BREAKING UP? Is this the end of the Conservative Movement / Big Business Coalition?

For the Left, sometimes it's hard to unravel what a post like John's below means. Who is this Richard Viguerie guy and why does it matter that he's pissed off at Bush, we're all pissed off at Bush.

Historically, Richard Viguerie is one of the scions of the Conservative Movement (as they like to be called). Inspired by Goldwater, emboldened by Reagan '76 and victorious in Reagan '80, this is the heart of the political and intellectual Right. They believe Reagan did what he could, but he had a Democratic House to deal with. Unfettered, he would have been more. George W. Bush was their more. He has the House, he has the Senate, and by the grace of God (via Pat Robertson), he got his Supreme Court appointments. This was it, the moment we've all been waiting for...

Along the way the Conservative Movement joined up with "The Money" - big business and Washington interests. It made sense at the time - Communists were about Government and Conservatives hated both Communists and Government. Ideals just in line with those entrepreneurial oil boys in Texas, bankers in New York, defense contractors in Georgia, the list goes on.

Money and foot soldiers - always an interesting combination. For the last twenty five years their political strength has grown. Here, finally it should be at its apex. In 2005, twenty five years since they began their takeover of the country, George W. Bush has the opportunity of their collective lifetimes and he serves up... Harriet Miers, his fixer? This is the equivalent of Bill Clinton appointing Betsy Wright, fixer of "bimbo eruptions", to the United States Supreme Court. Way to go George! This was not the face of their final takeover of the last branch of government.

For Conservative Movement folks to come out today and publicly castigate the President is shocking. Elvis has left he building.

This story is also about political apparatus. Viguerie himself brought direct mail technology to his cause in ways that Democrats could only dream of, creating a direct mail fundraising machine that churns out money daily for some of the Right's most hateful causes. This is the heart of the conservative vote machine that is walking away from Bush. This is the very machine that the Republican Party will desperately need in November '06, and it's walking away.

The House leadership is under multiple indictments, the Senate leadership under investigation. The White House is under investigation. Is it somehow possible that the very heart of the Conservative movement has just jumped off the sinking Republican Party ship? Were that true, we might be watching a very public implosion and collapse of the Republican Party Conservative Movement / Big Business Money coalition. Read the rest of this post...

I think conservatives are going to try to kill the Harriet Miers nomination

Richard Viguerie, one of THE big old-time leaders of the Republican party, just sent this to one of his email list to which I subscribe. Bush is in serious trouble:

Conservatives Feel Betrayed
“President Bush Blinks on Supreme Court Nominees”

“Congratulations are due to Ralph Neas, Nan Aron, and Chuck Schumer for going toe-to-toe with President Bush and forcing him to blink,” said conservative activist Richard A. Viguerie. “Liberals have successfully cowed President Bush by scaring him off from nominating a known conservative, strict constructionist to the Court, leaving conservatives fearful of which direction the Court will go.”

“President Bush desperately needed to have an ideological fight with the Left to redefine himself and re-energize his political base, which is in shock and dismay over his big government policies,” Viguerie added.

“With their lack of strong, identifiable records, President Bush’s choices for Supreme Court nominees seem designed more to avoid a fight with the extreme Left than to appeal to his conservative base,” lamented Viguerie.

Many conservatives worry that without verifiable records, President Bush’s Supreme Court nominees will be more like the liberal Justice Souter than the conservative, strict constructionists Scalia and Thomas.

Remembering and still dismayed about how his father, President George H. W. Bush (the 41st), lied to conservatives and American voters by saying he was a conservative and expressly stating he would not raise taxes, conservatives fear President George W. Bush (the 43rd) has done the same by failing to nominate well-known conservative, strict constructionists to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“President Bush has presided over the largest growth in government since Lyndon Johnson, and now he appears willing to lose all credibility with conservative voters by failing to fulfill his campaign vow to nominate an openly Scalia- or Thomas-like justice,” Viguerie concluded.

Conservatives are also exceedingly disappointed in the Republican Leadership in Congress as well. Conservatives will now begin to seriously consider why they should continue to give their support –money, labor, and votes – to Republican politicians who take their conservative base for granted by continually lying to them.

