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When Harriet Miers, essentially an unknown in the legal world, was nominated for the US Supreme Court, this writer’s first reaction was that either President Bush has had the proverbial ace up his sleeve, or he is being extremely foolish. It now looks as if the latter possibility was correct. First it was the fact that she was unknown, and had no reputation as a judge or scholar to evaluate her by. That might have been a plus, except that things began to appear, rather like the Clinton era bimbo eruptions. Miers’ background began to look rather shady. Her implication...

It's been a difficult few weeks for the president, his conservative base, and Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers herself, said American Values President Gary Bauer on Thursday. Bauer said President Bush did the right thing and showed "real leadership" in accepting Miers' withdrawal.

<p>By E. J. Dionne Jr.</p> <p>WASHINGTON -- The damage President Bush and the conservative movement have inflicted on their drive to pack the U.S. Supreme Court with allies will not be undone by Harriet Miers' decision to withdraw her nomination.</p>

For good or evil, George W. Bush will have to cross the Rubicon on judicial nominations, politicized indictments, Iraq, the greater Middle East, and the constant frenzy of the Howard Dean wing of the Democratic party — and now march on his various adversaries as never before. He can choose either to be nicked and slowly bled to death in his second term, or to bare his fangs and like some cornered carnivore start slashing back. Before Harriet Miers, conservatives pined for a Chief Justice Antonin Scalia, with a Justice Roberts and someone like a Janice Rogers Brown rounding out...

OVER the last two elections, the Republican Party regained control of the United States Senate by electing new senators in Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas. These victories were attributable in large measure to the central demand made by Republican candidates, and heard and embraced by voters, that President Bush's nominees deserved an up-or-down decision on the floor of the Senate. Now, with the withdrawal of Harriet Miers under an instant, fierce and sometimes false assault from conservative pundits and activists, it will be difficult for Republican candidates to continue to make this winning...

The good news is that none of these senators went public with a demand for withdrawal without an up-or-down vote, and it is crucial that the GOP remains formally committed to that standard. The damage is that some our most talented pundits will be DQed in future conflicts with Dems. Will the imminent statehouse races in New Jersey and Virginia suffer as a result of a run of three weeks of incessant blasting of a Bush nominee? Hard to say, but the results cannot be as strong as they would have been, and as proof I offer the negative e-mails...

If there was a single thread that ran through President Bush's two very different picks for the Supreme Court, it was stealth. Neither Roberts nor Miers had committed themselves on Roe v. Wade. Is the president ducking a fight? If so, in this he is not his best self. He hasn't shrunk from confrontations over taxes, or war, or medical research, and his forceful arguments in those areas have amounted to leadership. Seeking a stealth candidate for the most important seat (i.e., the swing vote) on the Supreme Court certainly looks like weakness. And it's borrowed trouble. Despite the accumulating...

Conservative leaders who helped force the withdrawal of Harriet Miers said yesterday that President Bush must now appoint someone whose judicial philosophy matches that of the two most conservative justices on the Supreme Court -- and said they would accept nothing less. "We want Bush to fulfill his campaign commitment to give us a nominee like Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas," said Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly. "Conservatives have this old-fashioned notion that candidates should fulfill the promises they made once they get elected."< /SNIP> Yesterday, Mr. Dobson called Miss Miers' withdrawal "a wise decision" and cited news reports of...

When President Bush shocked supporters and opponents alike a month ago by nominating Harriet Miers, his White House Counsel, to the vacancy on the Supreme Court, an intriguing conspiracy theory did the rounds in Washington. Ms Miers, so self-evidently unqualified for a seat on the nation’s highest court, was a kind of stalking horse, the theory went. The real Bush plan, masterminded no doubt by his Machiavellian amanuensis Karl Rove, was to put an extreme conservative jurist on the court, someone who would vote to overturn abortion rights, outlaw affirmative action and break down the barriers between Church and State....

In choosing a replacement for Harriet E. Miers, President Bush may feel less of a need to select a woman to fill the seat of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, several lawyers and analysts said Thursday. The lawyers and analysts, all of whom have been involved in directly or indirectly counseling the White House about Supreme Court selections, also said that because of Mr. Bush's desire to move quickly, he would probably choose from the roster of candidates whom he has considered before and whose backgrounds and records have been extensively researched. SNIP One lawyer close to the president said that...

