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Trust Bush: He's Conservative Alright

By Steve Stakem
 

George W. Bush was elected to a first and second term as U.S. President by a conservative base. There should be no argument there. One of the main reasons he was elected was his promise to appoint conservative, constitutionalist judges who would not 'legislate from the bench.'

In the nomination of Harriet Miers to replace Sandra Day O'Connor as associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, the president says 'trust me' and tells his base to take a 'wait and see' approach to his well-thought-through choice.

Unfortunately, there isn't much of a reason to blindly trust the president when he has failed conservatism time and again since he first took the oath of office.  Disagree? Well let's examine this assertion briefly.

The United States is being overrun by illegal aliens. (It's OK though, they are all here to find work, we're told, so it's OK for them to break the law.) Four years after 9-11 and our border is still porous as ever. Although it was on the conservative agenda beforehand, the terrorist attacks on this country gave the president a silver platter with which to serve up border enforcement policy and to arrest and deport illegals. Instead, he has served nothing but amnesty talk and encouraged the tide of illegals, and would-be terrorists, entering and trying to enter the U.S.

Needless to say, the above is not the work of a conservative.

On spending cuts, Bush 43 has failed miserably. Not once has he broken out the veto pen in an effort to reign in the blatant fiscal ineptitude of Congress. As every second passes, money is flushed down the toilet in a black hole of bureaucracy, red tape and waste. The federal bureaucracy has expanded under Bush and continues to be a mind blowing waste of U.S. taxpayer funds.

In signing the 'Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act' pushed by liberal senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Russ Feingold (D-WI), Bush broke a campaign promise and struck down political speech the First Amendment explicitly protects.

Still aren't convinced Bush isn't worth the 'trust'? Social Security is a 'trust fund' and still remains the worst debacle of a Ponzi scheme this nation has ever seen. Reforms have been promised across the board, but the Bush-led GOP fails to act. And don't expect anything soon with an election year on the horizon. Congress is more worried about their incumbency than about fixing a program that's bankrupting America.

Enough has been said, but some might say, 'we did get tax cuts.' Tax cuts, cax tuts. Big Deal. Tax rates are still too high despite the measly tax cut package signed into law. Call for more tax cuts then maybe the GOP-led Congress (more self-proclaimed conservatives) will lead the way and finally shrink the size and reach of government.

Like immigration reform, controlled spending, limited government, free speech in the political process, and Social Security reform, the nomination of qualified and competent judges to the Federal Bench is at the core of conservative objectives. What that means is conservatives desire to appoint judges who read the Constitution as prose, comprehend it and enforce it. Liberals, on the other hand, desire to appoint judges who read it as a poem and interpret it to find something that isn't there, i.e. to legislate from the bench.

We don't know where Harriet Miers stands. Her lack of a judicial track record keeps us in the dark. Therefore, there is every reason to believe she may end up as disappointing as David Souter, Bush 41's ruined pick. You know, like father, like son.

To his credit, Bush has done a decent job of trying to fill the Judiciary with constitutionalist judges. However, with that said, there is no reason to just turn around and 'trust' the president with the highest court in the land, and our constitutional values, just because he thinks he knows better. It's time to promote one of those qualified, constitutionalist judges, not time to give us Harriet Miers and sell the base short.

Bush is squandering another silver platter opportunity to serve a constitutional fight in a GOP-led U.S. Senate. When a bunch of Democrat senators is so willingly approving of a 'conservative' president's pick for the High Court, that in itself is reason not to 'trust' that president's pick.

Withdraw the nomination of Harriet Miers, admit the mistake, and appoint a visible constitutional constructionist to the court. Let the Dems scream, holler and show America again just how much they oppose that Constitution they swore to uphold, and how important the Judiciary is to legislating their socialist agenda.

Steve Stakem is Founder and Managing Editor of TheOrator Network.

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