POLITICS: Bush Nominates Harriet Miers to Supreme Court

Bush is expected to nominate Harriet Miers to replace Sandra Day O'Connor's seat on the U.S. Supreme Court this morning. Miers is currently serving as White House counsel. The official announcement will occur at 8 AM EDT.



I don't know much about Miers other than she's worked for Bush for a long time, and apparently doesn't have a judicial paper trail. Hopefully she'll make a good a justice.



More Info on Miers: Wikipedia



[edit on 10/3/2005 by djohnsto77]

The article mentions two others as well, but I have to agree this seems like a more likely choice.

There continues to be talk in legal circles that he could pick one of three longtime loyalists: White House counsel Harriet Miers, the first women president of the Texas State Bar and Bush's former personal attorney; Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Bush's longtime friend who would be the first Hispanic on the court; and corporate lawyer Larry Thompson, who was the government's highest ranking black law enforcement official as deputy attorney general during Bush's first term.

I do not know much about Thompson, and Gonzales would....... Well lets say RObert Bork would raise fewer hackles in Congress

Originally posted by FredT
The article mentions two others as well, but I have to agree this seems like a more likely choice.

The Internet article was a bit behind the live news...it's updated now. Miers is it.

gotta love those no paper trail types...can't let the people know what they really think huh? That would be bad Republician (sorry my mistake) government policy. After all the people really don't count....just look at the past few elections.

People will hate to admit it, but Bush played his cards well. He picked a candidate in Roberts that would apease his religious right supporteres, yet was unlikely to unite the Democrats in opposing him. I would expect the same from the newest nominee.

Meier's could turn out to be a controversial choice simply because she was never a Judge. She does however appear to have a number of awards in the legal field and several firsts for female attorneys in Texas.


Just for the record this is not a first actually 35 others were never judges when sworn in.

I am still scratching my head on this one while repeating over and over Harriet Who?

[edit on 10/3/2005 by shots]

Previously...

How is Bush playing his cards well? He is picking someone who has no experience as a judge. How is she qualified to be on the highest court in America? What is her judicial experience? Was she a lawyer? Is she just one of Bush's cronies?

Ok well I read the wikipedia...did not see it before...

Well it is obvious she is a cronie. Why not pick someone with experience being a judge? Why not pick someone that hasn't been wrapped around the Bush's for nearly 20 years? This sounds like a personal favor for Bush instead of a logical nomination.

[edit on 3-10-2005 by GTWill]

Harriet Miers Chooses Harriet Miers!!!

She was the White House lead for Bush's due diligence search for qualified candidates to fill this vacancy.

Guess she failed.

Originally posted by GTWill
Previously...

How is Bush playing his cards well? He is picking someone who has no experience as a judge. How is she qualified to be on the highest court in America? What is her judicial experience? Was she a lawyer? Is she just one of Bush's cronies?

Hmmm most politcal appointments fall into the favor category and this adminstration is no different than ANY of the ones preceding it.

You do not even have to be a lawyer to be nominated as a Judge or to the SC. This is a bit of a fiction put forth by the legal community with thier 'Approval rankings" of candidates etc.

Played his cards well was a referal to the politics that surround any nominees. Not a whole lot to bite on or make into a rallying cause for any potential opposition.

Democratic and Republican special interests groups were braced for a political brawl over the pick, Bush's second. But the lack of a judicial record may make it difficult for Democrats to find ground upon which to fight her nomination.


Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had urged the administration to consider Miers, two congressional officials said. There was a long list of staunchly conservative judges that Democrats were poised to fight, Miers not among them.
Nominee

[edit on 10/3/05 by FredT]

[edit on 10/3/05 by FredT]

[edit on 10/3/05 by FredT]

According to CNN Bush started to assess her in early summer and has been investigating her since then. They also noted that 80 senators both Rep and Dem agree with this pick. Now if that is true and CNN is correct she may be the right person for the job at least in the eyes of the president and several senators.

Welcome to Ask the White House!

WhiteHouse.gov


September 10, 2004
Harriet Miers (White House SUPERMOD!!!)


