Is “miered” the new “borked”?
Robert Bork’s failed nomination to the Supreme Court in 1987 spawned the verb “borked,” defined loosely as getting rejected in an unseemly, even unfair, manner.Now there is talk online about whether Harriet Miers’ withdrawal of her nomination to the high court will give rise to the term “miered.”
While liberals led to the opposition to Bork, it was conservatives who brought down Miers’ nomination.
A contributor to The Reform Club, a right-leaning blog, wrote that to get “borked” was “to be unscrupulously torpedoed by an opponent,” while to get “miered” was to be “unscrupulously torpedoed by an ally.”
“If you have a president who is willing to instigate a big controversy, the prospect of being ‘borked’ will be the major possibility,” he said. “But if you have a president who is always trying to get consensus, then it’s much more likely that nominees will get ‘miered.”‘
On The National Review Online, a conservative site, a contributor suggested that “to mier” means “to put your own allies in the most untenable position possible based upon exceptionally bad decision-making.”
On TV news shows, today, neo-cons were falling over each other, trying to take credit for Miers withdrawal. Reasonably unseemly.
nominous interruptus?
“unscrupulously torpedoed by an ally.”
George F. Will’s columns displayed impeccable scruples, eloquently laid out for all to understand.
“to put your own allies in the most untenable position possible based upon exceptionally bad decision-making.”
That’s more like it. But how often is this going to happen again?
“Bork” was different, because it was Senate Democrats, and it was done during and after the confirmation hearings. Before the hearings, most Presidents aren’t tone deaf, and will withdraw a nomination before even 1/2 of the opposition that we saw comes to light.
Tack on to the above definition:
“and then make it 10 times worse by not listening to reason.”
>“unscrupulously torpedoed by an ally”
I dont see how they can claim she was “unscrupulously” anything.
The fact of the matter is this woman is not qualified in anyway (other than being G.W.’s pal) to be a Supreme Court justice.
find some one qualified.
The most delicious irony is that the word “mired” is already so closely related to the situation.
figurative a situation or state of difficulty, distress, or embarrassment from which it is hard to extricate oneself : he has been left to squirm in a mire of new allegations.
My belief is that Miers was a ringer. This has the fingerprints of Rove all over it. Miers took one for the team. She was set up to fail so the opposition would be more conciliatory to the next person dubya nominates.
The next nominee will be much further right and doctrinaire. Dubya will claim that the new nominee is the type of candidate everyone was asking for when they lambasted Miers. This might be just the excuse he needed to NOT nominate a woman.
To me, to be miered will mean “to be sacrificed for a more extreme candidate.”
She was set up to fail so the opposition would be more conciliatory to the next person dubya nominates.
My only problem with that is Dubya was asked point-blank if she was the best person for the job.
He said yes.
Your theory means either:
a. He was lying
b. The “job” she was best qualified for was as a ringer
It depends on what you definition of “is” is. 🙂
Mike
Yes