 By Michael Reagan October 13, 2005
It was the conservative battle cry that the president's nominees had the right to go through the process and be voted on by the full Senate. We jumped all over the liberal Democrats on this issue, insisting that the president had the right to pick the judges he wants on the federal bench. Now, all of sudden, because the president didn't call us personally and get our permission, we wise pundits are now suddenly acting the way the liberals did with Roberts and others, demanding that he reveal how Harriet Miers will vote and what she thinks about just about everything. That's exactly what we condemned the liberals for demanding. We are in a snit because he didn't call us and consult with us about his choice. In short, we are adopting a double standard and you can't have it both ways. Because the president didn't pick someone from the list of names we wanted we are going to stir up a big fuss and question his judgment. When the Democrats wanted Judge Roberts to spill his guts about every hot issue that might come before the Supreme Court we cried foul and called for the application of the Ginsberg rule insisting that he did not have to answer these questions. Now, with the nomination of Harriet Miers, it's as if there is no such thing as a Ginsberg Rule. We want to know everything especially how she feels about abortion. Why are they asking merely that, but not about how she feels about eminent domain or affirmative action or gay marriage or any other hot button issue certain to come before the court? Don't they matter? Harriet Miers can't talk about any of those things, and they know it. After all, that's what they told the Democrats when they tried to get Judge Roberts and other nominees to violate the Ginsberg Rule. I understand why my fellow conservatives are upset. Many conservative pundits wanted the president to pick a nominee who had been in the trenches, fighting to transform the federal judiciary from the left-wing activist court it has become into what the Founding Fathers originally created one that looks at the Constitution as it was meant by them to be read, and not as some wacko liberal judges want it to mean. It's been a bloody fight and the liberals have had everything their own way for decades, writing laws instead of interpreting them in the light of the Constitution. Now that the American people have reared up and fought back and taken the high ground and victory is within our grasp, the president turns his back on the valiant conservative warriors who have fought the good fight, and chooses a nominee who hasn't been in the front lines. President Bush, however, has made his choice and he is entitled to have it proceed through the orderly Senate confirmation process. Harriet Miers has the right to be heard. I agree with two of the most valiant veteran conservative warriors who, though desperately dissatisfied by the president's choice, agree that Harriet Miers is entitled to her day in court. The liberal mainstream media
have salivated over the dissension in GOP ranks and they have
done everything possible to play up the family fight among Republicans.
Thus when Pat Buchanan and Paul Weyrich voiced their disapproval
of the Miers nomination, this was presented to the public as
all-out opposition. The fact is that although both men told NewsMax.com
they are very unhappy with what the president has done, they
are willing to be fair and wait and see how well she acquits
herself during the Senate hearings. If she does well, she'll
win their backing. That, however, has been ignored by the media,
whose motto here is "let's you and him fight." Look for Mike's new book "Twice Adopted". Order autographed books at www.reagan.com Distributed exclusively by Cagle, Inc. www.caglecartoons.com to subscribers for publication.
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