Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Harriet Miers

Alright, I know several of you have an opinion on this, so give it up. What's your take on the new Supreme Court nominee? Why her, and not someone more... well... Scalian? Thomasist?

I don't really have much on this one. Just passing around some shallow points, I think this shows that Roberts was more the beginning of a precedent than a one-time political choice; it looks like the vaguely conservative type really is W's kinda nominee. Other than that, it's too early for me to making serious observations about whether this was W "caving" or whether this will neutralize the conservative base in '06 or whether Miers is some sort of "crypto-conservative" super-evil corporatist crony in disguise (well, actually she is a crony, I guess I can make that observation) or whatever.

So what do you think?

2 comments:

grimsaburger said...

Before Bush's press conference this morning, my opinion was strictly that she's a very...handsome...woman. And that it's encouraging that wingnuts seem to dislike the choice so much. After Bush's press conference, however, I can add this. He knows (and presumably likes) her heart. (I mean really, what the hell does that mean?) Now, I'm not one to dig up old dead horses to beat, but let's remember that he also looked into Putin's soul and liked what he saw. Then again, at this point I don't feel one way or the other, which, I think, is a fine way to feel about a Supreme Court Justice.

Anonymous said...

howdy big d,
The only thing that makes me wary of miers is that no one knows much about her, aside from her conversion from democrat to born-again/republican. Not that I want to knock religion, but when it changes your political stance from support of a progressive social agenda to the slightly less pragmatic approach of simply looking down on everyone from your moral highground (how I view the MODERN republican party and its relation to the religious right), I feel a slight shudder go down my spine. I would venture to guess that Bush knows more then others and I would not be terribly surprised if she does turn out to be more of a Clarence Thomas. I can only hope that this prove another instance of a judge not living up to the hype, like Souter or Brennan. At the very least, we can hope that Ms Miers will mellow as, according to O'Conner, judges have a tendency to do. Not that I think a "pit bull in size 6 shoes" will mellow...
I don't know what I could find that would disuade a senator from voting for Miers, either, as Renquist got through a Democratic senate (granted, dixicrats were still the vogue) despite memoranda in which he layed out opposition to Brown v Board of Ed... talk about a scary past history. Of course Robert Byrd is now the moral conscience of the democratic party, former dixicrat opposed to the civil right bill; qed. politics is worse then greek to me sometimes.
I would be interested to find out more about what exactly screwed Bork, so I have some idea of what is objectionable in a proposed justice and I want to find out more about Miers background from the boys in Texas who worked with her there. If anyone has any ideas on where to look for more info, please share!