Lawmakers and special interest groups started positioning themselves for President Bush's next pick for U.S. Supreme Court justice the same day a fumbled nomination ended in Harriet Miers (search) withdrawing from the confirmation process. Miers, who will remain as White House counsel, made a surprise announcement Thursday morning that she is withdrawing her name from consideration to replace Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (search), who announced over the summer that she wanted to retire from the bench. O'Connor agreed to stay on while her replacement was vetted through the confirmation process. In her withdrawal letter dated Thursday, Miers...

Anaheim, Calif. – Over the last two elections, the Republican Party regained control of the United States Senate by electing new senators in Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas. These victories were attributable in large measure to the central demand made by Republican candidates, and heard and embraced by voters, that President Bush's nominees deserved an up-or-down decision on the floor of the Senate. Now, with the withdrawal of Harriet Miers under an instant, fierce and sometimes false assault from conservative pundits and activists, it will be difficult for Republican candidates to continue to...

Well, she was a Protestant, the Trinitarian variety from all reports (the kind comfortable with Paul's letters, instead of finding them the most offensive written words on earth). She was a daughter of the South. Bush said she was someone that would be worthy of 'trust' for a long, long time. We were also told she was pro-life. By many, many people. We were also told she belonged to an 'Evangelical' Church. But now the Southern Protestant Trinitarian Conservative has been removed from consideration. Her Southern drawl will not be heard during the confirmation hearings. What does this mean? It...

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement has been delayed again, putting her at the center of upcoming Supreme Court debates on abortion, the death penalty and gay rights. Until Thursday, the White House had been pushing to have Harriet Miers confirmed before the court took up some of the most contentious cases of the year. Miers' withdrawal means O'Connor will hear those cases - and could control the outcome. O'Connor said Thursday of her stay on the high court, "It sounds like it may go on a little longer." She is a moderate who has backed abortion rights and limits on...

In view of the important national security legal issues that have arisen in our war against terrorism, who do you believe President Bush should nominate for the vacant position on the United States Supreme Court? __Janice Rogers Brown __Ann Coulter __Alberto Gonzales __Orrin Hatch __Edith Jones __Michael Luttig __Michael McConnell __Priscilla Owen __Undecided

My thoughts on Miers and Janice Rogers-Brown: Janice Rogers-Brown!!! it's first and goal from the one inch line (AGAIN) "Harriet Miers nomination called back for unsportsman like conduct towards the conservatives who elected you President Bush." "Replay first down..." "Janice Rogers-Brown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sweep right on two...." Not only is she well-qualified, but she will win her own public relations battle through her own words... without any assistance necessary from ANYONE! This also brings the radical hate groups like michael moore & moveon.org, etc., and blame American first senators like john kerry, joe biden, barabara boxer, hillary clinton and company into play....

Today Harriet Miers informed the President in writing that she was withdrawing her nomination for Supreme Court justice shortly after the President and the first lady attended an event titled 'Helping Americas Youth' at Howard University in University. The President then travelled to Florida to met those affected by Hurricane Wilma and find out how the relief work is going and also visited a Hurricane Center in Miami. Yesterday the Vice President delivered remarks at a reception held in honour of Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) currently the longest serving member of Congress. Yesterday former U.S. president George Bush and former...

Is "miered" the new "borked"? Robert Bork's failed nomination to the Supreme Court in 1987 spawned the verb "borked," defined loosely as getting rejected in an unseemly, even unfair, manner. Now there is talk online about whether Harriet Miers' withdrawal of her nomination to the high court will give rise to the term "miered." While liberals led to the opposition to Bork, it was conservatives who brought down Miers' nomination. A contributor to The Reform Club, a right-leaning blog, wrote that to get "borked" was "to be unscrupulously torpedoed by an opponent," while to get "miered" was to be "unscrupulously...

Focus Action founder believes president was right to accept her withdrawal as SCOTUS nominee. Colorado Springs, Colo. -- Focus on the Family Action founder and chairman Dr. James C. Dobson issued the following statement today in response to Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers' decision to withdraw her name from consideration: "I believe the president has made a wise decision in accepting Harriet Miers' withdrawal as a nominee to the Supreme Court. "In recent days I have grown increasingly concerned about her conservative credentials, and I was dismayed to learn this week about her speech in 1993, in which she sounded...

President Bush can move forward by being bold and uniting both congressional Republicans and his political base.THE WITHDRAWAL of Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers is the first step on the road to political recovery for President Bush. It gives him the opportunity to select a well-known judicial conservative for the Court vacancy, rally conservatives who opposed or were skeptical of Miers, and rebuild his political base.Winning confirmation won't be easy. Democrats already have their story down: Bush capitulated to the far right in jettisoning Miers and his new nominee will be a right-wing extremist. My guess is Democrats will stick...

