I find myself, strangely, agreeing with David Frum...but thankfully only in part. He makes the case that the nomination of Ms. Miers to the Supreme Court of the USA is a poor one and a disservice to that good nation to the south. He states in conclusion:
Yesterday's White House talking point was that Miers "reflects the president's judicial philosophy." OK. But can she articulate it? Defend it? And persuade others of it - not just her colleagues, but the generations to come who will read her decisions and accept them ... or scorn them. That's the way this president should have thought about this choice. And that's the way the Senators called on to consent to the choice should be thinking about it now.My question is could he articulate his judicial philosophy? He might say stuff about "good people workin' hard" and "a judge doin' what a judge outta do". But is that articulating? Is even saying that "judges making up stuff is bad" articulting? For me "articulating" would include being able to present an idea of why the court finding a privacy concept in the constitutional right to liberty is good or is bad. I think the fact that no one on the left or right has a clue why he nominated her is evidence that that he can't articulate such ideas. If he could we would know his purpose in this nomination.
Comments
David Janes - October 5, 2005 5:04 PM
Ummm ... because he's back to snorting coke off the asses of teenage hookers? If you find our a real answer, let me know, 'cause I'm lost.
Alan - October 5, 2005 5:35 PM
If you can't explain your philosophy it isn't much good to say someone else reflects your philosophy.
portland - October 5, 2005 11:27 PM
c'mon she got nominated for the same reason haliburton got to go to iraq - because he knows her. at some point, over a couple of bottles of sparkling holy water, he leaned in and said you don't like those homos getting married to each other do you? she said naw. and that was enough. and i'm not even as cynical about W's motives as you guys.
David Janes - October 6, 2005 6:35 AM
You've pegged the wrong label on me.
Without looking it up, do you actually know what Halliburton does? If you were in a hiring position and you didn't want to use Halliburton, what would your number 2 and number 3 choices be?
ALan - October 6, 2005 7:51 AM
If I tendered I know.
Alan - October 7, 2005 6:49 AM
This confirmation could be entertainment itself:<blockquote class="smalltext">Amid uproar among conservatives over the candidacy of Harriet E. Miers for the Supreme Court, one of the most ardent abortion opponents in the Senate said Thursday that Ms. Miers had not persuaded him to vote to confirm her. The senator, Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, told reporters that in an hourlong meeting with him, Ms. Miers had steered clear of discussing Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that found a constitutional right to abortion, and had done little to assure him that she would be open to revisiting or overturning that case. "No promises were made either way," Mr. Brownback said. He said he would consider voting against the nomination, even if President Bush made a personal plea for his support. Asked if he was impressed with Ms. Miers, Mr. Brownback paused, and then offered a careful reply: "She's a very decent lady."
Alan - October 17, 2005 11:28 PM
Apparently, the White House is as displeased with David Frum as I was surprised to agree with him.