--30--

Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of American Target Advertising, pioneered ideological and political direct mail and has been called “the funding father of the conservative movement” for his role in forming dozens of conservative organizations. He is the author of four books, including “America’s Right Turn,” (Bonus Books, 2004).

Uh, so you voting for President Clinton next time, Rick? Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Speak clearly in to the microphone. Read the rest of this post...

AP: Miers went to gay rights group's screening session for potential endorsements

AP is now covering the story an hour and a half after AMERICAblog broke it - eh hem.

What's interesting about this story is that AP reveals that Miers chose to go to the gay rights group's "screening session" where they interview candidates about their views on gay rights and then decide if they'll support them. While Miers said on the gay group's questionnaire that she wasn't seeking their endorsement, she chose to fill out their questionnaire anyway - this was Texas in 1989, filling out the gay rights group's questionnaire was hardly a political necessity - and she chose to then go the gay rights group's screen session to be questioned about her views.

I'll say it again. These are not the actions of Pat Robertson's prefered Supreme Court choice. I'm not saying she's gonna be a closet liberal. But she's hardly walking and talking and quacking like a solid conservative duck.

From AP (and you gotta love the headline):

Miers Backed Gay Civil Rights

Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers went on record favoring equal civil rights for gays when she ran for Dallas city council, and she said the city had a responsibility to pay for AIDS education and patient services....

Although she came to a coalition meeting to answer questions during the campaign, she said at the time that she was not seeking its endorsement....

"Usually, if you bothered to come, you wanted our endorsement," Young said. "She came to talk to us anyway. I thought that was very odd."

Young added, "She didn't seem like a right-wing nut or anything like that."

Odd, indeed. One might even call it queer. Read the rest of this post...

HARRIET: She might not oppose gays, but she's against the right to choose

Miers might have been unopposed to gays, but she sure doesn't like the right to choose. From AP:

President Bush's choice to fill the seat of retiring Supreme Court Justice and moderate abortion rights supporter Sandra Day O'Connor was a leader in an unsuccessful fight to get the nation's largest lawyers' group to reconsider its pro-abortion rights stance.

As president of the Texas State Bar in 1993, Harriet Miers urged the national American Bar Association to put the abortion issue to a referendum of the group's full membership. She questioned at the time whether the ABA should "be trying to speak for the entire legal community" on an issue that she said "has brought on tremendous divisiveness" within the ABA.
...
"As a leader of the bar, Harriet Miers was a fearless and very strong proponent of conservative legal views. She led a campaign to have the American Bar Association end its practice of supporting abortion-on-demand and taxpayer-funded abortions," Leo said a memo on the Miers nomination.

CNN's King is reporting that she has "attended several events organized by the anti-abortion group Texans United for Life."

Hmmmmmmm... Read the rest of this post...

More on Harriet and the Homos - she may support gay adoption too

From the New Republic (via Andrew Sullivan):

Miers's long affiliation with the ABA will serve up lots of interesting tidbits that are unlikely to please social and legal conservatives. For instance, she apparently submitted the following report to the ABA's House of Delegates. Here are two of the report's recommendations:

Supports the enactment of laws and public policy which provide that sexual orientation shall not be a bar to adoption when the adoption is determined to be in the best interest of the child. ...

Recommends the development and establishment of an International Criminal Court.

Read the rest of this post...

Miers' responded to questionnaire from Texas gay group in 1989

I just received a document from the Human Rights Campaign that appears to be a "gay rights" questionnaire Harriet Miers filled out in 1989 when she was running for Dallas city council. (HRC says they got the document from a trusted source and thus believe it to be authentic.)

There are few interesting things about this questionnaire:

1. The questionnaire is from the Lesbian/Gay Political Coalition of Dallas.

2. Miers seems supportive of increased AIDS funding, which isn't a small deal in 1989, especially in a more conservative place with Texas.

3. Miers says she believes gays should have the same civil rights as straights. Again, perhaps no big shocker today, but this was 1989 in Texas.

