Flees + Dog = End of Bush Era

-Miers Debacle Offers Chance to Reestablish Conservative Principles-

by

Jim Hagedorn

(October 4, 2005)

The nomination of White House legal hack Harriet Miers to fill the high heels of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor simply enhances the bush-league legacy of a family that time and again proves the Peter Principle applies to elective politics.  Were corroboration of this connection sought in a court of law, a prosecutor would introduce into evidence: exhibit Bush 41 and exhibit Bush 43.

Never should a conservative Republican underestimate the uncanny knack of Presidents named George Bush to placate political enemies, undercut friends and stymie the commonsense political movement of Goldwater and Reagan.  Simply stated, George W. Bush is twice the Old Man, but five percent of President Ronald Reagan.

Each head-scratching, temple-wrinkling episode of deft Bush maneuvering is a reminder that the Gipper’s greatest mistake was choosing George Blah Herbert Blah Walker Blah Bush as his running mate.  Reagan’s selfless 1980 decision to make peace with his political enemy has become one of those bad gifts that just keeps on giving.  Somewhat ironically, Florida’s Governor Jeb may be the best of the Bush lot; but, baring a Hillary Clinton presidency, which understandably would send Republicans into convulsions, GOP foot soldiers will forever hence shun “Bush” as a four-letter word.

Just as the bombing of the World Trade Center and Pentagon by pilots flying missions for the “religion of peace” marked the effective beginning of the Bush presidency, the dim witted nomination of Harriet Miers signals its end.  The President has crossed conservatives for the last time, and thankfully so.

The selection of a 60-year old spinster, whose philosophy on everything important is, at best, a blank check, will be correctly viewed by the Republican base as an unnecessary gamble – one that cannot be justified for years and, meanwhile, grants the liberal establishment needless, undeserved hope. 

The Miers nomination is also tacit admission that philosophically conservative jurists in the mold of Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas are out of the mainstream and not worthy of a nomination fight.  The selection of Miers will be used as fodder by the Left to suggest that the diatribes of Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, (up)Chuck Schumer, et. al, have some level of merit.

Following his father’s “Souter” model almost to perfection, the President has disregarded a dozen or so judges and legal scholars – universally viewed as intellectually competent, strict Constitutional constructionists – and instead deferred to his own judgment, based upon personal conversations and the recommendations of subservient “yes men.”  Choosing Miss Miers was the political act of an elitist.

Mr. Bush has tapped a lackey – someone who may or may not have been sharing true viewpoints and judicial philosophies over the years.  Consider this idea further, if one were in position to win the legal lottery and be appointed to the federal bench by one’s boss, would one necessarily share one’s deepest held ideas?  Or, is it possible that one would be inclined to tell the President what he wanted to hear?  In other words, those heart-to-heart talks upon which the President has based his selection of Miss Miers are all but meaningless.  As the guys in those Guinness commercials say: BRILLIANT!

Yet the larger, emerging issue is the future of the Republican Party.  Even before the Miers debacle, the GOP rank-n-file were beleaguered and demoralized – reeling and frustrated that complete control of the federal government had come to mean implementation of liberal Democrat policies on issues like immigration; federalization of state and local problems; excessive, wasteful domestic spending; federalization of primary education; and enactment of the ill-advised trillion dollar prescription drug benefit to expand the bloated, broke Medicare system.

Last November conservatives “stomached” some of these “No Bureaucrat Left Behind” programs and loyally voted for Bush-Cheney because: (1) John Kerry is an arrogant, pontificating, socialist, dove, ass; (2) United States combat troops were fighting in the caves and desert fox holes of Afghanistan and Iraq; (3) bin Laden and al Qaeda remained a threat; and (4) the next president would likely be in position to reshape the federal bench, and the Supreme Court in particular.

The Miers nomination is a direct slap-in-the-face to all those millions of loyal conservatives.  The Right can almost hear the President saying: I know better and owe you nothing.  “Miers” is simply the “last straw” that breaks the back of the Bush coalition.  Or, to metaphorically put it another way, if all those liberal policies enacted by the White House and Congress represent fleas, then the President’s nomination of Harriet Miers is the dog that carries them.

Still, Bush’s Supreme idiocy is a godsend that offers hope for rededication to conservative principles.  It is a cue to aspiring Republican leaders to begin running from the White House and the congressional leadership of Frist, Hastert and Delay.  This is an opportunity to reset the Party, to again define the distinct differences between conservatism and liberalism/ socialism, and expose the false promise of big-government conservatism. 

The Bush era is coming to a close.  Good riddance.

## USA ##

Posted on October 4th, 2005 by Mr. Conservative
Filed under: The Masterpiece Analysis Collection