Miers nominated to replace Sandra Day O'Connor

Elvis Fu · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 9:50 am

Bloomberg Link

Miers, White House Counsel, Chosen by Bush for Supreme Court

Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush chose White House Counsel Harriet Miers, a fellow Texan and longtime confidant who has never served as a judge, to fill the second Supreme Court vacancy.

Miers, 60, would succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a swing vote on affirmative action and abortion cases, and become the third woman ever to sit on the nation's top court.

Miers, who built her career on giving private advice rather than making public pronouncements, will pose a dilemma for congressional Democrats as they try to sort out what type of justice she would be. She is the first Supreme nominee with no prior judicial experience since 1971, when Lewis Powell and William Rehnquist were appointed.

The nomination comes just hours before new Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. is scheduled to preside over his first Supreme Court session across town.

Bush once described Miers as ``a pit bull in size 6 shoes.'' She has known the president since the 1980s and worked as a lawyer on his 1994 gubernatorial campaign. She played a lead role in the president's search for a new justice before Bush chose her from a crowded field of contenders.

She was the first woman president of the Dallas Bar Association and the first woman to be elected president of the Texas State Bar.

Miers received her undergraduate and law degrees at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She practiced law in Texas for 26 years, rising to co-managing partner in Dallas. Bush, as Texas governor, tapped her to lead the Texas Lottery Commission in 1995.

She came with Bush to Washington when he was elected in 2000, serving first as his staff secretary, then as deputy chief of staff.

Roberts was confirmed last week by a 78-22 vote, with the backing of all 55 Republicans, 22 Democrats and one independent.

Dalen · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 9:57 am

was just listening to her bio on NPR. seems well qualified.

MontyTheMongoose · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 10:08 am

... she isn't a share-cropper's daughter, though...

I just cannot believe that Bush went with the stealth nominee, who is sure to be a close vote for confirmation, over the unfuckwithable (Afro-American, and female).

I expect a tight vote, possibly (roughly) party-line, but an approval.

no guru · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 10:10 am

Them Bloomberg Wrote:

longtime confidant who has never served as a judge

*sighs*

neuroboy · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 10:48 am

i bugs me that both nominees had very little (if any) judicial record to assess their fitness on the court. in both siuations, though they may be fine candidates, it's kind of like a "hey, c'mon trust me, they're good" situation. Based on the last few years, trust is something i have very little of when i comes to the current administration.

plus, i also bothers me to imagine a rouge like rove having a hand in picking two lifetime members of our highest court,but that's neither here nor there.

. . . on the flip side, i heard that the bush marriage has made it into the tabloids. . . apparently their on the rocks and w's hitting the bottle again :wanker:

Dalen · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 10:57 am

neuroboy Wrote:

. . . on the flip side, i heard that the bush marriage has made it into the tabloids. . . apparently their on the rocks and w's hitting the bottle again :wanker:

link to the story or stfu.

Yail Bloor · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 11:06 am

Dalen Wrote:

neuroboy Wrote:

. . . on the flip side, i heard that the bush marriage has made it into the tabloids. . . apparently their on the rocks and w's hitting the bottle again :wanker:

link to the story or stfu.

the bottle shit was in the national enquirer, Dalen. Credibility, baby, credibility.

MontyTheMongoose · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 11:08 am

Dalen Wrote:

neuroboy Wrote:

. . . on the flip side, i heard that the bush marriage has made it into the tabloids. . . apparently their on the rocks and w's hitting the bottle again :wanker:

link to the story or stfu.

Neuroboy - tongue, cheek...

Dalen - stick, ass...

Winner - Neuroboy.

Verbal Intercourse · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 11:13 am

Sergei Bubka Wrote:

Dalen Wrote:

neuroboy Wrote:

. . . on the flip side, i heard that the bush marriage has made it into the tabloids. . . apparently their on the rocks and w's hitting the bottle again :wanker:

link to the story or stfu.

Neuroboy - tongue, cheek...

Dalen - stick, ass...

Winner - Neuroboy.

Who were you before Sergei? Normally I pick up on these things but I never figured this one out, even weeks later.

