of Limbaugh’s uncharacteristically confrontational line of questioning, Cheney repeatedly attempted to reaffirm
reasons to be confident in the President’s decision.
Cheney seemed truly perplexed at the cynicism and doubt expressed by Conservatives, reiterating that they should simply “trust”
the President to choose the kind of nominee he had promised to deliver during his election campaign. In a Rose Garden speech the
following morning, President Bush echoed this theme.
Unfortunately, the Bush administration is only now beginning to recognize the degree to which those who have trusted the
President in the past feel betrayed and disenfranchised.
In regards to spending, the President’s record has been abysmal, indisputably proving “compassionate Conservatism” to be
indistinguishable from the nanny-state Socialism of the Democrats. All too often, in the face of hysterical accusations invoked by
Liberals to further their cause, the President concurs, giving them undeserved credibility.
Concessions to charges of “racism” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, along with his tacit legitimization of Bill Bennett’s
attackers in yet another contrived controversy, convinced Conservatives that the President has no stomach to truly confront and
win the “culture war.” So, when asked to “trust the President” on such a crucial matter as the makeup of the nation’s highest court,
Conservatives are, at best, highly dubious.
Nevertheless, the possibility exists that the Miers nomination constitutes a portion of a grand strategy that, if followed through to
its completion, will not only vindicate the President in the eyes of Conservatives, but may also redefine the character of the courts
and future judicial nominees for years, if not decades, to come. Those skeptical of such a possibility should consider how much the
terms of debate have already been changed.
Conservatives are still fuming over the recent Republican capitulation to Liberals from both parties, who derailed an attempt to
allow the U.S. Senate to hold an “up or down” vote on President Bush’s nominations to the Federal Bench. With John McCain and
Robert Byrd leading the effort, fourteen Senators (seven from each party) collaborated to maintain the filibuster, ostensibly to
“protect the Constitution.”
Perhaps the President recognized this latest Supreme Court vacancy, not as a chance to continue this Senate fight, but rather as the
best opportunity to return the courts to their proper role.
Almost without being noticed, the Bush administration has been playing political “jujitsu” with those filibustering Democrats ever
since, trumpeting the real protection of the U.S. Constitution as the primary responsibility of justices on the nation’s high courts.
And nobody has more eloquently asserted this premise than nominee (now Chief Justice) John Roberts himself.
In the face of so much phony sanctimony from Senate Democrats, ostensibly on behalf of the Constitution, who would dare argue
this point? And how insipid, empty, intellectually bankrupt, and downright treasonous do Justices Anthony Kennedy and Stephen
Breyer, with their deference to the laws of other nations, and their comparative indifference to the U.S. Constitution, now sound in
contrast?
Having enshrouded themselves in bogus claims of “protecting the Constitution,” how can Democrats then credibly oppose justices
with such a conviction of upholding it? Admittedly, this argument has its limitations. Senators Kennedy and Schumer, in particular,
will flaunt their hypocrisy with no regard for the disgrace they regularly bring upon themselves.
Although both Roberts and Miers say the right things regarding the Constitution and the rightful role of Supreme Court Justices, it
remains to be seen whether or not they will uphold such principles, once they are on the Supreme Court. Well before next year’s
mid-term elections, both will show true colors by the decisions they render.
Their fidelity to that which they have professed may, more than any other issue, prove to be the determining factor in the outcome
of those elections, and many that will follow.
In the meantime, Conservatives should neither declare victory nor concede defeat. Rather, they must recognize that the President
has greatly “upped the ante.” One way or another, these picks will define his Presidency, and even perhaps this era, either as its
crown jewel, or its fatal undoing.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Appointment of U.S. Federal Judges
Legal Issues, Lawyers, & America's Judiciary
U.S. Constitutional Law & Political Philosophy
The Constitution of the United States of America
American Politics & Political Competition
American Government & the U.S. Presidency
The American Political System:
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.
Liberalism Versus Conservatism in American Politics
-------------------------
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY & POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES:
COMPETING SYSTEMS OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
Conservatism
Traditional Conservatism: Questions & Answers
Conservatism: Attitudes, Types, & Present Status
Constitutional Conservatism: American & British
Liberalism
Classical Liberalism: Intellectual Foundations
Classical Liberalism: Conservative Liberalism
Manchester Liberalism & Social Darwinism
Modern Social "Liberalism": Statist "Liberalism"
Radical & Totalitarian Ideologies
Radicalism, Utopianism, & Totalitarianism
Christopher G. Adamo is a freelance writer who lives in southeastern Wyoming and works in the field of industrial instrumentation.
He is actively involved in Wyoming's political process, serving as a delegate to successive Wyoming State Republican Conventions
and as a member of the Wyoming State Republican Central Committee. He has assisted Republican candidates for local and state
legislatures and for the United States Congress. His articles, which appear regularly in The Progressive Conservative, U.S.A.,
and on a number of other websites, reflect a major concern with the damage being done to Conservatism and Conservative causes by
the Liberal Leftist faction in the Republican Party as well as by the much larger and more powerful Liberal Leftist faction in the
Democratic Party. During the early and middle 1990s, Adamo was Editor of the Wyoming Christian Coalition's official news organ,
The Wyoming Christian.
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