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Bush Picks Miers for Supreme Court: Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid was complimentary, issuing a statement that said he likes Miers and adding "the Supreme Court would benefit from the addition of a justice who has real experience as a practicing lawyer,"....Reid had personally recommended that Bush consider Miers for nomination, according to several sources familiar with the president's consultations with individual senators.
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As I noted on the Open Slot thread, this is a bad pick. I'm resigned to the fact that whoever goes in will be a conservative but did it have to be a total Bush toady who was never judge? Quote:
Several news reports about President Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement have noted Miers's lack of judicial experience and her role as chairwoman of the scandal-plagued Texas Lottery Commission during Bush's time as Texas governor. Some have also reported her involvement in the Bush National Guard controversy.
But most of these reports have not connected possible ethical questions about Miers, or questions about her lack of judicial experience, to the broader political context surrounding her nomination. Miers's nomination comes at a time when Bush is under fire for putting unqualified but well-connected people -- such as former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director Michael D. Brown -- in high-level government positions, and when the Bush administration and the Republican Party are enmeshed in a lengthy list of ethics and legal controversies.
Media Matters
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Neither Earl Warren nor William Reinquist, both of whom eventually became Chief Justice, had experience as judge before being put on the Supreme Court. And they aren't the only ones: Like Justices Earl Warren (appointed in 1953), Powell (appointed in 1971), and Rehnquist (appointed in 1971), Miers has never been a judge.
The White House notes 10 of the 34 Justices appointed since 1933, including President John Kennedy's close friend Justice Byron White, were appointed from positions within the president's administration. I'm suprised that "Media Matters" didn't mention that, given how they CLAIM to be all about telling the truth. 
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I think Media Matters was more interested in calling attention to Miers resume then repeating what other media outlets are reporting about this story. If it's any consolation G-man, I'm sure she'll get in.
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Media matters claims to be a site about correcting "mistakes," or reporting of incomplete facts, made by other news organizations, not a site for editorials about supreme court nominees.
In the case at hand, media matters had an opportunity to correct the record about the ample precedent for appointing people to the bench who did not have prior judicial experience. However, they did not, instead choosing to author a piece on Miers that corrected nothing and was largely matters of the writers' opinion.
The site is showing its true colors as nothing but a site for dedicated liberals to find "hit pieces" about republicans.
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Interesting article from Business Week: The Real Harriet Miers
The spinmeisters on the right and left are busily deconstructing Bush's choice for the high court. But she could defy everyone's assumptions
President Bush thinks he knows what to expect from Harriet Miers, the woman he chose on Oct. 3 to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. "I know her heart. I know her character," the President declared as he nominated his White House counsel for the highest court in the land.
Lawyers, political activists, and court watchers of all political stripes, however, might want to remember Ronald Reagan's famous remark about the Soviet Union: "Trust -- but verify."
WHAT TRAIL? In truth, history is full of preconceived notions of how Supreme Court nominees would come down on important cases -- only to see the nominees surprise and confound the conventional wisdom once they ascended to the court. With Miers, the President picked a Supreme Court nominee with a paper trail written in invisible ink.
Supreme Court nominees often become caricatures, as political operatives create cartoonish, often artificial, portrayals of them -- negative and positive -- for their own ideological motives. Here are a few of the instant legends created by partisans to describe Harriet Miers -- 60-year-old Dallas lawyer, Presidential confidante, and Bush ultraloyalist. First the spin, then the reality:
The spin (from liberals): She's another political crony of President Bush being elevated because of blind loyalty rather than competence.
The reality: Miers is, without doubt, one of the most loyal of Bush's inner circle, and she was the President's personal lawyer. "She is totally dedicated [to the President]," says Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.). But she's no Michael Brown, the old college buddy of Joe Allbaugh, the ex-director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Brown worked for the Arabian Horse Assn. before coming to FEMA and ultimately succeeding Allbaugh as its head.
Miers was the first woman to serve as president of the Dallas Bar Assn. and the State Bar of Texas, and she was the first woman to head a major Texas law firm. She has been White House counsel and deputy chief of staff. A loyalist, yes. But a crony? She is certainly a qualified choice.
The spin (from conservatives): She's not a true-blue conservative. In 1988, she contributed to then-Presidential candidate Al Gore, Democratic Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas, and the Democratic National Committee. And unlike several other candidates on the short list -- such as federal appellate judges Edith Jones and Michael Luttig, she's not on record as opposing abortion rights.
