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Harriet Miers for Supreme Court
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shawa
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Joined: 03 Sep 2004
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 2:18 pm    Post subject: Harriet Miers for Supreme Court Reply with quote

Harriet Miers for Supreme Court. I'm disappointed. Really wanted it to be Janice Rogers Brown.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051003/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_scotus
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GM Strong
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 2:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The nomination of Harriet Miers seems to have thrilled the Republican base with the sound of a soft Bronx cheer and the cacophany of one handed applause instead of a high five.

I am personally baffled.
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shawa
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 2:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hmm. I've been trying to figure out the 'WHY' of this nomination.
I'm thinking maybe it's because President Bush wants a quick confirmation
to get O'Conner out of the Court right away. There are some really important cases scheduled for this session of the Court, #1 being an abortion case. With O'Conner still on the Court, we know that it would be a 5-4 decision in favor of pro abortion argument. Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Kennedy can be counted on, but we need O'Conner out of there!!
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GM Strong
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 2:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

shawa wrote:
Hmm. I've been trying to figure out the 'WHY' of this nomination.
I'm thinking maybe it's because President Bush wants a quick confirmation
to get O'Conner out of the Court right away.


Wrong reasons. There will be fight by the Liberals on anyone. This nomination does not preclude that. It just raise questions as to why.
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shawa
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 4:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Agreed. This nomination does not preclude that.
BUT, apparently Harry Reid told the president that he should consider Miers. When I read that, I was immediatedly cautious!! Is she a strong conservative?
From the President's remarks, he said he got good advice from 80 Senators. Looks like she is definitely confirmable.

I have to trust the President's judgement on this. So far, he has put strong conservatives on the courts. I see no reason to believe that this nomination isn't another 'wily fox' choice.
Initial reactions of conservatives are angry, wanting an avowed conservative, and we are not sure about where she will stand on the issues.

But the President knows her well, and he "KNOWS HER HEART", as he said in his remarks.

That's enough for me.

Quote:
It is now my duty to select a nominee to fill the seat that will be left vacant by the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Once again, I considered a wide variety of distinguished Americans from different walks of life. Once again, we consulted with Democrats and Republicans in the United States Senate. We received good advice from more than 80 senators. And once again, one person stood out as exceptionally well suited to sit on the Highest Court of our nation.

This morning, I'm proud to announce that I am nominating Harriet Ellan Miers to serve as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. For the past five years, Harriet Miers has served in critical roles in our nation's government, including one of the most important legal positions in the country, White House Counsel. She has devoted her life to the rule of law and the cause of justice. She will be an outstanding addition to the Supreme Court of the United States.


And
Quote:

In its consideration of Chief Justice Roberts' nomination, the Senate made it clear that a well-qualified nominee, committed to strictly interpret the law, can be confirmed promptly, and by a large bipartisan majority. As the new Chief Justice said at his swearing in last week, the Senate vote affirmed the bedrock principle that judging is different from politics. I believe that senators of both parties will find that Harriet Miers' talent, experience and judicial philosophy make her a superb choice to safeguard the constitutional liberties and equality of all Americans.

Harriet Miers will strictly interpret our Constitution and laws. She will not legislation from the bench. I ask the Senate to review her qualifications thoroughly and fairly, and to vote on her nomination promptly


President's remarks at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/10/20051003.html
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Snipe
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 4:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Does anyone that the left will keep their word in confirmation
hearings, or anything else for that matter. He should have gone
with Janice Rogers Brown and then dropped the nuke on them
if they tried a "filibuster". I'm still of the old school where a filibuster
means one very long session. Just saying "filibuster" then going on
with life is garbage. What I wonder is when the Repubs are finally
going to get it in their heads that they are the MAJORITY party and
act like it.
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Anker-Klanker
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 6:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Most of the posters on this forum have said at one time or the other that they'd hate to play poker against Bush.

His objective was to get the most conservative person he could get nominated on the Court. He knows her personally, and he has some very competent advisers who know a heck of a lot more about real-time politics than all the arm-chair politicians who have expressed their opinions since his choice was announced.

Beldar has some interesting thoughts on this if you're interested in a "professional" opinion.
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shawa
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 6:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think I like this lady. The President describes her as his "pitbull in size six shoes". She is not the swayable type! A devout Christian and strong Constitutionalist.

Like I said, I trust the President's judgement.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3379583
Quote:
October 3, 2005
Bush once described Miers as 'a pit bull in size 6 shoes'
By NANCY BENAC
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Among a host of qualities that White House counsel Harriet Ellan Miers shares with new Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts is the apparent lack of any personal legal agenda. Known for an exacting, no-nonsense style, Miers — like Roberts — tends to avoid the limelight.

