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Bloggers' First Thoughts on Miers

by TChris

Commentary on the president’s decision to elevate his White House Counsel to a Supreme Court seat begins to fill the web. Lyle Denniston argues that Harriet Miers “will have the burden of proving that she is qualified to join the Court and was not chosen on the basis of cronyism. That could pose a serious challenge.” Joel Achenbach explains why Miers is qualified for the job:

1. She's a lawyer.

2. She's tight with Dubya.

3. She works just a few feet from Bush and thus saved him from the hassle of a protracted search.

4. She has never been a judge and thus has no record that might generate problems in a confirmation hearing.

David Bernstein at The Volokh Conspiracy agrees that Miers is a "well-connected insider" who is likely to favor executive power (at least for this chief executive) over the other branches of government, but also notes that the nomination may be opposed by members of the president's base because Miers lacks the anti-abortion track record they thought they'd been promised. And Prof. Doug Berman laments Miers’ lack of background in criminal law and sentencing issues.

Over on the dark side, Michelle Malkin reports that right wing bloggers are "utterly underwhelmed" with the choice of Miers:

It's not just that Miers has zero judicial experience. It's that she's so transparently a crony/"diversity" pick while so many other vastly more qualified and impressive candidates went to waste. If this is President Bush's bright idea to buck up his sagging popularity--among conservatives as well as the nation at large--one wonders whom he would have picked in rosier times. Shudder.

This article shares another conservative reaction to the choice of Miers:

Manuel Miranda, a conservative strategist and former aide to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist issued a scathing statement: "The reaction of many conservatives today will be that the president has made possibly the most unqualified choice since Abe Fortas, who had been the president's lawyer. The nomination of a nominee with no judicial record is a significant failure for the advisers that the White House gathered around it."

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    Re: Bloggers' First Thoughts on Miers (none / 0) (#1)
    by ras on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:37 PM EST
    Cut to the chase: neither side knows for sure whether or not it has the votes to win a filibuster fight, and neither side wants to risk losing. So we end up with the fighters circling in the ring while the crowd screams for action. All the maneuvering- the G14 deal, Roberts, now Meiers, the gazillion trial trial balloons from each side - points to this.

    Re: Bloggers' First Thoughts on Miers (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:37 PM EST
    Miers will be confirmed even more easily than Roberts was for reasons that I state here. No one has ever had their appointment derailed for being a blank slate, and Miers is just that. She could be a moderate or a die hard conservative, but we won't know until she started writing opinions from the bench a few months from now. I suspect that a strong support for executive power, in addition to a close personal relationship to and loyalty to the President, rather than any secret views on social issues, was one of the biggest factors in her selection.

    Re: Bloggers' First Thoughts on Miers (none / 0) (#3)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:38 PM EST
    Can we get some grownups in charge, please?

    Re: Bloggers' First Thoughts on Miers (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:38 PM EST
    Yah, I'd certainly agree with that Scar. But how long has it been that beltway pols have been anything remotely serious...25 years?

    Re: Bloggers' First Thoughts on Miers (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:38 PM EST
    Rubberstamp Miers is being hired to ride on Thomas' back, waving Bush's favorite cowboy hat. Lack of qualifications is a qualification under these deadly buffoons. Too bad 'Justice Browneye' got caught picking which black people die. Too bad, John Bolton. You'll have to take your revenge where you are. A toady over a maniac? They must have enough maniacs in positions of highest power already.