Conservative Flip Flops on Presidential Power
by TChris
Remember when the right wing insisted that any presidential nominee to the Supreme Court was entitled to “an up or down vote”? Remember when conservatives whined that it’s the president’s job to select judicial nominees, and labeled opponents of the nominee “obstructionists”? Those who have an intact memory should be amused at the right wing flip flop regarding presidential power and Bush's choice of Harriet Miers.
A growing number of Republican activists say Bush blundered in naming Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court, failing to anticipate the firestorm it would ignite among conservative backers and leading opinion makers who question her qualifications. Bush now may be forced to choose between an embarrassing withdrawal of the nomination or accepting a fissure among conservatives that could jeopardize the party's hold on power.
“Right now the base is completely fractured and people are very concerned about the impact on the 2006 elections,” said Manuel Miranda, who heads a coalition of 150 conservative and libertarian groups and opposes Miers. “The troubling thing is that the Supreme Court was the gold ring and the president's thinking appears indiscernible, unless you're willing to take it as a matter of faith.”
The value of Miers is that she isn’t any of these judges, held up as the female icons of the right wing judiciary:
Peggy Noonan, who wrote speeches for Bush's father, this week urged Miers to “take the hit” and withdraw so the president could pick “one of the outstanding jurists thoughtful conservatives have long touted.” She mentioned federal appeals court judges Edith Jones, Edith Clement or Janice Rogers Brown.
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