Hello, I am Harriet Miers and I am Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy at the White House. I am very happy to answer your questions today. Why don't we get started!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Duane, from Redding, CA writes:
At what time will the President's Patriot's Day message be placed on the internet web site.?

Harriet Miers
Hi, Duane. Very soon. Stay tuned.

Rod, from Roanoke, VA writes:
This is not so much a question as it is a vote of support for Mr. Bush.

My wife and I just wanted to thank the Presdent for all his hard work and his service to our country for the last four years.

In September of 2001, the nation was frightened, almost frozen with fear, after the events of September 11th. President Bush's calm, strong leadership and resolve got us all through, and made us see the heroes that reside inside each of us. That is the mark of a true leader.

Mr. Bush has our full support and confidence in the difficult,often thankless job he does for our nation.

Thanks and god bless,

Harriet Miers
Thanks for your comments, Rod. I appreciate the President's calm, strong leadership also. He is a great leader!


Karrin, from OHIO writes:
Where were you on September 11th and what did you do?

Harriet Miers
Karrin, I was traveling with the President on September 11, 2001. So I started out in Florida. I was the President's Staff Secretary at that point in time, so I continued to do those duties. I was responsible for making sure the remarks he prepared to give to the Nation from Louisiana were properly prepared for him. It took some time, and the President saw me hurrying to give them to him. He said, "Good hustle!" He made me feel good that I was contributing. Typical. That was a remarkable day I will never forget. I will never forget how strong the President's response was to something so dreadful and so unexpected.

Kirsten, from Indianapolis, Indiana writes:
What has been the President's proudest accomplishment on the War on Terror thus far?

Harriet Miers
Thank you for your question, Kirsten. I have never asked the President that question. It is a good one. I am sure he is very pleased that so far, with all the effort that has been made to protect the homeland, there has not been another attack in the United States. However we must continue to be ever vigilant, and we cannot ever let our guard down. Protecting our Nation is the most important objective of the War on Terror. We must never relent.

John, from Scheldt writes:
GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GEORGE w. BUSH - Could you please emphasize the point that we are in a struggle for civilization and the survival of the free world against anarchism and barbarism? - this is not just about Iraq or even the Middle East - it's about the fight to preserve our way of life against extremists who would return us to the Dark Ages. Would it be too much to ask to promote this point at every opportunity - does the White House feel the same??John

Harriet Miers
John, thank you for writing and for expressing yourself so wonderfully. I certainly agree with you. As I said before, we will persevere and we will not relent!




[edit on 3-10-2005 by RANT]

Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... (disgusted noise)

Cronyism at its finest.

We had Bush-buddy Brown for FEMA, now we have Bush-buddy Roberts for Supreme Court and a brand new Bush-buddy for the Supreme Court. Out of the millions of people in the land, THIS was the best he could do? Did all the women who hold degrees in criminal justice suddenly develop Alzheimers? Did all the women lawyers and judges in America today suddenly turn Bush down?

Pardon me while I rant. I saw Meiers in action here in Dallas. This is no "informed choice" -- it's a choice from his buddies in the inner circle. We saw this kind of insider-ism in the late 1800's, and it leads to a very corrupt government.

We need to have a meritocracy; not a Bush buddy-ocracy.

Originally posted by Byrd
We need to have a meritocracy; not a Bush buddy-ocracy.

Did you miss the part where Bush accoladed her with "Good hustle" for fetching his speech after 9/11 and it made her feel like she was contributing?

Come on Lady Byrd.

After Internets skills, and retro hair, "hustle" is like the third most important qualification to Supreme Court Justice.

Well im shocked that Bush would appoint another of his buddies or inner circle into a position of power

For those Australian/British readers, does anyone else think Harriet Miers looks a bit like Mrs. Mangel from Neighbours?





[edit on 3/10/05 by subz]

I didn't mind roberts to much, especially when he replaced renquist, because I think he is of a similar mold as renquist. However, this nomination is rediculous. Replacing O'Conner who was often the swing vote with one of Bush's cronies is pathetic. She's also part of Bush's propaganda team, as you can see with RANT's post.

