'Lugubrious Thuggery'
Readers make the case against the case against the Miers nomination.

Monday, October 10, 2005 12:00 P.M. EDT

Editor's note: These are responses to "Miers Finds Few Buyers" in Friday's Best of the Web Today.

The display of lugubrious thuggery on the right over the past week is the political disaster.

"Yes, dearie, you'll get a fair trial and then we'll hang you in the morning." Decency alone tells an honest conservative to give the nominee her opportunity at the Senate hearings before making a judgment about her. We're demanding up or down votes on the Senate floor from obstructionist Democrats, but trying to slaughter our own president's nominee before she's had a chance to speak for herself.

What this is all about is the inner-circle types expressing their inner Maureen Dowd, who believes that the President is a moron. Do they really expect to be taken seriously again?

-- Martin McPhillips     

The pick doesn't get me excited, but after our Senate leaders' behavior, I don't blame Bush for dodging a fight.

-- Will O'Leary     

I and my friends in Orlando, Fla., are very happy that 1,000 conservatives at National Review's dinner are not happy with Harriet Miers. Political disaster is not a phrase we use.

We all moved to Florida from Maine, New York, Ohio, Minnesota, Indiana, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and we were all attracted to the Democratic Party by JFK. Most of us were in high school and could not vote for him. Most of us graduated from colleges that could not measure up to Southern Methodist. We do not feel intellectually inferior, but we are not nuanced. Most of us are ex-military and after Khobar Towers and Black Hawk Down in Somalia we all changed parties and registered as Republicans. Democrats do not represent any position we have. Few of us voted for Reagan, and we are all embarrassed by that fact.

However we are very tired of "It's President Bush's fault" and the lack of support he gets from republicans in the House and Senate and the 1,000 conservatives who attended your dinner. If you want him to wage war with liberal democrats what are you and your 1,000 friends going to do? So far you have done nothing to help him. You are all wimps. We watch Fox News and we do not hear any republican or conservative using the same rhetoric that Reid, Pelosi, Kennedy, et al., use to describe President Bush. Whatever Pat Buchanan or Bill Kristol are for we are against because they are lukewarm in supporting President Bush. If all 1,000 of you are so important and powerful, then why is federal spending so of control? Our philosophy is appoint no one from any Ivy League School. Appoint no one from the Northeast. We don't care what your friends in Washington or New York say or feel.

-- Anthony Raguso     

You're nuttier than a fruitcake. What else do we need to know about Miers than that she's an antiabortion, born-again Christian, and a liberal's worst nightmare? There will be enough ignorant remarks when the liberals figure that out. Must people like you, Will, Novak, Buchanan, Noonan and Coulter feed ammunition to our friends on the left?

Et tu, Brutus?

-- Tony Grisola     

So what you're saying is that Ruth Bader Ginsburg deserved the overwhelming Senate Republican vote she got, but Harriet Miers does not? Get real. And get behind the president. He is the man we elected, not the hobnobbers at the National Review's 50th-birthday bash.

-- C.M. Fuller     

Very frankly, I get the impression from your description, as well as from columns and television appearances this week by various conservatives, that most of those on the right that oppose Ms. Miers are disappointed to miss a "brawl" in the Senate over the nomination. I have also been struck by how some, but by no means all, of the conservative criticisms of Ms. Miers come awfully close to replicating the kind of harsh and vitriolic personal attacks leveled at Robert Bork by the left back in the 1980s.

Personally, from the standpoint of the "wisdom" of the president making this particular choice, I question the ability, not to mention the resolve, of the Republican-controlled Senate to confirm someone more to the liking of the rightist intelligentsia, such as George Will or Charles Krauthammer or those at the party you attended. Clearly many of these folks, including the increasingly irrelevant crowd at NRO's The Corner, were hoping for some kind of epic battle, an Armageddon if you will, over the struggle for "control" of the guiding philosophy of the Supreme Court. I too would have likely enjoyed such a battle, but at the end of the day, I find it absolutely inconceivable that the conservatives would prevail in a Senate containing such so-called Republicans as, Chaffee, Snowe, Collins, McCain and Specter.

I am saddened by the positions being taken by so many individuals whose opinions I have usually respected in prior battles.

-- Terry Hinshaw     

I had to laugh at your unintentional Pauline Kael self-parody on Friday.

Shorter Taranto: "Nobody I met at a National Review event likes Harriet Miers." Now that's a revelation.

