(AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Confirm Them is not thrilled.
Neither am I.
Official announcement coming at 8 a.m.
Update: Sorry about doubling up on the entries there. Didn’t realize Jay beat me to it.
Think Progress calls Miers the “ultimate loyalist,” and points to this piece from David Frum.
Bush is speaking now (Update: Transcript here.)
Update 2: I blogged the statements from Bush and Miers, here. The part that struck me, from Bush:
“I’ve known Harriet Miers for more than a decade. I know her heart and I know her mind.”
Bush is asking us to trust him on this, big-time. I and many others wish we had much more than that to go on.
Krempasky notes Miers’, errr, diverse political contributions.
I wonder if that’s the type of diversity Dems were referring to?
Update 3: John at PowerLine says the pick is a disappointment, but is giving Miers the benefit of the doubt.
Update 4: JunkYardBlog has thoughts on Miers’ political donations and the charge of cronyism. And, Ace wonders if Miers isn’t part of another clever Rovian strategy.
Update 5: David Berstein at Volokh Conspiracy wonders if Bush’s first priority is not to appoint originalist judges, but judges who are likely to uphold exercises of executive power, which Bush sees as part of his legacy in fighting the War on Terror.
This thought in the comments at Confirm Them says what most conservatives are thinking:
Looks like BUSH was the ULTIMATE Stealth Candidate.
Update 6: On the lighter side of things, Hugh Hewitt says Miers was a War on Terror pick, and that we should trust Bush. And, Leonard Leo is excited about the pick.
Jay Sekulow likes Miers, too.
Update 7: Tim Chapman predicts how the White House spin will unfold in light of less-than-lukewarm reviews from conservatives. He also notes the disturbingly mild reactions from top Dems. (Broken links fixed. My bad.)
Update 8: Ankle Biting Pundits asks– is this what we fought for? John Hawkins goes all out and calls Harriet Miers “a disaster.”
The statement from the Third Branch Conference, a group of more than 150 conservative organizations:
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I would have loved Bush to announce the name:
“Esteemed Attorney and Author, Ann Coulter”
and simply stand and observe the press corps’ reaction for about 30 seconds before letting them off the hook with a “just kidding.”
Of course Kennedy and a handful of his ilk would be receiving CPR before he named his real nomination . . .
RE: BoDiddly’s advise (October 3, 2005 08:08 AM)
…before letting them off the hook with a “just kidding.”
…and then proceeded to announce Karl Rove to put ’em in a noose. 😉
Gut reaction: Bush blew it.
Insult to injury: One of the least inspiring presentations or speeches I’ve heard from this President. It sounded as if he had not had his morning java… if he drinks java.
What a way to start the week.
Hmmmm.
Bush’s pick: Unimpressive.
I find myself wondering… is Miers a decoy. If Rove/Bush were as devious as the left like to claim, this would be the first thing I’d suspect. Offer her up, let the moonbats flock and get all silly. Then put in a less objectional choice and force them to tone down their rhetoric.
The left kept saying they were keeping their powder dry during Robert’s nomination. Maybe this is an attempt to get the left to light their fuses too soon.
Oh, how I wish that were the case. But I think Bush will make this a big, big fight. I just hope the republican senate backs him up if that is the case, so he doesn’t waste too much capital in doing so.
Perhaps this is the one that gets thrown under the bus. Bush either gets his ‘loyalist’ or paves the way for another slightly right of center candidate.
This point was raised on a local Baltimore talk show. Perhaps she was named to be stopped by the Democrats so that the President can agree to withdraw her and then name someone like Mr. Luttig. The comment was that she is someone the President can “live with” and opens the door for one of the others that have been suggested (like Ms. Brown or Mr. Luttig) if the Democrats demand somone with more judicial experience. If the Democrats reject her, they will find it harder to fight against one of the others. If they accept her, the President can accept her.
I find it highly unethical for Miers to even
accept the nomination. She after all was responsible for vetting the Presidents picks for
lower courts. There were many other more qualified women, Jones, Brown, Clement. This is
a real slap in the face to those women. And now
we have irrefutable proof that Bush just does not have the fight left in him. This is the unofficial end to the Bush presidency.
This point was raised on a local Baltimore talk show. Perhaps she was named to be stopped by the Democrats…
I’m not seeing much indication she would be opposed by the Dems.