The reality: Yes, Miers donated to a couple of Dems in '88, but the Al Gore of that campaign was quite different from the antiwar liberal of 2005. In 1988, Gore was considered by many of the Texas Tory Democrats to be the conservative alternative to Michael Dukakis. Bentsen, a popular incumbent, was considered moderate to conservative by many Texas voters. One Dallas Democratic operative theorizes that Miers made her donations after a leading local businessman lobbied partners at her law firm to help out a couple of Dems considered to be right of center.
On the abortion issue, it's impossible to know her position. Some Texas pols guess that she is pro-choice, like her good friend Senator Hutchison, while others insist she is pro-life. Supporters point out that she is a devout fundamentalist Protestant and volunteers for a Christian ministry. The group Texans for Life revealed on Oct. 3 that Miers gave $150 to the organization -- then known as Texans United for Life -- in 1989. At its annual dinner, featuring a keynote address by anti-abortion leader Henry Hyde, Miers was listed in the program as a bronze sponsor, the group said.
The truth? Usually, you put your mouth where your money is. But we'll know for sure when Justice Miers casts her first Supreme Court vote if she is confirmed.
The spin (from liberals): As the first woman Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O'Connor was a true groundbreaker. Harriet Miers isn't in her league.
The reality: Texas wasn't a friendly place for ambitious young female lawyers when Miers graduated from Southern Methodist University law school in the early '70s. "She became a leader in a field where there were no women because she had an inner toughness, and people instinctively trusted her," says Senator Hutchison, an SMU contemporary who chose television news rather than face the same struggles.
It's true that O'Connor -- a generation older than Miers -- faced even more hostility and closed doors. But the good-'ol-boy network still ruled in Texas law firms until Miers helped to shatter the glass ceilings that had limited women's opportunities.
The spin (from Democrats): Miers' record in public office is spotty. Her career as a member of the Dallas city council was undistinguished, and her tenure chairing the Texas Lottery Commission was highly controversial.
The reality: Miers joined the Dallas city council in 1989, at a time when the city's African-American community was pushing for greater representation after decades of segregation and voting-rights violations. Miers was recruited by the Dallas business community to run for the city council as a voice of moderation and conciliation. She attempted to broker a compromise between the defenders of the status quo and the African-American politicians who were demanding all single-member districts to maximize black representation. In the end, despite her efforts, Miers couldn't pull it off and retired from the council after a single term -- with both sides sniping at her.
Four years later, then-Governor George W. Bush named Miers, his personal lawyer, to chair the Texas Lottery Commission, which was awash in scandal. She quickly made personnel moves that were hailed by Bush, who said she had cleaned up the place. But her actions placed her in the vortex of legal disputes and political warfare. Critics questioned both her competence and her motives. But the bottom line: The lottery commission ran more smoothly, without scandal, after her tenure.
The spin (from the far left): Miers is part of a conspiracy to cover up George Bush's role in the National Guard during the Vietnam War, and may be implicated in destruction of documents.
The reality: Miers was assigned to do "opposition research" on Bush before he announced his candidacy for the White House. So she probably knows more about his National Guard activities than any person other than the President. But there's no evidence of any wrongdoing by Miers. This looks like overheated rhetoric.
The spin (from the right): Bush's low job-approval ratings have forced him to pick a mushy moderate rather than a proud conservative activist. As Limbaugh told his viewers on Oct. 3, conservatives are "frankly, a little worn out having to appease the left on all of these choices."
The reality: The President isn't one to shy away from a fight, and he doesn't much care about the latest polls. The most important factor for Bush, say those close to him, is to pick a nominee he feels comfortable with.
"To the rest of the country, [Miers] is a new David Souter," says one Bush friend from Dallas. "But the President knows everything about her. She's the perfect choice for George Bush."
That may be true. If Miers is confirmed, she most certainly won't be the "perfect choice" for the other half of the country, however. The interesting question, really, is which half that will be.
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Quote:
Matter-eater Man said:
I think Media Matters was more interested in calling attention to Miers resume then repeating what other media outlets are reporting about this story. If it's any consolation G-man, I'm sure she'll get in.
"Yes" or "No" Is Media Matters a liberal propoganda site?
Putting the "fun" back in Fundamentalist Christian Dogma.
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Quote:
wannabuyamonkey said:
Quote:
Matter-eater Man said:
I think Media Matters was more interested in calling attention to Miers resume then repeating what other media outlets are reporting about this story. If it's any consolation G-man, I'm sure she'll get in.
"Yes" or "No" Is Media Matters a liberal propoganda site?
