I have a feeling...Meirs is not going to be approved. What then?

[MichiganVote]

Its clear to me that her position on the court has less to do w/ abortion and more to do with the homosexual/marriage debate than with abortion. Without her, who will the Bush admin. think of next?

[iamjoy]

1. Janice Rogers Brown

a black, female Bork.

[Kenroy]

2. Yup

which is why I don't understand the knee-jerk reaction to reject Miers. If she fails, the replacement will NOT be better.

[Pirate Smile]

10. Right. She may be bad. We aren't sure exactly how bad. If she

is rejected we know we will get an ideological RW'er who we will absolutely hate.

I saw one pundit saying the RW wanted a culture war. They wanted an RW judicial ideologue. They were ready for the battle. They believe that is what Bush promised them. This was the moment they had been waiting for for the past five years. There are dozens of current judges that fit that description plus have "sterling" legal training and knowledge.

I thought for sure Bush was going to do it to rally his base since everyone else already hates him.

[question everything]

22. Agree. I thought that if the RW are against her

that she would not be bad.

But many complained that this was some kind of a conspiracy, a Trojan horse, what have you

[MichiganVote]

24. Precisely. Rove puts Dem's in a double bind. His fav. tactic

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. I'd rather chance Mier than see this woman get confirmed

But I'm in the minority here.

[Pirate Smile]

14. I don't know. I agree with you. We may just be less vocal.

I've seen glimmers of decentness in her past actions so I don't think she would be a Scalia or Thomas.

[insane_cratic_gal]

32. Did you hear Bush's comment

at the press conference the other day. He said something to the effect that he was disappointed with the results of the black vote he got in 2004!..

I about fell off my chair! He then went to say.. I've elected african americans to my own office. I kept thinking go ahead and continue to pile the shit onto yourself idiot, I got a match here for ya when your done!

I think given his classim issues and what happened in NO, he should not be surprised that black people are cynical to his character.

[TalkingDog]

3. Well, he won't feel "obligated" to put a woman on the bench.

After he offered up his "best" candidate.

He'll reanimate some corpse from the pit of Hell and stick us with them for the next 40 years.

[Skink]

5. Looks like Bush is gonna have to go with Second Best...

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. Just like America did in 2004

[KamaAina]

13. We did not so stop saying that!

Diebold forced us to settle for, actually, I would quibble over second-best, after all, there were Libertarians and the like on the ballot as well, any of whom would be preferable to King Dumbass**.

[pisle]

11. One thing's for sure...

He won't nominate a "swing-voter" anytime in the next 3 years.

So, if Miers doesn't pass, will he nominate someone more qualified or just someone more conniving with their "conservative" views on the right to privacy or equal rights? A wolf in sheep's clothing?

[Arkana]

25. That's true. We won't get a Kennedy or an O'Connor.

We'll get an Owen, or a Rogers-Brown, or a Bork, or a Scalia. Scary thought.

[newyawker99]

31. Hi pisle!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. Mr. Torture

he has tried to mend fences with little success. He purdy much came out and promised them a hispanic on the bench.

[LittleClarkie]

15. That would be alright for one reason

The Fundies would go apeshit. Mwahahaha!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

20. as much as I share your temporary joy, remember it is for life.

Can we afford someone who helped destroy our reputation around the globe, who has put of children and citizens at future risk? who fucked america more deeply than Long John silver did his partners on film?

still, seeing freepers explode does have a certain, you know, lovely aura about it.

[Cocoa]

7. then it's easier to block the next one

kinda tough for the republicans to call dems obstructionists after they've blocked Meirs.

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. That's the beauty of letting the GOP wring each others necks

The Dems get to stand aside and watch the GOP do the 'obstructing"

[AX10]

12. If 40 Democrats can agree to Miers and.....

and 51 Repugs vote against her, it would be the GOP is 'obstructing Bush'.

