Image Credit: White House photo by Paul Morse.
Editorial: Religious Test a Conservative Flip-Flop on Miers Nomination
BBSNews 2005-10-09 -- Conservatives are embroiled in a conflict over the nomination to the Supreme Court of Harriet Miers. Some conservative factions are calling for a deeper inquiry of her stand on issues important to them. On the other hand the religious conservatives, the GOP's cream of the crop in terms of "base", are claiming not to worry, Miers is a "born-again" evangelical Christian and she can be counted on as therefore being anti-gay and anti-abortion. Since that's the time-worn position of the GOP and today's conservatives in the US.
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White House Counsel Harriet Miers speaks after being nominated by President George W. Bush as Supreme Court Justice during a statement from the Oval Office on Monday October 3, 2005.
Image Credit: White House photo by Paul Morse. |
During the nomination process for John Roberts it was simply forbidden to ask about actual issues, especially religion.
The gloves are off this time, extremist right-wing Websites have jumped into the fray going so far as to take columnist George Will to task, Michael J. Gaynor wrote:
"Mr. Wills [sic], I daresay you don't have a clue as to Ms. Miers' constitutional reasoning skill. Don't assume. Pay attention during Ms. Miers' confirmation hearing instead of assuming that this evangelical Christian lady is unqualified."
Pointedly referring to the exact quality of religious test Gaynor and others are looking for in a Supreme Court justice, and casually disregarding the huge double-standard and blatant hypocrisy raised by doing so. The press is on in extremist religious circles to support Harriet Miers not because of her extensive trial lawyer experience (frowned upon by conservatives when the trial lawyer was named John Edwards). But because of her evangelical Christian, "born-again" religious, outlook that they feel will make her a sure bet to vote against gay rights, against reproductive rights, against end of life rights, against the right to privacy, and vote for more religion in government, more morality based government laws, a flag burning amendment and to weaken rights of poor people to an equal chance for success in the US where it's probably never been more clear, due to Hurricane Katrina and Rita, just how huge the class gap has actually gotten.
James Dobson oozed moral uncertainty and agonized on his radio show when he spoke to his co-host: "...if I have made a mistake here, I will never forget it. The blood of those babies who will die will be on my hands to a degree. Lord, if I am right, confirm it, and if I am wrong, chastise me and I will repent of it and come before these microphones.
Grandstanding sanctimony aside, talk-show loud-mouth Rush Limbaugh required assurance from vice president Dick Cheney that Harriet Miers would be "right" enough. And he got it.
Pat Robertson calls the Miers nomination "superb" in what in other days might have been a kiss of death, given that the Rabid Robertson has advocated "taking out" the head of another country. And there has likely never been a man more afraid of homosexuality than Robertson, but his luster has been wearing thin as of late among many religious conservatives. Readers have informed me that Robertson is not the religious right leader anymore. That job has fallen more to the aforementioned James Dobson. Jerry Falwell has lost the leadership mantle of extremist fundamentalism also, but he supported the Miers nomination in Chattanooga saying that Harriet Miers is a "woman of great character, and a lover of Christ."
Neither extremist cleric Dobson or Robertson lets the facts get in the way of their rhetoric or their ideology. They change as quickly and chameleon-like as Rush Limbaugh and FoxNews. And Falwell is well, just foul when he makes weird claims like Democrats "would vote no on Jesus."
The always dandified Jay Sekulow, immensely popular as a Trinity Broadcasting Network staple and now a CBN sought after interview for his take on the Miers nomination, said to Pat Robertson during a recent show: "This is a big opportunity for those of us who share an evangelical faith in Christianity to see someone with our positions put on a court. She was a very active member of an evangelical church in Dallas."
In fact, Jay Sekulow wants Miers to be confirmed forthwith because he believes she would be an activist in favor of ACLJ cases. He is quite open about this skullduggery, saying in the same show: "We have the Rico case and the parental notification case on November 30. In fact, our second round of briefs will be filed in October. The court is, has with it right now, a petition for review followed by our friend, the solicitor general of the United States, Paul Clement, on the issue of partial-birth abortion. So I think it's realistic now that the court is going to grant review. And, in fact, the ACLJ - we're representing members of the House and Senate who actually wrote the law on partial-birth abortion. So I think we'll have a partial- birth abortion ban case at the Supreme Court this term. So you look at what's at stake. We need her sooner rather than later."
Such comments smack of a certain determination to place on the court not someone who will faithfully interpret the law and the US Constitution. On the contrary, it sounds as if Jay Sekulow is openly claiming that Harriet Miers will not use the law and the Constitution as her basis for rendering decisions, Sekulow sounds positively gleeful that there will now be an "evangelical" sitting on the court who will make decisions according to "born-again" religious philosophy. And what is this Paul Clement "our friend" nonsense? Has the United States solicitor general been taken over by the religious right-wing as has already been the entire GOP?
Such rhetoric not forcefully shot-down by this administration shows that indeed, this nomination is an effort to make sure there is a sure right-wing evangelical Christian presence on the court to, hopefully for the extremists, move the court towards a more theocratic and faith-based judicial entity.
Miers will be confirmed because of this religious litmus test that would have garnered outrage by Republicans had it been leveled at John Roberts during his nomination process. President Bush has become extremely weakened by his embarassing response to Hurricane Katrina. (They don't get CNN in the Whitehouse?)
The giving of nearly 2000 American lives to establish an Islamic theocracy (read the draft Iraq constitution, seriously, Iraq was invaded, Saddam toppled and Iran gets what it wanted through years of war what it could not achieve handed to them by this administration) next to Iran in Iraq, the huge budget deficit as a result of the war and the tax cuts for the rich in this country, gas prices and on and on.
Bush cannot risk a filibuster in his weakened state. So he is going to get what he wants by nominating Harriet Miers. A nice enough person I am sure. And one who Bush is pushing will be an activist judge sure to legislate from the bench on his personal terms. Extremist right-wing, "born-again" conservative Christian hatred towards anyone not as morally upstanding as they believe themselves to be.
Now would be a good time for at least some "god" to save the Republic.
And again, where is Osama Bin Laden?
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