Thursday, October 13, 2005

Double Standards

This NYT article discusses the White House's efforts to pacify social conservative opposition to the Miers nomination and how they differ in their approach just a few weeks ago with the Roberts nomination. You may have seen that Dr. James Dobson (of "SpongeBob is Gay" infamy) gave her the thumbs-up after Karl Rove whispered some sweet nothings in his ear, reassuring the dog-beater that Miers attends an almost universally pro-life church.

I watched Meet the Press on Sunday at Thom's place and listened to Pat Buchanan (former Reform Party presidential candidate and thinly-veiled white supremacist or "nativist," if you remember that term for anti-immigration political figures) tell everyone that the Miers nomination is a complete disappointment for the people that put Bush over the top in the last election. Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention disagreed, saying pretty much that he trusts Bush implicitly.

I'm not sure about this nominee. Obviously, the Administration is withholding information as to just where she stands. However - and this may surprise some - I'm not completely sure that Bush wants to overturn Roe v. Wade. He may actually realize that the majority of the nation is opposed to such a decision at this point. From what I've heard and read, both Laura and Barbara Bush are opposed to changing the precedent that we've lived under for the last 32 years or so. We know that GWBush didn't really push for that hopeless Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and likely refrained not only because he knew it didn't have a chance of passing, but also because he has gay friends.

While the Miers nomination - if it goes through - will undoubtedly push the Court to the political right, I'm not positive that it will have the effect that the Dobsons and Buchanans are looking for. Maybe I'm being optimistic - what does everyone else think?

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