4. At the end of the questionnaire, Miers says she is NOT seeking the endorsement of the gay rights group.

5. But then why did Miers fill out their questionnaire in the first place? Would a true conservative family-values candidate fill out a candidate questionnaire from a gay rights group TODAY, let alone in 1989 and in Texas to boot?

I'm not sure this questionnaire provides any definitive answers about Harriet Miers and gay rights - many of her answers aren't great - but it sure raises a number of questions. And I wouldn't want to be the Bush administration right about now, trying to answer why their wonder candidate was sucking up to gay groups as early as the 1980s (not that there's anything wrong with that :-)

You can view a pdf version of the original questionnaire, with Miers' own signature on it, here.

PS Please link to this post and NOT the document directly - I will change the address of the document in a few hours, so don't go stealing my bandwidth :-) Read the rest of this post...

AP: Another Indictment against DeLay

This time it's for money laundering:

A Texas grand jury indicted Rep. Tom DeLay on a new charge of money laundering Monday, less than a week after another grand jury leveled a conspiracy charge that forced DeLay to temporarily step down as House majority leader.

Read the rest of this post...

More conservative angst over Bush's nomination of Harriet

Tell me this doesn't put a smile on your face.

From the National Review's blog:

“DEPLORABLE” [Rich Lowry ]
Just talked to a very pro-Bush legal type who says he is ashamed and embarrassed this morning. Says Miers was with an undistinguished law firm; never practiced constitutional law; never argued any big cases; never was on law review; has never written on any of the important legal issues. Says she's not even second rate, but is third rate. Dozens and dozens of women would have been better qualified. Says a crony at FEMA is one thing, but on the high court is something else entirely. Her long history of activity with ABA is not encouraging from a conservative perspective--few conservatives would spend their time that way. In short, he says the pick is “deplorable.” There may be an element of venting here, but thought I'd pass along for what it's worth. It's certainly indicative of the mood right now...

Read the rest of this post...

Confidential OSD Report: Military Planning "Disastrous"

A confidential Rumsfeld Office of Secretary of Defense report post-Katrina reports even FOUR years after 9/11 we're still beyond screwed. Inadequate military planning has plagued every single major operation in the Bush administration. From The Independent:

Relief efforts to combat Hurricane Katrina suffered near catastrophic failures due to endemic corruption, divisions within the military and troop shortages caused by the Iraq war, an official American inquiry into the disaster has revealed.
...
The report was commissioned by the Office of Secretary of Defence as an "independent and critical review" of what went so wrong. In a hard-hitting analysis, it says: "The US military has long planned for war on two fronts. This is as close as we have come to [that] reality since the Second World War; the results have been disastrous."
...
The report concludes: "The one thing this disaster has demonstrated [is] the lack of coordinated, in-depth planning and training on all levels of Government, for any/all types of emergency contingencies. 9/11 was an exception because the geographical area was small and contained, but these two hurricanes have clearly demonstrated a national response weakness ... Failure to plan, and train properly has plagued US efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq and now that failure has come home to roost in the United States."

Planning is about leadership. It's about seeing potential problems in the future and taking actions to either prevent or plan for them. That costs money. Evil "big government" money.

Let me say this about 9/11. What success are we all talking about? We're talking about the response of the local governments on the ground in New York. George Bush and the Federal government didn't handle New York after 9/11, New Yorkers did.

9/11 went the way it did because liberal, "big government" cities and states in the Northeast spend the money required to conduct affairs of government. Sure, 9/11 wasn't perfect, but that was entirely a state and local response. When the Feds get involved in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Katrina, it's not a question of perfect, it's a question of competence. Read the rest of this post...

For a great laugh, read this

So that's what Ken Mehlman's been up to...

A Radar columnist dresses up in International Male garb and wanders around NYC. The article is absolutely hysterical, it's from their print magazine but is online too.

Read it:

"For almost 30 years a curious clothing catalog has sold ruffled pirate shirts, pink sleeveless suits, and sequined black capes to a seemingly invisible public. What’s it like to go through life in a mesh top? Andrew Goldman treks from the stands at Yankee Stadium to the banquettes at the Four Seasons to investigate life as the ultimate fashion victim....

