Thursday, October 06, 2005
Harriet Miers and The New York Yankees
The Supreme Court Of The United States has long fascinated me. I first read about the Supremes in Bob Woodward's 1979 bestseller The Brethren, which dealt mostly with the Warren Burger court of the day and the personalities involved, but also was a very good primer for how things get done there. William Rehnquist was a fresh appointee then and was already being touted as a long term influence, so it was interesting to witness his career, albeit mostly peripherally.
I was fascinated by the Roberts hearings and am now following the debate over the Harriett Miers nomination with great interest, especially regarding the politics playing in the background. In his confirmation hearings, Roberts wielded a monumental intellect that made Senators Biden, Kennedy, Schumer and Feinstein look like bewildered teenagers, a spectacle that was wholly anticipated by anyone aware of Roberts' reputation and record. Bush's nomination of Miers has surprised and alarmed at least conservative Republicans, who despite Miers' extensive service to the President are skeptical of her qualifications; we'll see what the left makes of her commitment to evangelical (anti-abortion) Christianity.
Conservative Republicans are going to find themselves in a bit of a bind: they rightly insisted during the Roberts hearing that the President's SCOTUS nominee should be confirmed per tradition; that's what the filibuster fight and the Gang Of Fourteen was all about. They can't now expect the rules to change because they don't think the nominee is far enough to the right.
Bush makes the call, simple as that. Then it goes to hearings where everyone chimes in, including conservative Republicans, just like the Roberts hearings. Then Miers will either be confirmed or rejected, which process in itself will be rife with drama.
It's a great game, right up there with baseball.
And we all know that God Loves The New York Yankees.
I was fascinated by the Roberts hearings and am now following the debate over the Harriett Miers nomination with great interest, especially regarding the politics playing in the background. In his confirmation hearings, Roberts wielded a monumental intellect that made Senators Biden, Kennedy, Schumer and Feinstein look like bewildered teenagers, a spectacle that was wholly anticipated by anyone aware of Roberts' reputation and record. Bush's nomination of Miers has surprised and alarmed at least conservative Republicans, who despite Miers' extensive service to the President are skeptical of her qualifications; we'll see what the left makes of her commitment to evangelical (anti-abortion) Christianity.
Conservative Republicans are going to find themselves in a bit of a bind: they rightly insisted during the Roberts hearing that the President's SCOTUS nominee should be confirmed per tradition; that's what the filibuster fight and the Gang Of Fourteen was all about. They can't now expect the rules to change because they don't think the nominee is far enough to the right.
Bush makes the call, simple as that. Then it goes to hearings where everyone chimes in, including conservative Republicans, just like the Roberts hearings. Then Miers will either be confirmed or rejected, which process in itself will be rife with drama.
It's a great game, right up there with baseball.
And we all know that God Loves The New York Yankees.