Yes but it's also been accurate. When do the sites that G-man likes to link to reach the standard he holds for Media Matters BTW?
Also considering G-man's Miers post, we still don't know what side of the abortion issue she is on. If she doesn't help overturn Roe VS Wade, quite a few people are going to be pissed.
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Quote:
the G-man said:
...
The site is showing its true colors as nothing but a site for dedicated liberals to find "hit pieces" about republicans.
Actually much of the time Media Matters ends up debunking smears from the conservative media. No big surprise that it ruffles some feathers.
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How many smears from the liberal media has it debunked?
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There aren't any?
I like the fact that there is another female justice. Otherwise, we should all just wait and see.
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It seems that Miers appointment is pissing off the extreme right and the extreme left.
That seems to me to mean she may be a good choice for you centrists out there.
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Quote:
the G-man said:
Media matters claims to be a site about correcting "mistakes," or reporting of incomplete facts, made by other news organizations, not a site for editorials about supreme court nominees.
...
Actually this is what they are...
Quote:
Who We Are
Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.
Your description of them is incomplete, you might want to apply your standard to yourself buddy
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In other words, you just admitted they are a liberal propaganda machine. Thanks.
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Quote:
the G-man said:
In other words, you just admitted they are a liberal propaganda machine. Thanks.
He admitted that a few posts back:
Quote:
Matter-eater Man said:
Quote:
wannabuyamonkey said:
"Yes" or "No" Is Media Matters a liberal propoganda site?
Yes...
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Quote:
the G-man said:
In other words, you just admitted they are a liberal propaganda machine. Thanks.
do they seek to point out the mistruths of one particular party?
yes.
are they anwhere near as bad as Fox news which is basically an extension of the White House's press briefings and message of the day?
god no.
will G-man ignore my point and simply say "so you admit they're liberal?"
most likely.
is pariah a virgin who lives in his mother's basement and cries himself to sleep everynight while staring at his Xena but really longs to cry himself to sleep to his ricky martin poster?
all signs point to yes.
Bow ties are coool.
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Quote:
r3x29yz4a said:
do they seek to point out the mistruths of one particular party?
yes.
I thought they were supposed to be pointing out the "mistruths" of the media. Which is it?
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Blogger Keith Burgess-Jackson takes on one of the arguments against Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers: I . . . think there's some snobbishness involved. Miers is not an Ivy Leaguer, like John Roberts. She didn't clerk for a Supreme Court justice. She hasn't been a law professor. So what. . . .
It occurs to me that many conservatives, especially those with academic credentials, have bought into the Dworkinian idea that the Supreme Court is made up of Herculean philosopher-kings whose task is to make the law the best it can be by some external moral standard. I reject this conception of judging, as should any right-thinking person. The law is not a plaything, to be manipulated by ideologues. It has a life, a logic, and an integrity of its own that must be respected. The Los Angeles Times makes the case that Miers's Ivylessness is an advantage: It takes a very strong (or very principled) constitution to do without that intellectual flattery [from the establishment left]. But perhaps that makes Miers the perfect candidate. Perhaps it takes someone who did not go to Harvard or Yale and has never seemed to care. Miers went to law school at Southern Methodist University, which, although a well-respected institution, was unlikely to have been a bastion of progressive thought when she entered it in 1970. Adds Thomas Lifson: Critics are playing the Democrats' game. The GOP is not the party which idolizes Ivy League acceptability as the criterion of intellectual and mental fitness. Nor does the Supreme Court ideally consist of the nine greatest legal scholars of an era. Like any small group, it is better off being able to draw on abilities of more than one type of personality.
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Quote:
the G-man said:
Quote:
r3x29yz4a said:
do they seek to point out the mistruths of one particular party?
yes.
I thought they were supposed to be pointing out the "mistruths" of the media. Which is it?
How did you come by your conclusion? Their About Us statement is pretty clear as well as their content IMHO. Was something said previously that made you think otherwise?
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Miers seems to make the prochoice people happy. Oh well, I'm sure she'll clear everything up during her confirmation process. 
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now, this doesn't really have anything to do with me, but that's never stopped me before...
I assume the job of your supreme court is to interpret your constitution as is the same job of the Danish supreme court.
So, here's my question. I know this is ALOT to ask for, but isn't the supreme court justices supposed to be political impartial?
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They are supposed to be. Elements of both political parties, however, tend to view impartial as meaning "will interpret it the way I want it."
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Quote:
the G-man said:
It seems that Miers appointment is pissing off the extreme right and the extreme left.
