southchild

In today’s National Review Online, Mark Levin has an excellent article on why, with respect to the upcoming Supreme Court nominations, President Bush had damned well better listen to his conservative base instead of the bunch of liberal back-stabbers he inexplicably continues to befriend. This issue is just too important, and any capitulation to the left for a so-called “moderate” nominee will be a disaster.

I know this. Levin knows this. Every conservative I know understands this. But, does George W. Bush get it? He’d better. Levin writes,

What’s wrong with this picture? President Bush was quick to slap his conservative base, yet he has shown an inexhaustible supply of sensitivity to those who plot to derail his presidency. Early on, the president was solicitous of Senator Ted Kennedy, inviting him to the White House residence to watch a movie and share popcorn. He even named the main Department of Justice building after Robert Kennedy. In return, Kennedy has never missed an opportunity to stick a knife between the president’s ribs.

The president named Bill Clinton, along with his father, to head-up the tsunami-relief effort. Bush 41 has taken the relationship a step further, hosting Clinton at his summer home in Maine, among other things. President Bush even brought Clinton along to attend Pope John Paul II’s funeral. And in return, Clinton has traveled the world undermining the president in public statements. So, too, have Hillary Clinton and numerous former Clinton administration officials.
…
President Bush is at an historic crossroads. His supporters — who defended him through the 2000 election court battle, the attacks on his cabinet members, the attempts to undermine the war effort at home, and, yes, the blocking of his appellate-court nominees — deserve better. It’s one thing to be demeaned by the liberal media, the Democratic party, and the Inside the Beltway crowd. But it’s another thing entirely for the president himself to treat his base like the crazy aunt in the attic when legitimate concerns are raised about something so important as the next Supreme Court nominee.

Inside the beltway, life is a bizarre and twisted imitation of reality where schmoozing with your enemies and honoring such abstracts as “Senate tradition and decorum” become more important than standing up for what you believe. President Bush, please don’t fall for this beltway noose. Do what you were elected to do without apology to or consideration of the leftists who LOST the election. As Levin concludes,

I understand why Democratic presidents aren’t sensitive to the conservative base, but not President Bush. The Supreme Court is out of control and President Bush has the chance to do something about it. And, indeed, he promised to do something about it — i.e., appoint justices who share the judicial philosophies of Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. So, of course, the president’s base is nervous when he embraces his adversaries and takes swipes at his friends.

And if political calculations are part of the process, as they undoubtedly they (sic) are, surely the White House must know that nothing will be more dispiriting and debilitating to the Republican base then (sic) yet another fumbled Supreme Court appointment. The consequences to the Republican party and the nation could be devastating. President Bush — please listen to your supporters, not Harry Reid.

Well worth the read.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 13th, 2005 at 5:04 pm and is filed under General, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.