Once described by White House chief of staff Andrew Card as "one of the favorite people in the White House," Miers has been there for President Bush at every turn for more than a decade.

She was Bush's personal lawyer in Texas, took on the thankless job of cleaning up the Texas Lottery when he was governor, and followed him to Washington to serve as staff secretary, the person who controls every piece of paper that crosses the president's desk.

In 2004, Bush appointed her White House counsel, calling her "a talented lawyer whose great integrity, legal scholarship and grace have long marked her as one of America's finest lawyers." He articulated his high regard for her more memorably during a 1996 awards ceremony when he called her "a pit bull in size 6 shoes."

Miers, 60, has a string of firsts on her resume that track her quiet but steady march to the top echelons of power: first woman hired by her law firm in 1972, first woman president of the Dallas Bar Association in 1985, first woman president of the Texas State Bar in 1992, first woman president of her law firm in 1996.

Card, in a 2003 interview with the publication Texas Lawyer, said Bush's affinity for Miers is clear in the frequent invitations she receives to visit the presidential retreat at Camp David, "a privilege that is not enjoyed by a lot of staff."

"She's a quiet, highly respected force and someone who is seen as not having any agenda other than the president's," he said.

Intensely loyal, Miers is happy to stay off the radar screen as long as her boss is happy, on the thinking that White House counsels only make news when there's been a mistake.

"Hopefully, there aren't any," she told the Dallas Morning News earlier this year. "So, we stay out of the headlines."

At the same time, however, she showed her readiness to take on difficult questions.

"Lawyers by nature are involved in controversy," she said. "We expect difficult issues and are prepared to deal with them."

Bush underscored her toughness, observing when he was governor, "When it comes to a cross-examination, she can fillet better than Mrs. Paul."

As staff secretary, Miers was with the president in Florida when the terrorist attacks unfolded on Sept. 11, 2001, and she later remembered the regard she felt for him as she scrambled to help prepare his remarks to the nation that night. "It took some time, and the president saw me hurrying to give them to him," she recalled. "He said, 'Good hustle.' He made me feel good that I was contributing. Typical."

Miers is a self-described "Texan through and through." She grew up in Dallas and received both her undergraduate and law degrees from Southern Methodist University. She clerked for a federal judge there and then joined Locke Purnell Rain Harrell in 1972, rising to become first woman president of the firm in 1996. When her firm merged with another, she became co-managing partner of the 400-lawyer Locke Liddell & Sapp.

"Harriet is not a person that gets frustrated easily," R. Bruce LaBoon, a former law partner, told Texas Lawyer. "She doesn't lose her temper. She is very cool and calm in a storm."

Miers, who is single, is known for putting in long hours without complaint. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, a fellow Texan who earlier served alongside Miers in the White House, told Texas Lawyer in 2003 that Miers was "here before dawn and after dusk and on most weekends. No one works harder."

"She never seeks the limelight," Spellings told Business Week. "She's just extremely devoted to the president."

Miers reveals little of her own emotions or ideological persuasions, but has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Bush administration on a broad of initiatives including tax cuts, Social Security reforms, restrictions on federal spending on embryonic stem cell research, national security, education reforms and fighting terrorism.

In hosting an "Ask the White House" interactive forum on the Internet before the 2004 elections, Miers lavished praise on a litany of Bush administration initiatives, then added, "I could go on and on."


Quote:

Bush underscored her toughness, observing when he was governor, "When it comes to a cross-examination, she can fillet better than Mrs. Paul."


Hmmm. A no nonsense type, but very likeable, she should be able to handle all those bloviating boobs on the Judiciary Committee. Maybe even 'fillet' a few of them.
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GM Strong
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 7:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I listened to El Rushbo's interview with VP Cheney and I am willing to wait and see. It has to play out and we cannot be to quick to blow it here. Pres. Bush has suckered these Libs many times and this may be another. We know we are not happy with McCain-Fiengold, excessive spending etc. but we have wait and see. I'm going to be optimistic. On this one we simply have to trust.
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Schadow
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 7:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I believe that Ms. Miers will be confirmed, albeit with a few nays from Republicans. This could be a classic 'stealth' candidate. It is inconceivable that the President does not know exactly her positions on all the major issues of the day and would not have put her forward unless those positions are his own. I believe she is a Conservative.

