[« From the Conservative Wish List...] [More Fun with Miers and Litmus Testing »]
10/18/2005: Another GEM on Miers...
"...The theology that Miers represents can hardly be called progressive. It is one that entails all sorts of conservative political positions and says something about the believer. For instance, when Rove offered his oral wink to Dobson, was he saying that Miers is opposed to stem cell research and abortion under (almost) any circumstance? Was he saying that she opposes the teaching of evolution in the public schools or ``balancing'' it with ``intelligent design"? Was Rove telling Dobson that Miers thinks this is a Christian nation, that religious symbols can be and ought to be in the schools or other public places? Can the government fund churches? Can military chaplains proselytize the unchurched? Should gays be ``reprogrammed'' and should the government recommend abstinence-only as a way to avoid teenage pregnancy? These are all positions taken by many fundamentalist religious leaders. Are they Miers'? Is anyone going to ask?
This is dicey stuff and it crosses a line that probably should not be crossed. But the president has stupidly opened a Pandora's box -- and all sorts of ugly questions may pop out. Can Miers set her beliefs aside? Will the law take precedence? When it comes time to argue a case, will she simply say ``I believe what I believe -- and that's all there is to it.'' I kind of doubt it, but I would like to be reassured. Bush has done his nominee no favor -- especially to suggest that one closed mind has recommended another."
-- Richard Cohen: Miers: Faithful to Whom?.
As a note, I tend to enjoy Richard Cohen's pieces, so I'm going to "forgive and forget" his totally boneheaded piece from last week on the Plame matter. But he does offer this "clarification":"A number of readers, some of them formerly of the CIA, got the impression from my last column that I don't consider the outing of a covert employee a serious matter. I do."
Karen on 10.18.05 @ 07:58 AM CST