"With a huge knot in the pit of my stomach I steel myself and walk through the doors of Giorgio Armani’s Madison Avenue store. From a back corner a mysterious hooting wail pierces the sleek Italian silence...."

Read the rest of this post...

Just FYI, I should be on NPR Tuesday morning

Morning Edition is doing a segment on the bloggers' response to the Harriet Miers nomination Tuesday morning. They've asked that I not scoop them on the substance of the segment - but they'll have conservative and liberal bloggers (i.e., me) represented. The segment is currently slated to run at 7:15, 8:15 and 9:15AM Eastern time. Tune in or be very uncool. Read the rest of this post...

Kristol: Bush flinched

And for all these years, the right wingers acted like he was unflinching:

"It is very hard to avoid the conclusion that President Bush flinched from a fight on constitutional philosophy. Miers is undoubtedly a decent and competent person. But her selection will unavoidably be judged as reflecting a combination of cronyism and capitulation on the part of the president," said William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard magazine.

They can be so bitchy, those conservatives. Read the rest of this post...

I think Markos is right

At first blush, this is my take as well:

Several Democrats, including Reid, have already come out praising Miers, which ultimately will only fuel the right-wing meltdown on the decision.

I reserve the right to change my mind, but Miers' biggest sin, at this early juncture, is her allegiance to Bush. That her appointment is an act of cronyism is without a doubt, but if that's the price of admission to another Souter or moderate justice, I'm willing to pay it.

More immediately, this is the sort of pick that can have real-world repercussions in 2006, with a demoralized Republican Right refusing to do the heavy lifting needed to stem big losses. That Bush went this route rather than throwing his base the red meat they craved is nothing less than a sign of weakness. For whatever reason, Rove and Co. decided they weren't in position to wage a filibuster fight with Democrats on a Supreme Court justice and instead sold out their base.

We'll have several months to pick through Miers' record, as well as highlight her role in any number of Bush scandals (like Georgia10 notes).

But my early sense is that this is already a victory -- both politically and judicially -- for Democrats. In fact, it should be great fun watching conservatives go after Bush. He may actually break that 39-40 floor in the polls, given he's just pissed off the very people who have propped up his failed presideny.

Read the rest of this post...

Ken Mehlman and RNC say Harriet Miers is another Sandra Day O'Connor

Justice O'Connor? You mean that "liberal" Justice O'Connor who all the conservatives hate?

What are you, gay?

Ms. Miers is the third woman to be nominated for the Supreme Court, and like Justice O'Connor is a legal trailblazer.

Read the rest of this post...

Lunchtime Open Thread

To celebrate his new Supreme Court nominee, may we suggest the President keep it real and serve a...

Chicks Dig It

Scale ingredients to servings
1 1/2 oz vodka
1 oz triple sec
3/4 oz peach schnapps
1/2 glass cranberry juice
fill with ginger ale

Pour into an ice-filled glass and shake, or serve up in a cocktail glass.

Open thread away! Read the rest of this post...

The conservative bloggers are not happy

From Powerlineblog:

A Disappointment

Harriet Miers, that is. I'm sure that she is a capable lawyer and a loyal aide to President Bush. But the bottom line is that he had a number of great candidates to choose from, and instead of picking one of them--Luttig, McConnell, Brown, or a number of others--he nominated someone whose only obvious qualification is her relationship with him....

PAUL concurs: This nominee is a two-fer -- she would not have been selected but for her gender, and she would not have been selected but for her status as a Bush crony. So instead of a 50-year old conservative experienced jurist we get a 60-year old with no judicial experience who may or may not be conservative.

I was hoping that, because this is Bush's second term, he would thumb his nose at the diversity-mongers and appoint the best candidate. He thumbed his nose all right, but at conservatives.

Read the rest of this post...

No, not THAT Exodus

UPDATE: The Human Rights Campaign says she definitely was with a different Exodus:

During the announcement, President Bush referenced Miers' affiliation with Exodus Ministry. This is not the so called "ex-gay" group, but is "a non-denominational Christian organization established to assist ex-offenders and their families become productive members of society by meeting both their spiritual and physical needs." (http://www.exodusministriesinc.com/)

More here, and here. Read the rest of this post...

