Comments on: Bush Chooses Miers for Supreme Court

By: Jonathon York

Jonathon York — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 21:44:26 +0000

Here’s a link to a post about Miers from Zathras of the Projection Blog:
http://theprojectionblog.blogspot.com/2005/10/80s-flashback-harriet-miers.html

By: BrianOfAtlanta

BrianOfAtlanta — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 19:05:16 +0000

I’m not much worried that she doesn’t have bench experience in and of itself. After all, some very good justices have served on the court with no previous judicial experience. I’m worried that she has demonstrated neither the mental capacity nor the staunch convictions which distinguished those great justices. The one word that has stuck in my brain after reading a bit about Ms. Miers, and that word is ’sycophant’.

In 1988, she donated $2,000 to Democratic party causes. 4 years later, she was leading a tenacious fight against supporters of Roe v. Wade. A reporter remembers her declaring that George W. Bush was the most brilliant man she had ever met. This doesn’t sound to me like someone who has firm, well-established convictions. It sounds like someone who hitches her fortunes to a political star and follows it zealously wherever it leads.

The problem is, of course, after GWB is no longer president, who does she hitch herself to? Will she become a Thomas disciple? Ginsburg? Will she remain uncommitted and flit from decision to decision, blowing with the prevailing wind? She may turn out to be a great justice, but nothing I’ve seen in her background so far suggests that. I prefer not roll the dice with the Supremes.

By: dryan

dryan — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 17:08:50 +0000

I am just not comfortable with someone who has no bench experience now being in charge of such monumental cases. It’s a totally different world from arguing before the bench. It makes about as much sense as a Chief Justice with

By: jonathon

jonathon — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 16:27:29 +0000

So it would seem. I have a colleague here who claims to know her. Says that as an attorney here in Dallas she did a lot of pro bono work and encouraged fellow lawyers to do the same as chair of the Texas Bar Assn. This guy is under the impression that she’s a fitting replacement for O’Connor, and will likely serve in a similar capacity.
As for judicial experience, she has never been a judge; instead she is a former member of the Dallas City Council.