Because Harriet Miers has him about to jump:
If you need me this morning, I’ll be out on the window ledge. Because it is becoming clearer and clearer that we are headed towards the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice who has no idea what the Constitution says.
Sexist elitist pig.
TallDave
It’s pretty clear that Bush was trying to avoid a fight, and appointed someone who is not particularly qualified. My guess is she will not survive the hearings.
I do have to wonder how hard lefties will be kicking themselves if she’s withdrawn and Janice Rogers Brown is nominated.
TallDave
Here’s the link in text, since the site seems to be chewing the a tags.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/703440.stm
TallDave
oops wrong thread
Tim F
NP. Two up, two down.
Tim F
We haven’t had a Drownie thread in awhile. You know what I’m thinking? Yes, you know what I’m thinking. Drownie time!
Davebo
TallDave
Well, I like my chances. Withdraw Miers amid disgust from all sides and nominate whomever he pleases.
Then try to push them through the senate with the 1/3 of his staff not under indictment and approval ratings that would make Nixon laugh.
Bring it on
Jack Roy
Speaking as an American who doesn’t want to flee this country when it burns the ground, this story makes me sad. Why do you link to things that make me sad, John Cole?
Speaking as a lefty, if you Janice Rogers Brown to be nominated, bring it on. Just what the Democratic party needs in advance of midterms, is all the moderate voters in the country to be saying, “Wait, Republicans think like that?”
Lines
Why is there such a high belief that Miers will be confirmed?
Vladi G
Reid to President Bush: PWN3D!!
Jack Roy
Vladi G—
Pawned? What the hell does that mean?
Tim F
It’s compu-geek-speak for ‘owned.’ The ‘p’ comes from a variation, ‘kerPOWned,’ which added emphasis. The number 3 looks like the letter E in reverse. As in, ‘l337’ for LEET.
Mr Furious
Yeah, I need help with that one too.
Mr Furious
Tim F-
That didn’t help at all.
demimondian
PWN3D (or even PWNDZ3R4ted) means “owned”, as in, “I OWN your box, biatch” — l33t speak for “I’ve just taken over your box from outside, so there.” In more modern parlance, it’s “I just killed you/beat you soundly/otherwise had fun at your expense in a video game.”
(What can I say? I have teenagers.)
Mr Furious
I just wasted a half an hour at Patterico’s site [via The Crank or Insta or someone…].
Pure schadenfreude for me.
[It was my first time reading him, and he’s actually a pretty good writer.]
Vladi G
It means owned in l33t speak.
Reid recommended Miers, and something in me says he did it because he knew if Bush was stupid enough to nominate her, it would blow up in their faces. If you prefer “Punk’d”, that’s fine too.
Krista
demimondian – oh dear god. I’m impressed at your mastery of the lingo. I’m going to be so utterly lost when the day comes that I have teenagers. (Mind you, I’ll probably be doddering and half-senile by the time I get to that point, so I suppose it won’t matter.)
Mr Furious
Thanks, demimondian. Now if I just knew what the hell your name meant…
In the right ballpark?
demimondian
Don’t be. The eldest and I don’t see eye-to-eye politically, and he likes to send me snide emails. Gotta be able to defend myself somehow — I sure can’t win the video games any more…
Geek, Esq.
We were due for a Warren Burger-type of Justice.
Jack Roy
Vladi, Demi and Tim—
Umm… thank you? I think? for the explanation. And I think I may have just lost my faith in God.
Sheesh, kids these days. In my day, we taunted our classmates like “Thus have I boxed you ’round the ears, scalawag,” and we were perfectly happy.
demimondian
We were due for a Warren Burger-type of Justice.ROTFL.
That is the best snark since DougJ referred to Anon os Onan.
demimondian
And here I thought people were puzzled by what I wrote, not my nick.
You’ve nailed half of the basis of my nick. The other half is that I work for a large software corporation based in the pacific northwest, the emplyees of which are often referred to as “Redmondians” in the technology press. I sold out some of my ideals to come work here, which makes me, in my own eyes, an intellectual whore.
John S.
Demimondian-
I believe you just redefined the essence of the question “What’s in a name?”.
Excellent and soul-bearing stuff there, my friend.