That seems to me to mean she may be a good choice for you centrists out there.
Good choice for a judge, then.
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Quote:
Matter-eater Man said:
Quote:
wannabuyamonkey said:
Quote:
Matter-eater Man said:
I think Media Matters was more interested in calling attention to Miers resume then repeating what other media outlets are reporting about this story. If it's any consolation G-man, I'm sure she'll get in.
"Yes" or "No" Is Media Matters a liberal propoganda site?
Yes but it's also been accurate. When do the sites that G-man likes to link to reach the standard he holds for Media Matters BTW?
Also considering G-man's Miers post, we still don't know what side of the abortion issue she is on. If she doesn't help overturn Roe VS Wade, quite a few people are going to be pissed.
Oh, don't worry, she will.
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Quote:
wannabuyamonkey said:
...
Oh, don't worry, she will.
Maybe. Consider this though. Both parties enjoy having the abortion issue on the table. With the Republicans ruling the government, the President could have chosen somebody that would have been a sure thing. He picked somebody with essentially no paper trail. Why? 
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Quote:
wannabuyamonkey said:
Quote:
Matter-eater Man said:
Quote:
wannabuyamonkey said:
Quote:
Matter-eater Man said:
I think Media Matters was more interested in calling attention to Miers resume then repeating what other media outlets are reporting about this story. If it's any consolation G-man, I'm sure she'll get in.
"Yes" or "No" Is Media Matters a liberal propoganda site?
Yes but it's also been accurate. When do the sites that G-man likes to link to reach the standard he holds for Media Matters BTW?
Also considering G-man's Miers post, we still don't know what side of the abortion issue she is on. If she doesn't help overturn Roe VS Wade, quite a few people are going to be pissed.
Oh, don't worry, she will.
She's gotta be confirmed first.
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Quote:
Matter-eater Man said:
Quote:
wannabuyamonkey said:
...
Oh, don't worry, she will.
Maybe. Consider this though. Both parties enjoy having the abortion issue on the table. With the Republicans ruling the government, the President could have chosen somebody that would have been a sure thing. He picked somebody with essentially no paper trail. Why?
To throw off the Germans.
Putting the "fun" back in Fundamentalist Christian Dogma.
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Quote:
Jim Jackson said:
Quote:
wannabuyamonkey said:
Quote:
Matter-eater Man said:
Quote:
wannabuyamonkey said:
Quote:
Matter-eater Man said:
I think Media Matters was more interested in calling attention to Miers resume then repeating what other media outlets are reporting about this story. If it's any consolation G-man, I'm sure she'll get in.
"Yes" or "No" Is Media Matters a liberal propoganda site?
Yes but it's also been accurate. When do the sites that G-man likes to link to reach the standard he holds for Media Matters BTW?
Also considering G-man's Miers post, we still don't know what side of the abortion issue she is on. If she doesn't help overturn Roe VS Wade, quite a few people are going to be pissed.
Oh, don't worry, she will.
She's gotta be confirmed first.
True. If not they'll just have to overturn it without her.
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Quote:
Captain Sammitch said:
Prague!
Bless you, Sammitch!
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Conventional wisdom still has it that Miers is a shoo-in for confirmation. I'm not so sure. Now it's not just the extreme right that is being critical, but people like George Will. Under the rubric of ``diversity'' -- nowadays, the first refuge of intellectually disreputable impulses -- the president announced, surely without fathoming the implications, his belief in identity politics and its tawdry corollary, the idea of categorical representation. Identity politics holds that one's essential attributes are genetic, biological, ethnic or chromosomal -- that one's nature and understanding are decisively shaped by race, ethnicity or gender. Categorical representation holds that the interests of a group can only be understood, empathized with and represented by a member of that group.
The crowning absurdity of the president's wallowing in such nonsense is the obvious assumption that the Supreme Court is, like a legislature, an institution of representation. This from a president who, introducing Miers, deplored judges who ``legislate from the bench.''
Bush may have hoped to avoid a fight with the left, but he may be getting a fight anyway. And while he can laugh off the Angry Left, which would never support him no matter what he did, his own party is a force he'd be a fool to misunderestimate.
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Bush: Miers' Religion One Factor In Decision to NominateHarriet Miers was chosen as the next U.S. Supreme Court nominee in part because of her religious beliefs, President Bush said Wednesday.