Originally posted by silentlonewolf
She's also part of Bush's propaganda team, as you can see with RANT's post.

I don't think this point can be overstated. Her prolific posting history on "Ask the White House" as a brain dead Bush sycophant is now being SHREDDED all over the Internet by ALL "sides."

"Hi, I know that you are probably going to be bombarded with questions, so I will try to keep it short...Do you think that it would be possible to cut off oil imports from the Middle East and replace it with ANWR? Also, do you think that it would be a good idea to use ethanol as an additive? Thank you for your time.

Harriet Miers
Julie, that's a great question. As you probably know, the US Geological Survey estimated that there is between 5.7 million and 16 billion barrels of oil available in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which could be accessed from about 2,000 acres of the 19,000,000 acre refuge. At its peak, production from ANWR would account for more than 20% of total U.S. oil production.

Environmentally responsible development of the resources in ANWR is one part of the President's comprehensive energy plan, which calls for a responsible mix of increased domestic energy production (like ANWR and clean coal), alternative and renewable fuels (like ethanol and biodiesel), and conservation and efficiency to reduce the growth of American energy consumption. The President's plan is essential to increasing America's energy security."

Caleb, from California writes:
With the 911 Commission report stating there was no linkable evidence between Sept. 11th and Iraq, why are the two often grouped together? Shouldn't they be considered two separate fights?

Harriet Miers
Hello, Caleb. I believe you must be referring to some language in the Report that can be misread. [...Much quoting from the report...] The scope of the Commission's review limits the reporting on post-9/11 events, such as the activities of Zarqawi and his associates in Baghdad. So, no, I don't think they should be considered separately. They are both part of the War on Terror.

To summarize, the "left" is laughing it's ass off while Democratic leaders scramble to "support" Bush's lack of vision nominating a 60 year old never been married parrot, and the "right" is simply less than thrilled.

It's like Bush just gave up at dinner last night, and said "how bout you do it?"

Quack, quack.

Originally posted by FredT

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had urged the administration to consider Miers, two congressional officials said. There was a long list of staunchly conservative judges that Democrats were poised to fight, Miers not among them.
Nominee

Harry Reid found a peanut in the couch and dared Bush to eat it. He did.

I have been reading "Other" issues about this lady in the INTERNET that will make some "Christian conservatives" hair stand in their heads.

Occurs is only speculations so I am not even going to get there.

60, single, not children, dedicated to her work as bush sniffing pet, hum. . .

[edit on 3-10-2005 by marg6043]

Harry Reid is on TV with his grandma (no wait, that's Hustlin' Harriet) all but endorsing her as his pick to replace O'Connor. In fact, his endorsment is being distributed by the RNC as we speak. [Smell the deal.]

Meanwhile the front page of every "tow the line" Bush site looks pretty much like www.redstate.org... or worse.

The Stealth Nominee

Me, the sources, everyone it seems was wrong. We've all heard the rumors, but not a one could believe the President would do that. Where is our Scalia/Thomas.

I think I'll let the President fight this battle himself, for now.

It appears, for what it is worth, that George W. Bush was the ultimate stealth nominee. He has acted like a true-blue conservative, talking the talk and walking the tax cut walk. But, he has expanded government, spent the future, and now nominated she who has the potential to be a female Souter.

Let's hope I'm wrong, but right now I'm not impressed.

Unless the booby prize is booby trapped, Choice, Privacy and the Constitution are safe from the moral authoritarians for another generation now IMHO thanks to Bush's "enduring gift" of disappointing his base.

[edit on 3-10-2005 by RANT]

Originally posted by marg6043

60, single, not children, dedicated to her work as bush sniffing pet, hum. . .

[edit on 3-10-2005 by marg6043]

Well marg that would be an interesting turn of events indeed. A lesbian conservative bush cronie, who's the president's opposition gonna be? Maybe Reid knows something the White House doesn't. This should be fun.