Because I'm something of a rarity in New York City - a woman
who is a pro-life columnist - I've been getting a lot of e-mail
asking for my opinion of the nomination of Harriet Miers to the
Supreme Court. My answer has been considered unsatisfactory, but
it's an honest one: I am withholding my opinion because I simply
have not honed an ability to read someone's mind. That has not
prevented many right-wing pundits, such as George Will and
Patrick Buchanan, from weighing in negatively on the president's
pick.
It seems to me, however, that they are all doing exactly what we
criticize the liberal pundits for: jumping the gun to make a
deadline. I'm all for mounting a battle for conservative
principles, but wouldn't it be wiser to wait until we're sure
they're in imminent danger?
One would think that after the cruel vetting of Miguel Estrada by
rabid-dog senators, these gladiators on the right would be
predisposed to uniting behind the president they supported last
year. Senator Schumer, along with Senators Leahy and Kennedy, has
been ignoring the president's right to select his Supreme Court
nominee. Now conservatives are doing the exact same thing. The
Republicans gave the ACLU's counsel, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a pass
because they acknowledged President Clinton's right to select his
Supreme Court justices. It's appalling that they are showing less
respect for President Bush.
Mr. Buchanan, who has never gotten over his failed presidential
bid, wrote in a recent editorial that Mr. Bush's aides "are
now demanding that Republican Senators and conservatives rally
around their president. They should not. They should tell the
president, respectfully, that, though he went with Harry Reid,
they will stay with their convictions."
Ha! The moderate Republican senators have been abdicating their
GOP principles from the beginning of Mr. Bush's presidency, yet
now they're being exhorted to obey the will of Mr. Buchanan, who
insists that Ms. Miers is unqualified to sit on the Supreme
Court. Mr. Buchanan, a legend in his own mind, once felt that a
newspaper columnist was fit for the most important job in the
country, so his opinion warrants dubious attention.
Well, I'm just an opinion writer, and I base my editorials on
personal experience and interviews of individuals directly
involved with the issues. The reality is that the hard-right
conservatives were hoping Mr. Bush would courageously nominate
someone like Janice Rodgers Brown, whom they all feel would be
leading the battle to dismantle Roe v. Wade.
This is a very volatile, emotional issue that is extremely
complex, and before anyone enters that fray, caution should be
exercised. It is not yet time for heated statements. Some of Mr.
Bush's critics, like Mr. Buchanan, claim to be Catholic, and it
would be the humble thing to do to touch base with their pastors
before blowing off steam.
When it comes to right-to-life issues, my sources are the clergy
at Priests for Life, a Staten Island-based organization founded
by its director, the Reverend Frank Pavone, whose prime objective
is the protection of innocent life, born and unborn.
The good fathers have shown more sense than the president's
critics. Instead of accusing the president of betraying his base,
they have placed faith in his decision. In a press release, Rev.
Pavone said: "Our prayers are with Harriet Miers this
morning as she begins this important process. We trust the
President's judgment and his determination to fulfill his
promises about the kind of Justices he wants to see on the
Court."
Rev. Pavone is considered by Norma "Jane Roe" McCorvey
to be the catalyst that brought her into the Catholic Church. He
also apparently knows more about the Constitution then our own
Senator Schumer.
His press release reads: "The demand that some make for
preserving the current ideological balance on the Court, or for
more 'mainstream' nominees, is ridiculous. Do we have a more
'mainstream' Constitution in some generations but not in others?
Or do they think it is up to the Justices to re-write the
Constitution?"
It's understandable that Mr. Schumer, a Democrat, is in attack
mode against Mr. Bush's choices. The Democrats are mounting their
battle under the mantle of protecting a woman's right to
terminate her pregnancy. After all, they owe a lot of their
financial support to abortion rights advocates. However, the hue
and cry on the Miers nomination by the intellectual elite of the
right wing shows that their egos have clouded their judgment and
made them impatient. If Ms. Miers is unqualified for the Supreme
Court, the confirmation hearings will expose her shortcomings.
The extreme right-wing base may feel that Mr. Bush betrayed them,
but I think that, sadly, the opposite is true.