RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Miers for Supreme Court

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Jim Jackson said:
It's for the best.

Now all the pundits here and everywhere else can begin to speculate as to whether she was just a straw (wo)man offered in a preliminary fashion so that Bush could then nominate the person he really wanted.

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I don't think so. Bush is wounded by recent events. Meir was chum, now there's blood in the water. The sharks are circling closer now.

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Jim Jackson said:
I'm not gloating. I think she was an inadequate nominee irrespective of who might follow her.

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Same here. We're getting a conservative pro-life nominee no matter what but a nominee should have more of a record. Some of the comments about her being stupid though

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Matter-eater Man said:
Same here. We're getting a conservative pro-life nominee no matter what

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There is a rumor circulating inside and outside the White House that Judge Alito is the next justice of the United States Supreme Court. Folks, it is all rumor — in fact it is Joy Clement buzz level right now. But, the fact remains that very credible people outside the White House and lower staff level people inside the White House all have Alito on their lips.

Here are the facts I trust:

The President has decided to give conservatives the fight they were looking for, with a caveat. The President is not going to go with a Janice Rogers Brown, an Edith Jones, or a Bill Pryor. No one previously filibustered will go through and no “flame thrower” will be considered. At the same time, the White House intends to go with a solid conservative pick, knowing that whoever is picked will draw the wrath of Democrats. It is important for the White House to be seen as making a reasonable pick.

Given that the Republicans in the Senate effectively blocked Miers through a coordinated effort — and be wary of White House staffers trying to take credit for the Miers withdrawal — the GOP in the Senate can be expected to stand behind the President on the new pick.

To make a reasonable pick, the White House has decided it will go with a sitting federal judge. A woman is not required. This will not be an affirmative action pick and it will not be a sop to a specific subset of conservatives, e.g. evangelicals. The White House is going with a solid conservative jurist who can readily be portrayed as mainstream.

Judge Sykes of the 7th Circuit is getting a lot of play. One friend of mine who clerked there insists she is not ready for prime time. However, she has gotten some consideration. Outside groups who have been laying advance work for the White House while it withdrew Miers have been looking at McConnell, Alito, and Sykes very hard. There is a lot of concern about McConnell given his prior statements on polygamy, abortion, and campaign finance. While the base could be pacified with McConnell, the White House has some worry about McConnell’s academic writings being mischaracterized by the left.

Right now, the buzz is Alito. I’ll let you know if it changes.

When the nomination of Harriet Miers was at its most beleaguered, one political commentator suggested the president should appoint Chris Cox, the newly installed chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to the Supreme Court and name Ms. Miers, a skilled corporate litigator, to the SEC. Now that she has withdrawn, Ms. Miers seems determined to resume her duties as White House counsel. A perch on the SEC might not interest her, but the idea of putting Mr. Cox, a former California congressman and deputy White House counsel in the Reagan years, still holds a lot of appeal.

Mr. Cox would have several advantages. As a former member of the House leadership, he personally knows more than half of the Senators and has impressed many with his temperament and judgment. Only this past summer, Mr. Cox was fully vetted and won unanimous confirmation by the Senate to the SEC post. His experience in the business world as a corporate litigator would add invaluable perspective to a high court largely staffed with former federal appeals court judges. He also has experience with the many terrorism cases that will come before the court: He was the founding chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security.

As for confirmability, it's true that California Senator Barbara Boxer threatened to veto his nomination to a federal appeals court four years ago. But for the Supreme Court, no individual Senator can exercise such a veto and there is a good chance that Ms. Boxer's more moderate colleague, Dianne Feinstein, would back Mr. Cox. While his views are well known, the Harvard Law School graduate is clearly no ideological hothead and his calm and reasoned approach to the law has won admirers across the political spectrum.

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the G-man said:
The Latest Rumor:

There is a rumor circulating inside and outside the White House that Judge Alito is the next justice of the United States Supreme Court. Folks, it is all rumor — in fact it is Joy Clement buzz level right now. But, the fact remains that very credible people outside the White House and lower staff level people inside the White House all have Alito on their lips.

Here are the facts I trust:

The President has decided to give conservatives the fight they were looking for, with a caveat. The President is not going to go with a Janice Rogers Brown, an Edith Jones, or a Bill Pryor. No one previously filibustered will go through and no “flame thrower” will be considered. At the same time, the White House intends to go with a solid conservative pick, knowing that whoever is picked will draw the wrath of Democrats. It is important for the White House to be seen as making a reasonable pick.

Given that the Republicans in the Senate effectively blocked Miers through a coordinated effort — and be wary of White House staffers trying to take credit for the Miers withdrawal — the GOP in the Senate can be expected to stand behind the President on the new pick.

To make a reasonable pick, the White House has decided it will go with a sitting federal judge. A woman is not required. This will not be an affirmative action pick and it will not be a sop to a specific subset of conservatives, e.g. evangelicals. The White House is going with a solid conservative jurist who can readily be portrayed as mainstream.

Judge Sykes of the 7th Circuit is getting a lot of play. One friend of mine who clerked there insists she is not ready for prime time. However, she has gotten some consideration. Outside groups who have been laying advance work for the White House while it withdrew Miers have been looking at McConnell, Alito, and Sykes very hard. There is a lot of concern about McConnell given his prior statements on polygamy, abortion, and campaign finance. While the base could be pacified with McConnell, the White House has some worry about McConnell’s academic writings being mischaracterized by the left.

Right now, the buzz is Alito. I’ll let you know if it changes.

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the G-man said:
I guess I've been hanging out with WBAM too much.

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Jim Jackson said:
You have my sympathies.

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