Tuesday, October 04, 2005
The Republican Party is Dead
It's true. There are now two Democratic Parties. The Democratic Party and the Democratic Party Light. The latter is all that's left of the Republicans.
I could be talking about illegal immigration or Congress and the President spending money like drunken sailors (with apologies to drunken sailors) but what I'm really talking about is the decision to nominate Harriet Miers as the next justice of the Supreme Court.
Read Edward Whelan's post linked above. If Whelan is correct, and I suspect he is, Bush felt forced to nominate a woman for the open seat. I thought the Republican Party was supposed to be the party opposed to quotas? Guess not. The First Yenta Laura Bush apparently told W he wasn't getting any until he picked a woman to replace Sandra Day O'Connor. And, as I noted below, even such hard-core, so-called conservatives as Senator Brownback also wanted a female for the post.
The three best candidates for the position were Michael Luttig, Michael McConnell and Samuel Alioto, all of whom happen to be, alas, white males. Thus they--and the country--are victims of the most blatant discrimination possible. They should jointly sue the President and his party for civil rights violations. In fact, the whole country, now faced with the possibility of Ms. Miers on the Supreme Court for the next 25 years, should sue as well. Anyone know a good lawyer?
So it had to be a woman. The two best of those candidates, Edith Jones and Janice Rogers Brown, had paper trails too long and too detailed to get past not only the Dems but the girly-girl moderate Republican Senators like Snowe, Collins, Chaffee, Specter and the bawling-like-a-baby Voinovich. They are not really Republicans but then at this point, I can say the same thing about Bush, can't I?
Here's what's frustrating. Democratic nominees can have paper trails but Republicans cannot. There's two reasons for this. One, Democrats play hardball and Republicans are gentlemen (or should I say "ladies" in deference to Snowe, Collins, Chaffee, Specter and Voinovich). Republicans know that elections matter but Dems act like they won the last election no matter how badly they got waxed.
But there's a bigger problem. Those pro-choice girls who call themselves Republican insist that no one who they even suspect would vote to override Roe vs. Wade be named to the court. They really do. Somehow, pro-life Dems like Harry Reid understand where their party is on the abortion issue and accept the fact that they have to swallow the party line on abortion. Not so our wonderful Republican chicks. Edith Jones, who has vowed to overturn Roe vs Wade if given the chance, would not get approval from Snowe, Collins and the rest...they'd probably even support a filibuster if they had to.
Thus, when President Clinton nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg, he had no qualms about calling her "Pro-Choice." If Bush were to nominate anyone and call him (or her) "pro-life," they wouldn't get approved because of the gals from Maine and their ilk. So Republicans have to nominate "stealth" candidates and hope for the best. Democrats don't have this worry.
The only solution is to purge the Republican Party of the militant pro-choice Republicans. I happen to be pro-choice myself but unlike Senators Snowe, Collins, et al, I am smart enough to realize two important things. One is that Roe vs. Wade was the most horrific Supreme Court decision since Plessy vs Ferguson. There is nothing in the Constitution that sanctions abortion and the ruling that took this issue out of the states where it belongs has been a legal abomination for over thirty years. The other thing I know is that when Roe vs Wade is finally overturned, as it surely will be one day, this will not ban abortion. It will return the decision to the states and most states will keep it legal with some restrictions and some will ban most abortions.
Pro-choice Republicans are welcome as long as they understand this. They should favor overturning Roe vs. Wade and be prepared to take their arguments as to why abortion should be legal to the state legislatures or to the people themselves where state referendums are allowed. If they can't do that, they need to leave the party, otherwise the Republicans will cease to be. Democrat Light isn't good enough. We need a real Republican Party. And we need it fast.
Link
I could be talking about illegal immigration or Congress and the President spending money like drunken sailors (with apologies to drunken sailors) but what I'm really talking about is the decision to nominate Harriet Miers as the next justice of the Supreme Court.
Read Edward Whelan's post linked above. If Whelan is correct, and I suspect he is, Bush felt forced to nominate a woman for the open seat. I thought the Republican Party was supposed to be the party opposed to quotas? Guess not. The First Yenta Laura Bush apparently told W he wasn't getting any until he picked a woman to replace Sandra Day O'Connor. And, as I noted below, even such hard-core, so-called conservatives as Senator Brownback also wanted a female for the post.
The three best candidates for the position were Michael Luttig, Michael McConnell and Samuel Alioto, all of whom happen to be, alas, white males. Thus they--and the country--are victims of the most blatant discrimination possible. They should jointly sue the President and his party for civil rights violations. In fact, the whole country, now faced with the possibility of Ms. Miers on the Supreme Court for the next 25 years, should sue as well. Anyone know a good lawyer?
So it had to be a woman. The two best of those candidates, Edith Jones and Janice Rogers Brown, had paper trails too long and too detailed to get past not only the Dems but the girly-girl moderate Republican Senators like Snowe, Collins, Chaffee, Specter and the bawling-like-a-baby Voinovich. They are not really Republicans but then at this point, I can say the same thing about Bush, can't I?
Here's what's frustrating. Democratic nominees can have paper trails but Republicans cannot. There's two reasons for this. One, Democrats play hardball and Republicans are gentlemen (or should I say "ladies" in deference to Snowe, Collins, Chaffee, Specter and Voinovich). Republicans know that elections matter but Dems act like they won the last election no matter how badly they got waxed.
But there's a bigger problem. Those pro-choice girls who call themselves Republican insist that no one who they even suspect would vote to override Roe vs. Wade be named to the court. They really do. Somehow, pro-life Dems like Harry Reid understand where their party is on the abortion issue and accept the fact that they have to swallow the party line on abortion. Not so our wonderful Republican chicks. Edith Jones, who has vowed to overturn Roe vs Wade if given the chance, would not get approval from Snowe, Collins and the rest...they'd probably even support a filibuster if they had to.
Thus, when President Clinton nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg, he had no qualms about calling her "Pro-Choice." If Bush were to nominate anyone and call him (or her) "pro-life," they wouldn't get approved because of the gals from Maine and their ilk. So Republicans have to nominate "stealth" candidates and hope for the best. Democrats don't have this worry.
The only solution is to purge the Republican Party of the militant pro-choice Republicans. I happen to be pro-choice myself but unlike Senators Snowe, Collins, et al, I am smart enough to realize two important things. One is that Roe vs. Wade was the most horrific Supreme Court decision since Plessy vs Ferguson. There is nothing in the Constitution that sanctions abortion and the ruling that took this issue out of the states where it belongs has been a legal abomination for over thirty years. The other thing I know is that when Roe vs Wade is finally overturned, as it surely will be one day, this will not ban abortion. It will return the decision to the states and most states will keep it legal with some restrictions and some will ban most abortions.
Pro-choice Republicans are welcome as long as they understand this. They should favor overturning Roe vs. Wade and be prepared to take their arguments as to why abortion should be legal to the state legislatures or to the people themselves where state referendums are allowed. If they can't do that, they need to leave the party, otherwise the Republicans will cease to be. Democrat Light isn't good enough. We need a real Republican Party. And we need it fast.
Link