Sojourner
It won’t be just Dems who will suffer if Brown is confirmed. The woman is f’ing insane.
yet another jeff
My first thought was the PAWNED meant “owned, but held in low esteem and pawned for beer money”. In that sense, much more insulting than OWNED.
Bush picked her because the conservative elites said he couldn’t pick Gonzo. He just doesn’t give a damn as long as he gets his way.
Krista
Then you’ve done an excellent job as a parent, if the kid actually has political thoughts and the wherewithal to express them.
I thought I was doing so well keeping up with the slang…I’m still being dragged kicking and screaming into adulthood, so it’s disheartening to find out that I’m completely and utterly out of the loop. Do me a favour, though…if I ever descend to the point of polyester slacks and sweatshirts with kittens on them, someone take pity on me and shoot me, okay?
SeesThroughIt
Bwah! Hey, I used to work for a video-game magazine; the l33t-speak letters we used to get were just plain astounding. Around the office, our favorite exclamation was “OMG111” But you had to actually say it that way: oh-em-gee-one-one-one.
demimondian
The last time the eldest taunted me electronically, he put in a quote from me, and then said..
OMGWTF!!!111ONE-ONE-ONE
I got the message
Pug
It won’t be just Dems who will suffer if Brown is confirmed. The woman is f’ing insane.
The Right wants her bad. They are just itching for a fight with the evil liberals. They think she splits the liberals into all kind of factions. Could be right, I guess.
Clarence Thomas and Janice Rogers Brown as the two blacks on the Supreme Court. They just love that in-your-face stuff. If Bush had nominated her, he would be a legendary hero forever with the right-wing.
DecidedFenceSitter
Generally, if my friends and I are snarking the leet speakers it’s OMG!!!oneone!!!elevenoneone!!!!
Kimmitt
It’s a gaming subculture thing which has metastasized into teen culture, so it’s kind of obscure.
Sojourner
Nope. The libs learned an important lesson from Clarence Thomas – never again. Being African American is not enough.
RA
Riiggght! And those seven baby killing pricks who gave us Roe know what the constitution is all about!?? Miers is far more knowledgable and honest than the gang of seven or Ruth Bader Godzilla, Sutter, O’Conner or Kennedy.
Andrei
Sheesh.. Geezers all of you.
PWNED does indeed mean “owned” as in “I just kicked your ass, bitch.” But the “p” comes from gamers constantly hitting “p” instead “o,” which are right next to each other on the keyboard, in the heat of battle.
If you really want l33t speak, you can also say OMGWTFPNWEDBBQ. Which basically means you been faced in the worst possible way imaginable.
Lines
Someone sounds like they need a nap
Rome Again
I hope you’ll be just as upset when we have an influx of human children suffering on the street because their parents weren’t ready to raise them.
Abortion is not something anyone cheers about, but it is a solution to the problem of unwanted pregnancy. If you really cared about unwanted pregnancy, then why not write your congressmen and tell them that birth control products would make many abortions obsolete. But, see, we liberals already realize that not only do you conservatives not want abortion, you want no birth control either. Abstinence is not a reasonable solution, it never was, it never will be. If you can’t get serious enough to at least allow birth control to those who will not remain abstinent, then you will be responsible for the wails of suffering that come from those unwanted children on the street.
Live with it.
Pug
And those seven baby killing pricks who gave us Roe know what the constitution is all about!??
Uh oh. “Baby killer” has been introduced into the conversation.
Abandon ship!
yet another jeff
Heh, baby killing pricks…and Ruth Bader Godzilla! Ah, that’s some quality paranoia there. Mmm.
Oh, and Andrei…I haven’t heard the term “faced” in years! Thanks for the reminder.
SeesThroughIt
Me either, though I thought its meaning had been changed to mean drunk, as in short for “shitfaced.”
rilkefan
“approval ratings that would make Nixon laugh.”
Nixon’s not laughing at Bush yet.
jg
Is today over yet? This day has sucked so far.
srv
Damn. It’s probably too late to drive down to LA and scream for him to jump. I wonder what sound a republican blogger makes when he hits concrete.
yet another jeff
I believe the sound is sort of a thud-squish. I mean, it’s not like a tree falling in the woods with no one around.
