Exhibitions of glee in response to Harriet Miers's declining to endure Senate confirmation hearings risk coming across as mean spirited, play into the Left's talking points portraying a reverse Borking, and seem premature given that we neither know who the next nominee will be nor if that person will be confirmed--let alone how that jurist will rule if ultimately sworn in.
The right side of the Internet was awash with cyber high-fives and online you-da-mans today in reaction to Miers killing her own Supreme Court nomination. "Thank God!," John Hawkins of RightWingNews declared, "I cannot even begin to tell you how happy this makes me." Hawkins, who concedes that "we're only 1/3rd of the way done," confesses to whooping and decides to grill a steak in celebration. "This is such a great moment, such a great day for conservatism!" "Hip-Hip-Hooray!!!," exclaimed IowaVoice. "Thank God, is all I have to say." The Llama Butchers energetically reacted: "Woo, ah say, Woo-Hoo!"
Conservatives scored a touchdown. The game isn't over. An excessive end-zone celebration only serves to anger the other team. It invites penalty flags. It provides teammates with false assurances. And acting as if you won when it is still the first quarter is bad form.
Celebrate?! The Miers nom was a disaster, and her withdrawl doesn't end the disaster.
I don't think we can get a clear conservative out of this (Bush won't want a fight). The best we could do is another Roberts-type, and I suspect he'll go more moderate than that.
(Not to be picky, but "doth" should only be used with the 3d person singular.)
True enough. But if you can't celebrate the big score, what fun is the game? It's worth a penalty assessed on the kick-off, i.e., allowing the Dems to automatically characterize the next nominee as a concession to the 'extreme right wing.'
As for the other team being mad: they're perpetually mad anyway. And the 'talent' of our team makes their anger irrelevant, i.e., with 55 votes in the Senate and the 'nuclear' option in reserve, the Democrats are overmatched.
DISCLAIMER: If Bush pulls a Bill Parcells - 1st and goal at the 10 followed by three running plays and a field goal - then all bets are off.
Well, if he picks a conservative who is a "strict constructionist", you know the Dems will fight. Then we get to see how many Repubs are strong and true, and how many are wimpy rino's. I think Bush is concerned about that as well. He knows there are many supposedly on the right, who have no stomach for harsh words, much less the stones to fight back.
Skeptic, I was counting on readers like you to permit me grammatical license to make the Hamlet allusion work. Ralph's "cheer your victories" point is a good one. There has been too little for conservatives to cheer about, so maybe my "act as if you've been there" advice doesn't apply because conservatives haven't been in the endzone for a long, long time. Wm. Clement's points really struck me last night while watching Lindsey Graham on Larry King. Wow! Couldn't conservatives have done a lot better in a state such as South Carolina? Take away his accent and you'd think he was from Maine or Rhode Island.