[Mist]

21. So far, it seems the Dems are sitting this out--the Rethugs are the

ones making the most noise. A bunch of RW pols and pundits all talking at once about Miers not being acceptable gets my "shit-detector" antennae quivering. I get the idea the Rethugs thought the Dems would chime in, but they haven't, much. The Rethugs are going to pave the way for another candidate, it seems.

[crispini]

33. Yes, I kind of tend to agree.

There's probably a lot of backroom gossip going on right now. Lots of manuvering. I hope the Repubs take her out and save us the trouble.

[onenote]

34. that's not going to happen

No way virtuallyl all the repugs will vote against her. And if it began to look like that was going to happen, chimpy would withdraw the nomination in a heartbeat. Either way, of course, he looks like a loser, which is good.

A more likely scenario is that enough repugs come out against her to create the possibility that if every Dem voted against her she'd be defeated. Then the Dems have to decide: defeat her (but with some measure of immunity from criticism since it would be repug votes that provided the margin) and face a new nominee that will be more acceptable to the fundies or support her and take the risk that she's not as bad as she seems.

I think that all Dems should vote against her (but shouldn't filibuster) her. If we defeat her with repug support, we then turn to the filibuster when Brown or Owens or some similar Scalia clone gets picked. If we don't defeat her, we can still campaign in 2006 using her as an example of cronyism.

onenote

[the_spectator]

16. I have that feeling too

we could be in for a wild ride: and the Democrats stand a great chance of gaining real strength and weakening the President if she is defeated, if they play it right.

[AlCzervik]

17. lets face it, the gop wants a bork like judge if not Bork himself

Please no Janice rogers Brown or Gonzales.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

18. Don't let fear cow you into giving a sycophantic crony a free pass.

If she is withdrawn, Bush might have to nominate Gonzales to protect his sorry ass, and the ultraconservative base will go bonkers. Force him into it and let them go crazy.

[AZBlue]

19. The real candidate will then be nominated

I think it has nothing to do with abortion or gay rights and everything to do with corporate power. If Roe v. Wade was overturned and homosexuality was outlawed, the Republicans would lose their voting power - their religious base would stop going to the polls and the R's would be in big trouble. Those two things will only work the for R's if they are still a hot issue and they can dangle the stick of "maybe changing the laws" in front of the religious right herd.

After Miers was announced I immediately felt that she wasn't the "real" candidate. It's a masterful Karl Rove set-up. Give the Dems someone to shoot down that you don't think would have been good anyway. The Dems gave in on Roberts but said they'd not be so kind to the next one. She's the next one. Bush & Co will let the Dems bring her down and then announce the candidate they really wanted - someone who makes Miers look like a far-left liberal. Now the Dems are screwed - they already used up their filibuster (I know it's not really limited, but the Rep's seem to imply it is and there does seem to be some under the table deal-making going on about this) and when they don't like the candidate, I can just picture Bushie standing there with his arms up saying, "Heh, heh, well, they just don't like anyone we nominate. We need to move the court forward, not get stuck in this debate."

The Dems need to be strong and oppose both - and not be rolled over by Rovian spin game.

[MichiganVote]

23. I've wondered the same. The GOP playing dodgeball

[BeTheChange]

26. He puts his real candidate on the table. nt

[Charlie Brown]

27. We end up w/Garza or Brown

Part of me believes it might be best if Miers is confirmed.

[barb162]

28. He'll just do another fundie clone; makes no diff

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

29. Top-tier Harvard/Yale wingnut gets nominated. nt

[alarimer]

30. If she is rejected

It will be by the Republicans, not the Democrats. So maybe we will still have the filibuster available to use on Brown or whomever they choose next.

[onenote]

35. exactly what I was thinking!!

[Norquist Nemesis]

36. Exactly! Hopefully, the Dems will use beat the drum on who owns

the Republican Party if she's not confirmed...The raging radical Right. These people WANT a fight. They've been salivating for it since 2000.

They've been working toward this moment since 1980 with Reagan, and it's probably the top ten reason why they hate Clinton so deeply: He put a pause on their agenda to take over the courts from the local all the way up to the Supremes.