Steve S
Yeah, Janice Rogers Brown is the classic definition of an extremist.
She started off a Maoist Communist, and now adheres to kind of a Nazi Fascism ideology. But that’s not the type of person you can depend on. She could just as easily flip out and start speaking Klingon on the bench.
Krista
Ah, that’ll do it. The last time I was heavily involved in a game was when FFVII came out…
John S.
You’re showing your age, Krista.
Boy, was that a great game though…
^_^
Krista
Wasn’t it, though? Took me 52 hours to finish it. I don’t know how I could be showing my age, though…I could have been 15 or 55 when I played that, hm?
jg
WTH is FFVII?
Krista
jg – Final Fantasy VII – it’s a role-playing game, made primarily for the Playstation. It had a really interesting story line, some phenomenal graphics, and some really challenging fight sequences.
John S.
That is true. I know a guy who is 52, and still an avid video game player.
The video game Final Fantasy Seven.
Krista
John S. – your assumption was probably right, though. I’m 30.
jg
As soon as I posted it I figured it out. Never played that game but I did see the movie.
TallDave
Well, all of the last 7 Presidents had approval ratings lower than Bush right now, no one has been indicted yet, and Brown will be have to filibustered to stop her nomination. That will be fun! I was really disappointed when Bush nominated someone so unworthy of a big fight. I love seeing the Left and Right go at it.
Oh, and the governors of Arizona and Florida just came out and said “Gee, the federal response was just fine when we had problems.” They seem to imply the problems originated with local incompetence.
jg
They didn’t imply that but that didn’t stop you from inferring it. No one is saying there was no blame at the local level. However since in Katrina’s case there was very little remaining of the local level its wrong to put all blame on them IMO.
rilkefan
“Well, all of the last 7 Presidents had approval ratings lower than Bush right now”
Consider this graph.
rilkefan
“Florida”
Thanks for the laugh, TallDave.
John S.
I am surprised that
the Governor of Floridabrother of the President just came out and said “Gee,the federal responsemy brother was just fine when we had problems.”Just shocked, I tell you.
There are other legitimate reasons why Florida fared better than New Orleans, and I assure you that geography has more to do with it than local incompetence.
rilkefan
“I assure you that geography”
You mean demography.
John S.
Uh, no. I said geography because I meant the ‘study of the earth and its features and of the distribution of life on the earth, including human life and the effects of human activity’.
Although I’m sure ‘the characteristics of human populations, such as size, growth, density, distribution, and vital statistics’ certainly played a factor, geography wins out in the end.
rilkefan
I’d argue that the higher standard of living, the larger electoral count, and the even D/R split are more important, but probably that depends on what one’s measuring.
Otto Man
I can’t stop laughing over Tall Dave’s assertion that since Jeb Bush thought the federal response was so good, then that settles things. Christ, that’s funny.
Speaking of the Florida responses last year, they are instructive since they show what the federal government can do when it puts its mind to it. From the current issue of the Atlantic:
Too bad for Louisiana and Mississippi it wasn’t an election year.
Of course, this article was written by Richard Clarke, so I’m sure that negates everything he has to say, right?
scs
First of all, I doubt that’s true. But it wouldn’t really even matter even if it were true, for the sake of argument. People have judged her from day one before they ever really knew anything of substance about her. They judged her because she had never been a judge and went to a non-Ivy League school and in my opinion, because she wasn’t male, three things which are NOT required to be a Justice. Every one wants mindless consistency I guess, it comforts them. They want the same old boxes checked each time and then they will be comforted that they are making a good decision. Never mind selecting a justice who has had a lifetime of real world experience in managing law firms, town councils, running the bar association, and in the top levels of the White House. And all as a woman in earlier times which certainly adds a little edge to the experience.
Nooooo. They want a dude who has been sitting around in an ivory tower and a circuit court, removed from all real life for his whole career, living as some sort of omnipotent dictator handing down sentences and writing high falluting opinions on them that no average person and most lawyers will ever read. THAT is quality to them! People love group think. Bush should have known better I guess.
CaseyL
scs, I’m not sure what you meant by that.
Do you mean that having little or no understanding of Constitutional issues is acceptable in someone who will have ultimate authority to interpret Constitutional issues?
How would that work, exactly?
