NZ Bear has started a blog poll of support for or opposition against the nomination of Harriet Miers. Thus, for the Bear’s scanning purposes I will be candid. I oppose the Miers nomination.
Manual Miranda, chairman of the Third Branch Conference has a new article on Harriet Miers.
Hat tip: Scotus Blog
I was only recently introduced to the hilarious blog, Under Their Robes by How Appealing — and have enjoyed Article III Groupie’s commentary very much over the last couple weeks.
Yesterday she posted some colorful commentaryon the recent article in the LA Times detailing Nathan Hecht’s and Harriet Miers relationship.
After learning more about Harriet Miers, John Fund has come out in opposition to her. He clearly details the ways we have been burned by Republican presidents in the past:
But that ignores the fact that every Republican president over the past half century has stumbled when it comes to naming nominees to the high court. Consider the record:Courtesy of Confirm Them.After leaving office, Dwight Eisenhower was asked by a reporter if he had made any mistakes as president. “Two,” Ike replied. “They are both on the Supreme Court.” He referred to Earl Warren and William Brennan, both of whom became liberal icons.
Richard Nixon personally assured conservatives that Harry Blackmun would vote the same way as his childhood friend, Warren Burger. Within four years, Justice Blackmun had spun Roe v. Wade out of whole constitutional cloth. Chief Justice Burger concurred in Roe, and made clear he didn’t even understand what the court was deciding: “Plainly,” he wrote, “the Court today rejects any claim that the Constitution requires abortions on demand.”
Gerald Ford personally told members of his staff that John Paul Stevens was “a good Republican, and would vote like one.” Justice Stevens has since become the leader of the court’s liberal wing.
An upcoming biography of Sandra Day O’Connor by Supreme Court reporter Joan Biskupic includes correspondence from Ronald Reagan to conservative senators concerned about her scant paper trail. The message was, in effect: Trust me. She’s a traditional conservative. From Roe v. Wade to racial preferences, she has proved not to be. Similarly, Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation recalls the hard sell the Reagan White House made on behalf of Anthony Kennedy in 1987, after the Senate rejected Robert Bork. “They even put his priest on the phone with us to assure us he was solid on everything,” Mr. Weyrich recalls. From term limits to abortion to the juvenile death penalty to the overturning of a state referendum on gay rights, Justice Kennedy has often disappointed conservatives.
Most famously, White House chief of staff John Sununu told Pat McGuigan, an aide to Mr. Weyrich, that the appointment of David Souter in 1990 would please conservatives. “This is a home run, and the ball is still ascending. In fact, it’s just about to leave earth orbit,” he told Mr. McGuigan. At the press conference announcing the appointment, the elder President Bush asserted five times that Justice Souter was “committed to interpreting, not making the law.” The rest is history.
As you can see, I’ve changed the style somewhat. There’ll be more changes in the future. . . .
In contrast to the giddiness of some Democrats Republican senators are reacting a little more skeptically to the Miers nominatio, at least according to the Washington Times:
“Contrary to the custom of a flurry of Republican press releases heaping admiration on the president and praise on the nominee, at least two Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee — Sens. Sam Brownback of Kansas and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma — did not issue releases yesterday and declined to discuss the nominee.Sen. George Allen, Virginia Republican and likely a 2008 presidential candidate, relied on Mr. Bush’s “outstanding track record of nominating fair-minded men and women,” but stopped well short of endorsing Miss Miers without learning more about her.
Sen. John Thune, South Dakota Republican, also issued a statement that was less than embracing.
“I will reserve judgment on this nominee until the Senate studies her qualifications,” he said. “It has been my expectation that President Bush would nominate someone in the mold of Justices [Antonin] Scalia and [Clarence] Thomas and it is my hope that Harriet Miers will prove to be such a person.” . . .
One Republican Judiciary aide said Mr. Bush showed a lack of courage in nominating Miss Miers.
“Conservative staffers are looking for ways to debunk this nominee,” the aide said.
George Will weighs in with a great column on Harriet Miers that really sums up a lot of conservative’s fears and disappointment.
Head over to Confirm Them to check it out.
This is the first time I’ve actually posted a blog with WordPress. I’m still getting a handle on the categories, the neat formatting techniques (such as putting part of the post under the fold), and the links. If you are using Blogger, but you want to try something out a bit more advanced, give it a shot. Blogsome is free, so you don’t have to buy your own domain name.
Update: Wow, the quicktags are pretty cool too.
I’ve been nervously refreshing Confirm Them every minute or so to see what has happened with Harriet Miers. Like most of the people on the site, I’m very disappointed and disillusioned. I’ve called the White House and senators Santorum and Specter. Although I’m praying Miers will turn out good, I still feel betrayed.