Stop Breathin' · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 11:29 am

you should know it's Monty by the image in each post.

MontyTheMongoose · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 11:38 am

Yes, Blue Milk nee Makes No Sense to me, I was previously Gaping A', and known to all as Monty.

As to Miers getting slotted to the court, I guess this means that Rove is going to be indicted by Fitzgerald with the quickness, as the last time Bush accelerated a nomination to the highest bench, Rove was about to be outed as the recipient of Matt "Blobbo the Special Journalist (special as in retarded)" Cooper's double super secret background in the Plame/Wilson/Novak affair.

It is all about the news-cycle and what the networks will choose to cover. And abortion - erm, I mean, the USSC - is more glamourous than lying to a grand jury...

Elvis Fu · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 12:17 pm

frosted Wrote:

Them Bloomberg Wrote:

longtime confidant who has never served as a judge

*sighs*

Earl Warren
Whizzer White
William Rehnquist

nacho · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 12:36 pm

Elvis Fu Wrote:

frosted Wrote:

Them Bloomberg Wrote:

longtime confidant who has never served as a judge

*sighs*

Earl Warren
Whizzer White
William Rehnquist

I would think as a Sup Ct justice she'd realize the need to think and act independently, but its a little unsettling to think that this woman comes from within this administration.

With someone who comes from the bench, there's at least a veil of independence. Granted, there probably isn't much of a difference either way, but pretending makes me feel better.

MontyTheMongoose · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 12:38 pm

Semi-topical, anyone see the write-up on Souter in the latest GQ (Cameron Diaz cover)?

Borg166 · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 12:48 pm

Bush clearly doesn't work with or trust anyone outside of Texas.

Cotton · **Joined:** Mon Oct 25, 2004 6:12 pm **Posts:** 17155

i don't trust anyone in texas politics anymore except Kinky Friedman.

and ESPECIALLY ANYONE who has a hand in A)voting machines and B) potentially covering up our current president's military records. Yes, I understand that this can't be proven, that at this rate this is nothing more than speculation, but fucking seriously, you can't think of a better candidate for the supreme court in this whole country that DIDN'T help you become Governor? fuck that. I can understand cronyism to a certain level but this has gotten out of control. Next thing we know, that dog who gave GWB a rimjob in seventh grade is gonna be our secretary of state.

MontyTheMongoose · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 1:27 pm

salon.com Wrote:

Harriet Miers, meet Valerie Plame
It's deja vu all over again -- and maybe two times over.

In nominating Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, George W. Bush has chosen the person who was supposed to be helping him do the choosing -- just like he did five years ago when he chose Dick Cheney, the man in charge of his vice presidential selection process, to serve as his running mate.

But Bush's announcement this morning follows a more recent precedent, too. In July, when revelations about Karl Rove's role in the outing of Valerie Plame were hitting too close for comfort, the president responded by rushing the announcement that he was nominating John G. Roberts to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. Today, with new revelations in the Plame case striking even closer to home, Bush went before the cameras at 8 a.m. EDT -- when much of America was still asleep -- to announce that he was picking Miers to replace Roberts as the replacement for O'Connor.

Was it a pre-emptive strike?

Maybe Bush planned all along to announce Miers' nomination this morning. But the Plamegate revelations over the weekend gave him plenty of reason to move quickly. After New York Times reporter Judith Miller broke her silence and testified before Patrick Fitzgerald's grand jury Friday, the Times posted a story suggesting that Vice President Dick Cheney played a direct role in deciding how the White House would respond to Joseph Wilson's damaging op-ed piece about Iraq. Relying on a source familiar with the testimony of Scooter Libby, who is Cheney's chief of staff and the man identified as Miller's source, the Times says that Bush administration "efforts to limit the damage from Mr. Wilson's criticism extended as high as Mr. Cheney."