-- Kurt Brouwer     

From where this grassroots Republican stands, the Miers nomination has shaped up to be the right-wing pundits' Hurricane Katrina: a perfect storm of irresponsible, self-important media jackasses giving voice to their most morbid fantasies instead of covering the news.

The only major difference I see is that instead of the bogeyman being the imaginary gang bangers committing rape, pillage and plunder in the Superdome, it is a stealth, non-Ivy League nominee moving to the left once in office because she can't possibly be strong enough to know either constitutional law or her own mind.

In both cases, the rhetoric says far more about those doing the reporting that it does about the facts in evidence.

What ticks me off the most is that so few of the voices stridently raised in opposition to President Bush have experience managing anything larger than their own mouths. Nor have most ever been held accountable for achieving results as opposed to striking attitudes. And furthermore, most make their living, to some extent, by being controversial.

In addition, I fear far too many conservatives have caught the insidious Clinton disease, that hopelessly immature need for the excitement of the endless campaign. Thus they openly stoke the fires of political strife. While this may elevate their status as commentators and garner them more appearances on obscure cable TV shows, I have not seen evidence it brings about good government. In fact, because it encourages posturing for the cameras by showboating windbags, which in turn alienates that huge segment of the governed in the ideological middle, it almost certainly has the exact opposite effect.

The president has worked with Harriet Miers for years. That counts far more to me than the speculative rantings of the professional chattering class with their Web sites, magazine columns and radio programs.

Count me as one very unhappy reader.

-- Rosslyn Smith     

Now I'm ashamed of you. If somebody's got a comment worth repeating, then it's worth putting their name to it. Otherwise it belong in File 13.

All this froth in a bucket stirred by a bunch of elitists who are refugees from Skull and Bones and apparently ashamed of one of their own because he comes from Texas is sickening. Now it's sinking to the realm of cheap shots, and unless you at least stand neutral from it, you're going to be diminished thereby--and it's a kind of stain that doesn't go away.

-- Jack Buttram     

You might want to give some thought to the rest of the population--that is, the few who live and work outside Washington. The nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court has not come up once in any conversations that I have had with a number of people, Democrats as well as Republicans. One should not assume that we are ignorant and do not care. I suspect you will find that most Americans feel that she will perform well in the upcoming hearings. Further that she most likely will be credit to the Supreme Court. I personally suspect that she won't be any worse than some of the people who presently serve.

-- Chuck Handley     

This whole Harriet Miers kerfuffle is baffling. Why? You folks need to "look at the ground game" to see why Bush did just what he did by nominating Miers.

You need to understand that Bush has 55 votes in the Senate. At least five of these are moderates (pro-abortion) and will vote against a nominee who comes out against their precious Roe v. Wade. And we know that all 45 Democrats are beholden to the abortion lobby and will either oppose or filibuster. So Bush starts with 50 votes at best to get his candidate through, if there is no filibuster. If there is, we do not have the votes even if those five pro-abortion candidates stay with the President. And if there is no filibuster, we have to pray for no more defections so that Vice President Cheney can vote to break a 50-50 tie.

Now, if Bush nominated a clear dyed-in-the-wool conservative like Michael Luttig or Samuel Alito or Priscilla Owen or Janice Rogers Brown or some candidate with a paper trail, and that person failed of confirmation, imagine the field day the liberal media would have with that defeat. Bush would be pilloried for losing this, and his next pick would have to be more moderate, because the defeat would embolden the Democrats. Bush would be labeled a lame duck.

The Democrats' William Bradford Reynolds/Robert Bork "do not tell us the truth" destroy-conservatives campaign, which began in the 1980s, has now come home to roost, full force. For a Republican to get someone through the Senate, he has to be a stealth candidate.

Miers is that candidate. For anyone on the right to call her any names or call her unqualified before the hearings is why Bush made this pick--because he expected this from Democrats, but not his own party.

So get off her back. The woman is close to Bush--do you think for one second he does not know what he is doing? Do you not think that he knows her views on issues? After all, it was Miers who picked Brown and Owen and all of Bush's appellate nominees. Would a moderate or liberal (or a Souter) pick people like this?

Liberals have been misunderestimating President Bush since 1994, when he first ran for governor of Texas. It would be a pity if conservatives do the same before Miers has a chance to get a fair hearing.