Do you pick your doctors on the basis of their not knowing very much about medicine?
Also, you seem to have missed out on the latest depth charges.
In her questionnaire, Miers mentioned the necessity to uphold “proportional representation requirements.” That one alone caused many conservatives’ heads to explode, since “proportional representation requirements” means “quotas,” which are anathema to them.
She’s been asked to show the Judiciary Committee her legalwritings,esp. legal writings associated with constitutional issues. The writings she’s produced show a mediocre mind with a mediocre understanding of constitutional issues.
There’s also some issue about Miers’ capacity for upholding any law, not just Constitutional law. The Texas law firm she so famously headed got into repeated trouble for financial malfeasance:
…oh, and Miers somehow omitted any mention of any of that in her questionnaire, or in any conversations with Senators.
So what we seem to have here is someone who doesn’t have a better-than-average understanding of Constitutional law, someone who doesn’t seem to have any consistent philosophy of law, and someone who doesn’t seem to have very much respect for the law.
A perfect Bush crony, in other words.
But how does that make her a good choice for the SCOTUS?
McMartin
“Sheesh, kids these days. In my day, we taunted our classmates like “Thus have I boxed you ‘round the ears, scalawag,” and we were perfectly happy.”
I feel it necessary to point out that “pwnt” is for when you boxed them SOUNDLY `round the ears.
Tractarian
scs is channeling Roman Hruska
Shygetz
Hey scs, I’m not even a lawyer at all! Can I be a Supreme?
Zifnab
I mean, I’m with SCS on this one. Haven’t we all grown up being told that we can each be President if we just work hard and do our best and live a model American life? Why should this be any different for a Supreme Justice. After reviewing Mier’s record, I can only conclude that she’s done “a hellava job”. I mean, she’s a lawyer and she’s certainly well known by the President and, um… she’s female, which is certainly better than being not female. And… she’s… um… oh! Qualified. Yes, she’s very qualified. Somehow.
I mean, she can’t be worse than Micheal Brown, right? Hell, just stick her next to Roberts and whenever he says something, she can just say “I agree.” That’ll work.
Sister Toldjah
Heh. I just made a jump myself – not off the ledge, but off the undecided fence and am now amongst the “no” crowd on the Miers nomination.
Another Jeff
West Virginia is lucky their game with South Florida got postponed, because WVU was ripe for an upset. (I’m just seeing if John is still alive)
RA
So killing unborn, unwanted children is a solution!? How about killing already born unwanted children. That solves a problem too. Then how about killing unwanted old people. They are just a drag on the family. Also, how about killing unwanted parents who are standing in the way of an earily retirement for all you selfish yuppies. Then we can clean up the streets by killing all the unwanted people who live in gang infested slums. That solves a huge propblem.
I’m in favor of killing people who believe it is justified to kill innocent human life for convenience.
Defense Guy
Dude, that’s a lot of killing. Maybe you should have a glass of milk and a nice nap first.
Shygetz
Shorter RA (on all topics): “Someone must speak for the womb babies!”
Another Jeff
I think RA’s point is that if you abort all black babies, the crime rate would go down.
Shygetz
And RA, you just publically threatened to kill what probably amounts to a billion people or more. Nice job.
docG
RA
A fetus is NOT a child, it is but a potential child. Abortion does not kill a child. My wife and I’s fourth pregnancy sadly ended in spontaneous abortion (miscarriage)15 years ago. (My empty arms still teach me each day about the difference between a child and the potential child that a fetus is.) Does this mean Randall Terry and I should picket the Intelligent Designer?
While I personally think induced abortion is an ugly choice of last resort, I don’t get to tell any woman what to do about a pregnancy. You don’t either, unless you are a woman, and then you are limited to choosing for one woman only.
Defense Guy
It looks like someone else thinks killing is ok. More milk and naps are called for.
John S.
This entire administration thinks killing is ok (as long as it isn’t fetuses). I think more milk and naps are definitely called for, but I’m not sure it will do much good.
Steve S
Republicans believe the right to life begins at conception, and ends at birth.
Defense Guy
Democrats smell of elderberries. It’s all relative really.
Krista
EXACTLY! Spot on! If the pro-life movement could only acknowledge that the vast majority of pro-choicers feel that way, I think it would make the debate a lot more sensitive and productive.