Libby and Miller discussed the Wilson op-ed on July 8, 2003. Four days later, the Times' source says, Libby "consulted with Mr. Cheney about how to handle inquiries from journalists about the vice president's role in sending Mr. Wilson to Africa in early 2002 to investigate reports that Iraq was trying acquire nuclear material there for its weapons program." Cheney's advice: Libby should "direct reporters to a statement released the previous day by George J. Tenet, director of central intelligence." In that statement, Tenet said that Wilson had been sent to Niger by CIA counter-proliferation officers "on their own initiative."

On Sunday, there was word that Plamegate could extend to the president himself. During ABC's "This Week," George Stephanopoulos said that a source told him "that President Bush and Vice President Cheney were actually involved in some of [the] discussions" about how to respond to Wilson's op-ed piece.

What does it all mean? In the Washington Post Sunday, Jim VandeHei and Walter Pincus say that two lawyers representing witnesses in the Plame investigation have begun to surmise that Fitzgerald is now weighing a criminal conspiracy charge against a group of senior White House officials. "Under this legal tactic," VandeHei and Pincus write, "Fitzgerald would attempt to establish that at least two or more officials agreed to take affirmative steps to discredit and retaliate against Wilson and leak sensitive government information about his wife."

Who would those officials be? The list of possible candidates is long and includes Rove, Libby, Ari Fleischer, Cheney and -- if Stephanopoulos and his source are to be believed -- the president himself. The Post says that Fitzgerald could make his prosecutorial decisions as early as this week. Which means that, all things considered at the White House, today's a terrific day for talking about Harriet Miers.

-- Tim Grieve

Yail Bloor · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 1:32 pm

This will probably come across sounding like one of Bill Mahers' knock-knock quality jokes but has anyone else ever wondered why a grown ass man in a position of prominence in our government goes by the name "Scooter"???

Jesus, man. Why dont you just show up for a press conference in a throwback jersey and a pair of Zubas..............

Dalen · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 1:50 pm

Yail Bloor Wrote:

Dalen Wrote:

neuroboy Wrote:

. . . on the flip side, i heard that the bush marriage has made it into the tabloids. . . apparently their on the rocks and w's hitting the bottle again :wanker:

link to the story or stfu.

the bottle shit was in the national enquirer, Dalen. Credibility, baby, credibility.

should have known.
:roll:

south pacific · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 2:49 pm

Quote:

but fucking seriously, you can't think of a better candidate for the supreme court in this whole country that DIDN'T help you become Governor? fuck that.

George W. is the king of cronyism.

Cotton · **Joined:** Mon Oct 25, 2004 6:12 pm **Posts:** 17155

also, I am currently renouncing the term "Plamegate" or any other gate. This scandal will hence be known as "Plamehole".

It is done.

Elvis Fu · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 2:58 pm

Cotton Wrote:

also, I am currently renouncing the term "Plamegate" or any other gate. This scandal will hence be known as "Plamehole".

It is done.

I'm writing you in in '08 on this decision alone.

Diggity Dawg · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 4:54 pm

Yail Bloor Wrote:

This will probably come across sounding like one of Bill Mahers' knock-knock quality jokes but has anyone else ever wondered why a grown ass man in a position of prominence in our government goes by the name "Scooter"???

Jesus, man. Why dont you just show up for a press conference in a throwback jersey and a pair of Zubas..............

I was bitchin' about that to the Mrs. the other nite.

This whole Administration is some kinda frat house clusterfuck.

nacho · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 5:10 pm

Cotton Wrote:

also, I am currently renouncing the term "Plamegate" or any other gate. This scandal will hence be known as "Plamehole".

It is done.

I like it!

Yail Bloor · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2005 5:23 pm

DiggityDawg Wrote:

Yail Bloor Wrote:

This will probably come across sounding like one of Bill Mahers' knock-knock quality jokes but has anyone else ever wondered why a grown ass man in a position of prominence in our government goes by the name "Scooter"???

Jesus, man. Why dont you just show up for a press conference in a throwback jersey and a pair of Zubas..............

I was bitchin' about that to the Mrs. the other nite.

This whole Administration is some kinda frat house clusterfuck.

There's at least one in EVERY administration, not just Bush. Bush's cabinet just happens to feature too many people who worked in the Ford cabinet. Blech.

Miers nominated to replace Sandra Day O'Connor

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