Is Bork reading VFR?

Robert Bork published this remarkable comment today, October 19, at (which is not only remarkable but almost unbelievable) the Wall Street Journal:

… George Bush, like his father, is showing himself to be indifferent, if not actively hostile, to conservative values. He appears embittered by conservative opposition to his nomination, which raises the possibility that if Ms. Miers is not confirmed, the next nominee will be even less acceptable to those asking for a restrained court.

The theme that Bush’s real motive in nominating Miers is visceral hostility toward conservatives, and that therefore any reconciliation between Bush and the conservatives is hard to picture, is one I’ve advanced repeatedly over the last week.

On October 13 I wrote:

Picking up the marriage metaphor I used last night but taking it in a more hopeful direction, Peggy Noonan urges the president to admit he was wrong, withdraw the Miers nomination, pick a genuine conservative judge in her stead, and repair his damaged marriage with his conservative supporters. I hope this happens. But I think there is a serious obstacle in its path, namely George W. Bush. As I see it, his behavior in nominating and defending Miers has revealed a genuine hostility toward conservatives and conservatism. Picking a solid conservative judge at this point (probably a female) would require a fight by the White House to get her through the Senate. But Bush has just made it plain he has no desire for a conservative judge, and certainly no desire to fight against Senate liberals to confirm one (he’s rather fight conservatives, whom he truly dislikes).

On October 18 I wrote:

This has the ring of divorce or rebellion, whichever metaphor you prefer. And it seems to me that the only way Bush can stop the rupture at this point is to withdraw the Miers nomination, change political course, and dedicate himself to a genuinely conservative agenda. But, for reasons I’ve discussed before, namely that Bush does not believe in conservatism and is hostile to conservatives (as his stunning conduct in the Miers matter clearly shows), I find the prospect of such a turnabout highly unlikely. So it’s looking more and more as if King George will not be able to head off the rebellion that his long chain of usurpations and abuses has provoked.

And on October 19 at 2 a.m. I posted this:

And since the conservatives will remain unplacated [by Bush’s promise to deport illegal aliens], Bush will once again see them as impossibly difficult and demanding, and so he will let out his hostility toward them again, and the relationship will continue to spiral downwards.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at October 19, 2005 08:48 PM | Send