Miers Gave $1,000 to Gore and DNC in '88 Primary

Uh oh, looks like Ms. Miers liked Al Gore in '88! And who else was running in '88? Why that would be Bush's father. She didn't give any money to him. Interesting. She also gave $1,000 to the DNC in '88.

She's donated only to Republicans since. Here's her DNC donation:

DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE (D) $1,000 primary 11/03/88

And here's her Al Gore donation:

ALBERT GORE JR FOR PRESIDENT COMMITTEE INC $1,000 primary 02/16/88

No need to cheer, this is the same woman who said that the President was one of the most brilliant people she's ever met. An interesting observation none the less. Read the rest of this post...

Miers said Bush was the most brilliant man she ever met

Miers' maiden name was Nell.

In the White House that hero worshipped the president, Miers was distinguished by the intensity of her zeal: She once told me that the president was the most brilliant man she had ever met.

Read the rest of this post...

Initial Reaction to Miers

The one pervasive comment among commentators was that she pulled a Cheney. Miers was in charge of the search process, and like Dick, ended up getting picked herself. Not a lot of feedback yet, (too early on Monday, I guess) but there was an AP comment from Schumer:

"We know even less about Harriet Miers than we did about John Roberts and because this is the critical swing seat on the court, Americans will need to know a lot more about Mier's judicial philosophy and legal background before any vote for confirmation," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Read the rest of this post...

Harriet Miers Open Thread

Just exactly who the hell is Harriet Miers?

Here's a link to the White House bio.

Thoughts on this nomination.... Read the rest of this post...

Blair and his spotty human rights record

No wonder he's such good friends with Bush with a record like this.

More than 100 findings have been lodged against Britain to which the Government has not adequately responded, five years after Tony Blair said he had fulfilled his promise to "bring rights home" by implementing the Human Rights Act.

The committee is particularly concerned about 15 judgements against Britain that have not been properly addressed by the Government and are more than five years old.

Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, said: "The Human Rights Act is under attack as it has never been before. Not only do we have various Conservative pledges to do away with the legislation, but its own parent, the Labour party, is making veiled threats of derogations and abolition. This is a far cry from the words of Tony Blair, who once said that Labour's greatest achievements would be its commitment to an ethical foreign policy and the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights."

Read the rest of this post...

So who is Harriet Miers?

From the Washington Post:

Born and raised in Dallas, Miers, 59, is a graduate of Southern Methodist University, where she majored in mathematics. She went on to law school at SMU, earning her law degree in 1970 and going on to clerk for a federal judge in Dallas. In an era when there were few female lawyers, Miers set out for the top.

According to published reports, she was the first woman hired by Locke Purnell Boren Laney & Neely, a Dallas firm whose history extends to the 1890s. She went on to become a top commercial litigator whose clients included Microsoft and the Walt Disney Co.

Miers, who is not married and does not have children, was active in professional organizations and eventually was elected head of the Dallas and Texas bar associations, where she was known for encouraging members to do pro bono work.
...
Miers met Bush in the 1980s, and was drafted to work as counsel for his 1994 gubernatorial campaign. In 1995, he appointed her to the Texas Lottery Commission. After working as a lawyer in Bush's presidential campaign, she came to Washington with him in 2001.

"I remember seeing him in her office many years ago, before he was governor, before he was running for anything," Clements said. "So it's been a long relationship and a very loyal relationship. She really is one of those people that the practice of law and all things associated with that really has been her life."

What does she think? In her prior job as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, Miers did a Q&A; with the public, judge for yourself here. Thanks to NorskBamse in the comments for the heads up on the White House info. Read the rest of this post...

Bush to name Harriet Miers as next Sup. Court nominee at 8 AM EST

David Gregory on NBC just confirmed that the next Supreme Court nominee will be Harriet Miers, the White House Counsel... Read the rest of this post...

Late night open thread

I'm back from Austin which is a great city. I went for a wedding (which was actually more like a fun political event.) There are some very cool, unabashed liberals in that town. Last night, we went to a fundraiser for the Texas Freedom Network which was very inspiring.

Anyway, this week could be interesting... Read the rest of this post...