It would have been a gamble to nominate a strong, identifiable Conservative. If Bush were to win after bloody fights with the Left, he would have scored points, to be sure. But losing or having to withdraw a candidate would be an unneeded blow.

Miers' lack of a big paper trail will deflate the Dems on the committee because their biggest weapon is parsing memos for damaging statements. She'll have to do the Ginsburg dance about not forecasting how she will vote on issues but, other than that, the hearings should be pretty calm and short.

And we'll wind up with another Justice who will most likely be to our liking.

But then, I'm an optimist.

Schadow
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homesteader
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 8:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was going to start a new threat titled LIBERAL NUKE MELTDOWN COMING but decided to post here instead until the subject matter is confirmed.

In his intro of Ms Miers this AM the President mentioned that she had been involved with Exodus Ministries. There is an Exodus Ministries that helps gays leave the lifestyle. They maintain that homosexuality is a choice and can be repudiated. It has strong evangelical Christian ties.

If Ms Miers was in any way connected to this particular organization, the left is going to come unglued. There may be other ministries by the same name that have nothing to do with homosexual "rehabilitation" but when their "dirt diggers" start doing their thing they are going to come across the name. If she was involved, she is going to have to stick to her principles under great pressure. If the Exodus she was involved with has nothing to do with homosexuality, she is going to be under pressure to distance herself from something with which she was not associated.

I find it interesting that the President stuck it right out there, in their faces, so to speak. One way or the other he was acting with confidence.


Last edited by homesteader on Mon Oct 03, 2005 8:18 pm; edited 2 times in total
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jwb7605
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 8:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
shawa wrote:
Harriet Miers for Supreme Court. I'm disappointed. Really wanted it to be Janice Rogers Brown.

Quote:
So far, he has put strong conservatives on the courts. I see no reason to believe that this nomination isn't another 'wily fox' choice.

Harry Reid has come out and said he really likes this woman (although, like Rush points out, he'll probably vote against her).
Remember Bush's campaign promise(s) that he wanted to be a "uniter, not a divider"? Well, echoing another of shawa's posts:
Quote:
I think I like this lady. The President describes her as his "pitbull in size six shoes". She is not the swayable type! A devout Christian and strong Constitutionalist.

Lets see here:
(a) We (all) really wanted Janice Rogers Brown, whom Harriet Miers has praised profusely in public.
(b) Democrats ... more than one ... have come out with praise for her.
(c) She proposed to the ABA that they rethink their pro-abortion stance, in favor of a neutral one.
(d) She's apparently a "devout" Christian.
Quote:
We know we are not happy with McCain-Fiengold

SOME of us aren't. I credit the loopholes with allowing this site to get started.
Quote:
He should have gone with Janice Rogers Brown and then dropped the nuke on them if they tried a "filibuster".

I really enjoy watching them not noticing they forgot to plug the boat, and then spending all their time bailing with a paper cup.
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homesteader
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 8:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As a follow up to my earlier post about Ms Miers and Exodus.

The overwhelming response on google to Exodus Ministries associates the name with ministry to gays and exgays.

There was one reference to a ministry to help "exoffenders". This most likely is what Ms Miers did as an lawyer.

We will soon find out.
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USS Endicott
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 9:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not sure how much faith I have in a Bush nomination. Remember, George Sr. gave us David Souter, aka "Take the peasants land David", as his stealth candidate for the Supreme Court. I prefer a candidate with a record that we can all see, than a stealth candidate that only the President can really vouch for. Why does President Bush even think he needs a stealth candidate? He did win the election, right?

Of course, there is no guarantee of how a nominee will turn out. O'Connor was pro-2nd Amendment before she was anti-2nd Amendment. At least she got the Kelo VS City of New London decision right. Three of the five decisions on that case were from Republican appointed Justices.

From what I've read about her, I really was hoping he'd appoint Janice Rogers Brown. Why in the world didn't he?

Edited for grammar
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GM Strong
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 10:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think we all had a big letdown today after all the spineless things that went before. We wanted a fight and won't get one, especially after McCain and the Gutless 7 waffled. Could we still trust those clowns in a tough fight? McCain in particular? Souter was an unknown quantity proposed by Sununu and unknown to Bush 41 and in response to Democrat obstruction when they were the majority. W knows this woman. We have to stick with this for awhile and see. There is more at work here than we know. There will be more in the next 3 years. Likely Stevens and Ginsburg will go. Think about it.
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Last edited by GM Strong on Tue Oct 04, 2005 3:21 pm; edited 1 time in total
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