Harriet Miers- On The Come Up

[shai]

 

 

Yeesh.

 

Oct. 12, 2005, 3:46PM

 

Bush says religion plays role in Miers campaign

Leading Democrat warns against 'wink and a nod' campaign

Associated Press

 

AT A GLANCE

NAME

Harriet Ellan Miers

AGE

60, born in Dallas

 

EDUCATION

B.S., Southern Methodist University, 1967; J.D., Southern Methodist University School of Law, 1970

 

EXPERIENCE

2004-present, White House counsel; 2003-2004, White House deputy chief of staff for policy; 2001-2003, White House staff secretary; 1995-2001, chairwoman, Texas Lottery Commission; 1972-2000, private law practice; 1992, president, Dallas Bar Association; 1989-1991, member, Dallas City Council; 1985, president, Dallas Bar Association

 

FAMILY

Single, no children

 

 

 

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SEE IT NOW

Bush: Miers is best candidate 10/4 Text of news conference

President announces nomination 10/3

Miers' remarks 10/3

A look at the nominee 10/3

Historical video: Battle for the court

 

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MORE

Interactive graphic: The Supreme Court and Miers' nomination

The announcment: Text of President Bush's remarks on her nomination

What she said: Text of Miers' remarks on her nomination

 

Video courtesy of AP

 

 

WASHINGTON - President Bush said today that his advisers were telling conservatives about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers' religious beliefs because they are interested in her background and ''part of Harriet Miers' life is her religion.''

 

''People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers,'' Bush told reporters at the White House. ``They want to know Harriet Miers' background. They want to know as much as they possibly can before they form opinions. And part of Harriet Miers' life is her religion.''

 

Bush, speaking at the conclusion of an Oval Office meeting with visiting Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, said that his advisers were reaching out to conservatives who oppose her nomination ''just to explain the facts.''

 

He spoke on a day in which conservative James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, said he had discussed the nominee's religious views with presidential aide Karl Rove.

 

Not even a congressional recess nor Bush's preoccupation with hurricane recovery and affairs of state have shrouded the continuing controversy surrounding his selection of Miers to replace the retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Debate about Miers' credentials was prominent on the Sunday television talk shows and has continued to occupy considerable attention on the Internet.

 

Some of Bush's conservative critics say Miers has no judicial record that proves she will strictly interpret the Constitution and not - as Bush says - ''legislate from the bench.'' They argue that Bush passed up other more qualified candidates to nominate someone from his inner circle.

 

Miers is Bush's second pick for the court. He chose John Roberts for the bench, initially to succeed O'Connor but then gave Roberts the nod for chief justice when William H. Rehnquist died. Roberts was confirmed by the Senate on a vote of 78-22.

 

On a radio show being broadcast today, Dobson said he discussed Miers with Rove on Oct. 1, two days before her nomination was announced. Dobson said Rove told him ``she is from a very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life,'' but denied he had gotten any assurances from the White House that she would vote to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

 

Dobson said Rove told him that Miers had been a member of Texas Right to Life. White House press secretary Scott McClellan said she was not a member of the organization ''that I'm aware of.''

 

``My understanding is that she attended some events, some fund-raising events that they had,'' McClellan said.

 

Miers bought a $150 ticket to a 1989 fund-raising dinner for another anti-abortion group - Texans United for Life - according to the president of the group, now called the Texans for Life Coalition.

 

Sen. Patrick Leahy, ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said the Senate and the rest of America deserve to know what Dobson and the White House know about Miers.

 

''We don't confirm Justices of the Supreme Court on a wink and a nod. And a litmus test is no less a litmus test by using whispers and signals,'' the Vermont senator said. ''No political faction should be given a monopoly of relevant knowledge about a nomination, just as no faction should be permitted to hound a nominee to withdraw, before the hearing process has even begun.''

 

Earlier today, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asserted that Miers would bring ``a unique brand of experience'' to the high court and that the concerns of critics would be eased once more is known about her.