-- Mark Grossman     

All the fuss over Harriet Miers makes me believe that the conservative members of the press and Congress are just as out of touch with the American people as the liberal members of the press and Congress. So it is true that the conservatives have a litmus test for nomination to the Supreme Court just as the liberals do. We seem to be OK with putting our trust in 100 members of the Senate every day. Harriet Miers will probably run circles around them during her confirmation. Lets wait and see what happens. Those who decide how they would vote today based on "Washington" sentiment are fools not to be bothered with.

-- Bill Frazer     

If so many people want a fight, have one. You're a bunch of grown-ups (well, until all this clamor for a fight started I had thought so), so go fight on your own or together. Pick up rocks and sticks and go have yerself a beatin' or two. Open up a can of whoop-ass on some "Angry Left" person you find. Of course you better all plan on wearing shirts that say "I'm with Stupid" on them so you can differentiate with the Angry Left who wear the "I don't know better" shirts. That's the only way to tell the two groups apart.

Trust the president and let him lead, dammit. So much for "conservative wisdom." You ruin the progress that has been made by taking the "high road" through this political mess. You all are leading the way to a clear Democratic victory next presidential election.

-- Stephen Craigue     

How can you tell if a conservative is pro- or anti-Miers? Based on my conversations with conservative friends this week, here's a good rule of thumb. Ask the conservative to define the following words or phrases and see what he says.

"Blackberry"

Anti-Miers: A handheld device that allows you to get e-mail and access the Internet. The biggest problem is when the battery runs low. You solve the problem by carrying a charger.

Pro-Miers: A delicious berry that you find in the woods. The biggest problem is that bears love them too. You solve that problem by carrying a .44 Magnum.

"Friends"

Anti-Miers: A popular TV show that looked at cultural and sexual mores.

Pro-Miers: People you invite over to your house

"$20 Snifter of Cognac"

Anti-Miers: Not a bad price for a great brandy at a nice bar.

Pro-Miers: An outrageous price for a drink. Where we people live, you can get a two-pound T-bone steak dinner and a drink for $20.

"Meet the Press"

Anti-Miers: Must-see TV.

Pro-Miers: We are too busy going to church. Besides, who really cares what they say?

"December"

Anti-Miers: A period of increased cultural sensitivity when you have to wish people a "Happy Holiday" instead of "Merry Christmas" for fear of offending them.

Pro-Miers: Merry Christmas!

"A List"

Anti-Miers: The type of party you want to be invited to.

Pro-Miers: What you don't want to get from your wife on Saturday morning.

"Assault Weapons"

Anti-Miers: A class of weapons that anti-Miers conservatives use in their legal arguments concerning the meaning and extent of the Second Amendment. Although anti Miers conservatives favor the ownership of assault weapons, they probably have never touched or fired one.

Pro-Miers: A nice varmint gun, although it doesn't have enough range or accuracy to shoot wary prairie dogs. They aren't as good as Dad's old M1 Garand.

"Democracy"

Anti-Miers: A Broadway play.

Pro-Miers: One of the things that makes America great.

"Antonin Scalia"

Anti-Miers: A brilliant legal scholar with libertarian tendencies. A good Supreme Court justice.

Pro-Miers: Who? Oh, the guy who hunts with the vice president and belongs to a gun club in Virginia. A good Supreme Court justice.

"The Buzz"

Anti-Miers: What "everybody who is anybody" is talking about.

Pro-Miers: What hornets, bees, wasps and yellow jackets do.

"Hunting"

Anti-Miers: A method for thinning wildlife populations that allows a rural American tradition to continue.

Pro-Miers: A chance to get together with some friends on a weekend and have a good time. We never let the hunting get in the way of having fun, however.

"Cowboy"

Anti-Miers: A metaphor for the American tendency to act aggressively. What makes America a great power.

Pro-Miers: The guy we see at the diner, who works on a ranch or travels the rodeo circuit. A term that is rarely applied, and when it is, is a compliment.

"John Deere"

Anti-Miers: A riding lawn mower.

Pro-Miers: A tractor.

"Paris Hilton"

Anti-Miers: A cultural icon.

Pro-Miers: A hotel in France. Although I wouldn't know, because why would I want to go to Paris on vacation when I can go camping?

"Big Bore"

Anti-Miers: A person who corners you at an A List cocktail party.

Pro-Miers: A rifle that you need for hunting elephant or cape buffalo.

This would have probably worked well at the NR 50th bash.

-- Harold Hough