"People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers, they want to know her background, as much as they possibly can. ... Part of Harriet Miers' life is her religion," Bush said during an Oval Office press conference with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski.  Gotta disagree with Dubya big time here. During the Roberts confirmation he said, rightly so, that Roberts should be judged on his experience, education and judicial philosophy, not his religion. Now he says the exact opposite about Miers? I'm very disappointed. Seriously.
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Now you know how most of the rest of us feel, oh about all the time.
I'm no legal scholar, but she seems woefully under-qualfied for this judgeship, irrespective of where she goes to Church or on what subjects she does her praying.
Bush has enough problems with recent cronyism.
Plus, someone needs to tell her she waay overdoes the eyeliner. I mean, all the way around her eyes? She looks freakish doing that. Damn, that sounded very gay. I am ashamed of even myself...
Last edited by Jim Jackson; 2005-10-12 5:23 PM.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,203
betrayal and collapse 5000+ posts
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betrayal and collapse 5000+ posts
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,203 |
This doesn't completely come out of left field, unfortunately. I'm still on the fence as to whether she's a good choice or not.
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 7,030
6000+ posts
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6000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 7,030 |
My concern is that she's too close to the President. There is to a separation of powers...Executive, Legislative, Judicial. As White House Counsel, she's essentially part of the Executive branch stepping into the Judicial (and yes, I know that W.H. Taft served as both President and Chief Justice, but I see this as a different animal).
We all wear a green carnation.
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,062
1000+ posts
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1000+ posts
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,062 |
Quote:
the G-man said:
Gotta disagree with Dubya big time here.
Um... did I wake up in a parallel universe or something?
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 14,203
1 Millionth Customer 10000+ posts
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1 Millionth Customer 10000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 14,203 |
Quote:
the G-man said:
Bush: Miers' Religion One Factor In Decision to Nominate
Harriet Miers was chosen as the next U.S. Supreme Court nominee in part because of her religious beliefs, President Bush said Wednesday.
"People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers, they want to know her background, as much as they possibly can. ... Part of Harriet Miers' life is her religion," Bush said during an Oval Office press conference with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski.
Gotta disagree with Dubya big time here.
During the Roberts confirmation he said, rightly so, that Roberts should be judged on his experience, education and judicial philosophy, not his religion.
Now he says the exact opposite about Miers?
I'm very disappointed. Seriously.
its also a violation of the constitution. the SF chronicle quoted the exact part but it basically says no religios test can be used for determination in the appointment of a public post.
Bow ties are coool.
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,951 Likes: 6
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
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OP
Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 43,951 Likes: 6 |
Now, even National Review, the bible of the mainstream conservative movement, is calling on Miers to withdraw: her nomination is looking weaker rather than stronger. No matter how many times Scott McClellan says that she is “extremely well qualified” it doesn't make it so, especially when she makes basic constitutional flubs on her Senate questionnaire and is leaving senators singularly unimpressed during her Capitol Hill visits.
The Miers nomination has already done harm to the president politically by dividing his base, and promises more damage in the weeks ahead. The acrimony among conservatives is likely only to get worse, since this nomination is so rich in embarrassments. And the Senate GOP will be dragged into a bloody fight with Democrats over the nomination. There's nothing wrong, of course, with fighting with Democrats, but it makes little sense to have a knock-down-drag-out over a nominee who has thin qualifications, an uncertain judicial philosophy, and was picked partly to avoid such a fight.
There is no good reason to keep going down this road other than the sheer stupid force of inertia, i.e. this is the nomination, so we're stuck with it.
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 7,030
6000+ posts
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6000+ posts
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 7,030 |
Quote:
the G-man said:
There is no good reason to keep going down this road other than the sheer stupid force of inertia, i.e. this is the nomination, so we're stuck with it.
There are times I think that George Bush is more susceptible to inertia than any president in recent memory. Even Reagan changed his mind on taxes.
We all wear a green carnation.
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,657
1500+ posts
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1500+ posts
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,657 |
Quote:
Jim Jackson said:
Quote:
the G-man said:
There is no good reason to keep going down this road other than the sheer stupid force of inertia, i.e. this is the nomination, so we're stuck with it.
There are times I think that George Bush is more susceptible to inertia than any president in recent memory. Even Reagan changed his mind on taxes.
I'm always amazed at how much better Nixon and Reagan look in comparison to the current lot. Reagan in particular used the far right to help him in elections but only gave lip service to their desires. Nixon was a fucking liberal! "We're all Keynsians now" - RMN.
"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives." John Stuart Mill
America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. Oscar Wilde
He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless dead.
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