 

Gonzales, himself once considered a leading candidate for a vacancy there, said there is ''nothing unique or earth-shattering'' about Miers' nomination and said people should give her time to say who she is and what she believes.

 

McClellan acknowledged there were some prospective candidates who told the White House that they preferred not to be considered, citing the ordeal of the confirmation process.

 

''Washington scares people away? Is that new?'' McClellan asked. ``There are plenty of good people willing to be considered. The president found the best person.''

 

McClellan later said that ''it was just a couple of people'' who asked that their names be withdrawn, and it happened when the field of candidates was ''in the double digits.'' He declined to say whether ``a couple'' meant just two - or more.

 

Asked why Rove would have discussed Miers' religious views if the president ascribes to a conservative judicial philosophy that backs a strict interpretation of the Constitution regardless of one's views on various issues, McClellan said it was just part of an ''outreach'' to help people get to know Miers.

 

''What we have seen so far,'' Leahy said, ``is more of a commentary on the litmus tests and narrow motivations of vocal factions on the Republican right than it is a commentary on the qualifications of Harriet Miers.''

 

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And, there you have it.

[POIESIS]

she reminds me of a skeksi.

[casekonly]

ahhh! indeed!

 

[Guest KING BLING]

http://michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=515

 

Sexist Rantings

 

Fifteen years ago George H. W. Bush nominated a little known judge to the Supreme Court. Conservatives rallied behind him on the President's good word and they've been kicking themselves ever since. They were expecting a Great Right Hope -- someone who would swing the Court away from activist moderation and send the country back in time a couple decades -- but David Souter turned out to be just another Justice. Conservatives felt betrayed and as you know, an elephant never forgets.

 

When George W. Bush nominated John Roberts, his conservative base was ecstatic. Roberts had a tried and true conservative background and the vast majority of his real political views were sealed behind a selective wall of executive privilege. He also had an impressive judicial resume, an unflappable demeanor, and an adorable son.

 

Roberts sailed through the confirmation hearings -- what can you say about a guy you know nothing about? -- and George focused his attention on that other Supreme vacancy. He nominated his lawyer who is, among other things, a woman.

 

Harriet Miers has had a tough week. The reaction from the GOP has been mixed, ranging from skeptical to appalled, and with her nomination under fire the Bush administration faces a new enemy: the Republican Party.

 

What does the Bush administration do to its enemies?

 

Yesterday Laura Bush shocked and awed her husband's conservative base by playing the gender card. Republicans don't like the Miers nomination because Harriet Miers is a woman and, as we all know, conservatives don't like women.

 

So what misogynistic things have these conservatives been saying about poor Harriet Miers? What did they say to tickle the First Lady's inner-feminist? Let's take a look...

 

 

Bill Kristol: "Bush has made this unfortunate nomination. What is to be done? The best alternative would be for Miers to withdraw. Is such an idea out of the question? It should not be. She has not aspired all of her life or even until very recently to serve on the Supreme Court. And her nomination has hurt the president whom she came to Washington to serve."

 

Trent Lott: "There are a lot more people - men, women and minorities - that are more qualified in my opinion by their experience than she is."

 

George Will: "It is not important that she be confirmed because there is no evidence that she is among the leading lights of American jurisprudence, or that she possesses talents commensurate with the Supreme Court's tasks. The president's "argument" for her amounts to: Trust me. There is no reason to, for several reasons."

 

Pat Buchanan: "Ms. Miers' qualifications for the Supreme Court are utterly non-existent. She has not only not ruled or written on any of the great controversies of our time on religion or faith, morality. She has shown no interest in them in 40 years. This is a faith-based initiative. The president of the United States is saying, "Trust me." And when you have the decisive vote on the United States Supreme Court, that is not enough."

 

Ann Coulter: "This shows stunning arrogance by the president and it is absurd. We've had a 25-year legal movement to create a farm team of incredibly talented conservative lawyers. Running the Texas Lottery Commission is not a qualification to sit on the highest court in the land."

 

 

Nepotism can only go so far - when your crew turns on you, well, drop the crew or drop the girl and George can't drop his crew...