Krista
And now I’m off for milk and a nap.
Actually, a Grolsch and then a hot shower, but it’s still pretty restorative.
John S.
And your mother was a hamster…
SeesThroughIt
This “milk and nap” plan people keep talking about…can the milk be chocolate, and can the nap be of the power variety? If so, it has my full support.
Sojourner
Why do “pro-lifers” love the fetus but don’t care about the child? Because the issue is about sex, not about life.
CaseyL
That’s most of the reason. There’s another, a reason specific to fundies, that doesn’t get much attention, and should.
The apocalyptic branch of fundamentalism – the ones who know, just know the Second Coming is nigh – believe certain conditions must be fulfilled first.
One of those conditions concerns souls. Some fundie sects (Mormonism for sure, possibly others) believe God has already created all the souls for all the humans who will ever be, and that those souls wait their turn to be born into bodies. Armageddon can’t start until everyone’s been born. What happens after birth is irrelevant: the newborn can die immediately or live to a happy old age. The soul, having inhabited a mortal body (even if only for a moment) goes back to Heaven as an adult, a soldier of God ready to take part in the Final Conflict.
So a fetus who doesn’t get born not only deprives a soul of a body, but also delays the End Times. When fundies rant about “40 million murders since Roe!” they’re actually ranting about all those unenlisted Christian soldiers.
Kimmitt
There are two kinds of pro-lifers:
1) Those who are cool with abortion in the case of rape and incest. These folks are all about control of sexuality; “good girls” who didn’t do anything wrong are allowed to take care of business, but “bad girls” who did do something wrong should be forced to deal with consequences. They tend be really into fag-hating, too.
2) Those who are not cool with abortion in the case of rape and incest. These folks are generally good people whose thoughts on morality have backed them into an absurd corner and who are not willing to reexamine their assumptions — or who are so horrified by parental notification laws that they have a visceral reaction to the debate.
SeesThroughIt
Very true, and I have seen some wingers actually slip and be somewhat honest about it, too. Really, despite all their inflamed rhetoric about “right to life” and “culture of life” and all this other bullshit, what they hate is “irresponsible sex” (which, of course, is any premarital sex), so by proxy, they hate abortion, birth control, sex ed, etc. because to them, these things enable and even encourage “irresponsible” sex. So they want the government to tell the citizens how and when they can have sex (and, in the case of homosexuals, with whom they can have sex, the answer being “not the gender you’re attracted to, sorry”). Of course, this is in direct conflict with the alleged conservative value of keeping the government off people’s backs and not wanting a nanny state, but nobody ever accused wingers of being logical.
Also, I agree with Kimmit above.
rilkefan
Leon Kass hating on sex. Well, really hating on love.
Another Jeff
Wow, i consider myself pro-choice, but that has to be about the most idiotic over-simplification that i’ve ever seen.
The Disenfranchised Voter
Not speaking legally about abortion, but speaking morally here.
Abortion is not only justifiable–but completely moral–even in cases of rape, incest, or in which the life of the mother is not threatened. The choice belongs to the individual, since she is the one who has to carry the child for 9 months, and the one whose life is going to be the most affected.
A fetus in the first 22 weeks is not a being unto itself, so therefore abortion is not killing. According to a majority of medical experts, the fetus is not sentient, and therefore, is not self-aware, cannot feel sensation–or pain–before the 22nd week of the pregnancy. The reason for this is because before the 22nd week, the central nervous system is not complete and the fetus is not a self-aware being. Therefore, it is completely moral to have an abortion during this time.
Now, I’m sure there are people who disagree with me, and there are a small number of experts who claim the fetus is self-aware and pain can be felt after the 7th week. However, the vast majority of medical experts claim that pain cannot be felt until at least the 22nd week because the synaptic connections of the central nervous system have not been formed yet.
Since the fetus is not sentient and the fetus cannot feel pain within this period, the decision to terminate the pregnancy is completely moral–regardless of what anyone says.
The Disenfranchised Voter
that was suppose to read “even in case when there is not rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is not in jeopardy.”
Kimmitt
Hey, now. I’m sure you’ve seen oversimplifications far more idiotic than anything I could hope to generate.