Based solely on what I’ve found out about her this morning — since that’s about as long as I’ve known about her — I’m thinking this is going to go on the list right next to Bush signing McCain-Feingold.
Maybe not quite as stupid but definitely bad.
However, the president deserves the benefit of a doubt, the nominee deserves the benefit of hearings, and every nominee deserves an up or down vote.
Why does he deserve the benefit of the doubt? Someone explain that to me? The president should be slammed as he is because he fumbled enormously on this appointment. It’s middle-management politics like this that is going to doom his presidency.
Well, ProLifers will no in short order where she stands. If she doesn’t vote to allow state regulation of partial-birth abortions (O’Connor was the swing/deciding vote last time) it bodes very ill for the party in the 2006 elections.
Tob
Lets not let her lack of bench time fool anyone, some other “great” justices with zero bench time:
Brandeis, Murphy, Goldberg, Warren, Douglas
We wonder why anyone should be surprised? President Bush is simply playing by the established rules of political correctness.
Liberals were ready to pounce on any other male conservative nominee, regardless of experience.
Consider this another pre-emptive strike. Waging a battle for the bench.
Didn’t he say similar things of Vladamir Putin?:
“I’ve known Harriet Miers for more than a decade. I know her heart and I know her mind.”
As far as contributing to Democrats in 1988 (almost 20 years ago) there were a lot of Texas Democrats that became Republicans in the 1980s. Like Phil Graham and Rick Perry.
And she gave to Pete Sessions in 1994 — his first race, the one he lost.
This is part of the Republican move to become the Moderate Party (actually the 60’s Democrat Party) and absorb the moderate Democrats the Far Left is leaving behind.
A lot of Republicans seem glad to follow.
The thing that ticks me off is that they’re throwing Conservatives a bone in the shape of Religious issues like intelligent design. But they seem to be tossing only the religious ones or depicting them as religious. It’s like our own party is trying to paint the true conservative elements of the party as religious extremists. Which couldn’t be farther for the truth. I mean many may be religious, but there interests are grounded in things other than directly religion. And Conservative issues lie in other than religious issues (like excessive spending and taxes).
I forsee a party split if they keep this up.
What bothers me is the number of people who are willing to follow the brand name Republican no matter where it goes rather than stick to conservative beliefs.
WTF???!!!
His personal f****** attorney?!
ed, I think your criticism of the Roberts nomination would apply here. And after this, I’m starting to have serious second thoughts about Roberts.
I’m a layman with little formal education so I will defer to the experts as to her education and lawyer-skills. I trust Mr. Bush, so I will defer to his knowledge of her heart. But why someone so old (and before feathers get ruffled, I’m 65)? I wanted a rock-solid conservative of any race or gender who would likely have 25+ years of energetic life on the court. I didn’t get such a person and I’m deeply disappointed.
(NB: This posted in a few other places)
Hmmmm.
So.
Any other conservatives here feel rewarded for twenty-five years of supporting the GOP?
I wonder if the GOP can survive with conservatives? If the centrists and moderates are as politically active and generous? It’ll be interesting to see. Pretty much every single conservative I know is screaming this morning. And ain’t out of happiness.
And no, this isn’t some plot by Rove. Senator Reid suggested her:
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/10/3/112632.shtml
“The expected political brawl over President Bush’s second Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers might not ever take place – because it was a powerful Democrat, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who had urged her selection.”
Yeah. I’m in a happy place.
Good God! What is with that eyeliner?
Good God! What is with that eyeliner?
Yuck!!! Dim the lights, put a hooded cloak on her and she’s the Emperor…
So the More@War than Ever Before crowd has decided to brutally stab our valiant fighting forces in the back, or What?
What happened to Supporting The President to Support the Troops…..
Or is it more ok now to offer aid and comfort to the enemy with this blame gaming finger pointing politics of personal destruction simply because…. well gosh no one cares about ThatIraqiThingiePoo so it’s safe to detach from that More@War rhetoric.
Hey, chill on the eyeliner. It has nothing to do with her qualifications to be a justice. We sound like Kos kids if we talk like that, and that’s the last thing I want.
And, dreiux— huh?
Mary K,
Actually, I support her nomination (she has a good reputation with Texas lawyers)–which is why I would like to do something with her eye-liner. You are right, it has nothing to do with her qualifications–but presentation is important too.