"PLAYING THE RELIGION CARD BACKFIRES ON BUSH
By Bill Press
Tribune Media Services
Every once in a while, the wisdom of the Founding Fathers shines through. You can't mix religion with politics without getting burned. So President Bush learned when he tried to justify his nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court on the basis of her personal religion.
"Are all Evangelical Christians disqualified from consideration for the Supreme Court because of their religious beliefs?" an e-mailer asked in response to my last column on the Miers nomination. Obviously, that reader has it backwards - and so does President Bush.
No, of course not. It doesn't matter whether the nominee is Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Protestant or Catholic. Religious beliefs do not disqualify anyone from consideration for the Supreme Court. But religious beliefs do not automatically qualify anyone for the Supreme Court, either. Which is exactly the argument President Bush is making for Harriet Miers.
At first, Bush tried to sell his surprising pick of Miers by presenting her as his bosom buddy. You may not know her, Bush insisted, but don't worry. I know her. Trust me.
That strategy bombed. Big time. What Bush doesn't understand is that, at this point in his presidency, nobody trusts him about anything. Not even Bush's loyal supporters trust him about a totally unknown conservative - especially when there are so many well-known, proven conservatives standing in line.
His first strategy having failed, Bush decided to play the religion card - which was a complete reversal. Last month, the White House vigorously protested anyone's raising the question of John Roberts's Catholicism. "His personal beliefs play no role whatsoever in his consideration for the Supreme Court," preached White House Spokesman Scott McClellan. That was then, this is now.
Two days before announcing his selection of Miers, Bush told chief flunky Karl Rove to place a phone call to Dr. James Dobson, head of the American Taliban. In that confidential conversation, Dobson later told the world, Rove told him he could trust Miers because she is "an Evangelical Christian" and because she belongs to "a very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life." In other words, Rove told Dobson: You and other religious conservatives should support Miers simply because she, like the president, is born-again. "
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By Bill Press
Tribune Media Services
Every once in a while, the wisdom of the Founding Fathers shines through. You can't mix religion with politics without getting burned. So President Bush learned when he tried to justify his nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court on the basis of her personal religion.
"Are all Evangelical Christians disqualified from consideration for the Supreme Court because of their religious beliefs?" an e-mailer asked in response to my last column on the Miers nomination. Obviously, that reader has it backwards - and so does President Bush.
No, of course not. It doesn't matter whether the nominee is Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Protestant or Catholic. Religious beliefs do not disqualify anyone from consideration for the Supreme Court. But religious beliefs do not automatically qualify anyone for the Supreme Court, either. Which is exactly the argument President Bush is making for Harriet Miers.
At first, Bush tried to sell his surprising pick of Miers by presenting her as his bosom buddy. You may not know her, Bush insisted, but don't worry. I know her. Trust me.
That strategy bombed. Big time. What Bush doesn't understand is that, at this point in his presidency, nobody trusts him about anything. Not even Bush's loyal supporters trust him about a totally unknown conservative - especially when there are so many well-known, proven conservatives standing in line.
His first strategy having failed, Bush decided to play the religion card - which was a complete reversal. Last month, the White House vigorously protested anyone's raising the question of John Roberts's Catholicism. "His personal beliefs play no role whatsoever in his consideration for the Supreme Court," preached White House Spokesman Scott McClellan. That was then, this is now.
Two days before announcing his selection of Miers, Bush told chief flunky Karl Rove to place a phone call to Dr. James Dobson, head of the American Taliban. In that confidential conversation, Dobson later told the world, Rove told him he could trust Miers because she is "an Evangelical Christian" and because she belongs to "a very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life." In other words, Rove told Dobson: You and other religious conservatives should support Miers simply because she, like the president, is born-again. "
Link...
posted by A. J. Franklin @ 23:08
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