Harriet Miers has now withdrawn as a nominee for the Supreme Court. No one of the attacks against her would have been sufficient to cause withdrawal. Instead, she suffered the death of a thousand cuts. Who will be the new nominee, and how will she answer the inevitable attacks against her? Yes, “her.” I expect the President to nominate another woman to replace Justice O’Connor, whose resignation is conditional on confirmation of her replacement. Here’s my prediction of the new nominee’s opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee: Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee: We have now had, in short...

The Krauthammer strategy reaches a successful conclusion: Bush said he reluctantly accepted her decision to withdraw, after weeks of insisting that he did not want her to step down. He blamed her withdrawal on calls in the Senate for the release of internal White House documents that the administration has insisted were protected by executive privilege."It is clear that senators would not be satisfied until they gained access to internal documents concerning advice provided during her tenure at the White House — disclosures that would undermine a president's ability to receive candid counsel," Bush said. "Harriet Miers' decision demonstrates...

Just an open thread for prayer. May God be with you, Harriet Miers, and bless you. You have made a courageous move for the good of the President and many others. May He in His glory guide your days, and may you remain in His love forever. Lord please grant the wisdom of Solomon to our great President right now. Difficult times may be ahead, and he needs you as all men need God, and then some. Help him to make a wise decision on who to nominate, and guide this White House through times of turmoil. Be with them...

In choosing a replacement for Ms. Miers, President Bush should not reward the bad behavior of his right wing base. He should reject the demands of a few extremists and choose a justice who will protect the constitutional rights of all Americans

just breaking!!!!!!!!

Two overnight developments in the embattled Harriet Miers nomination point towards either the collapse of the effort to confirm Miers or a politically devastating siege mentality at the White House. First, the New York Sun reports that at least two GOP Senators will announce their opposition to Miers based on the speeches released earlier this week if the Bush administration refuses to withdraw her nomination. The Washington Times also reports that a key figure that had been working to support the PR campaign for Miers has suddenly quit to return to the Federalist Society, which Miers once disparaged and which...

WASHINGTON — At least two Republican senators are poised to call on the White House to withdraw the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, a highly placed Republican Senate staffer told The New York Sun. The news came amid stepped-up criticism of Ms. Miers by conservative groups and Senator Schumer. The conservatives said they were upset by the emergence yesterday of two speeches in which Ms. Miers said that self-determination should guide decisions involving religion and the law, and in which she cited conservative bêtes noires Janet Reno and Justice Ginsburg as female role models. Mr. Schumer, the...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers ran into new trouble Wednesday, and three Republican officials said they were no longer certain it would survive to the Nov. 7 target date for hearings. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a withdrawal was not out of the question but also noted that the administration's official policy remained one of strong continued support for the nominee. Developments on several fronts reflected eroding support for Miers, President Bush's choice to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor: • Senators from both parties raised new questions about Miers' former law...

Throughout the public evisceration of Harriet Miers, even her critics have tended to concede one of President Bush's main claims: Miers couldn't have been a complete loser to rise to the top of the bar and of her law firm. Wrong. Mediocrity—that's a better word for it...

WASHINGTON — In new signs of eroding support for Harriet E. Miers, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman sent her a sharply worded list of questions Wednesday on constitutional law, and one of the nation's leading grass-roots evangelical organizations called for the withdrawal of her Supreme Court nomination. Concerned Women for America, one of the nation's largest Christian advocacy groups, changed its "wait-and-see" position after reading speeches she gave in the early 1990s in which she supported, among other things, "the freedom of the individual woman's right to decide for herself whether she will have an abortion." The speeches "indicate a...

Among the documents presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee by Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers are copies of speeches she gave more than a decade ago. In one 1993 speech before a women's group in Dallas, Miers invoked what might be called a doctrine of self-determination. Speaking about today's hot-button social issues, including abortion and church-state separation, Miers said, "The underlying theme in most of these cases is the insistence of more self-determination. And the more I think about these issues, the more self-determination makes sense." She added, "The ongoing debate continues surrounding the attempt to once again criminalize abortions...

WASHINGTON - The mystery over what Supreme Court Harriet Miers believes deepened Wednesday as conservative Republican senators grappled with phrases from a 1993 speech in which she endorsed “self determination” in matters such as abortion. In the speech, Miers also said, “Abortion clinic protestors have become synonymous with terrorists and the courts have been the refuge for the besieged.”

Women's group calls for Miers withdrawal By Charles Hurt and Ralph Z. Hallow THE WASHINGTON TIMES October 27, 2005 The nation's largest conservative women's group yesterday called for the withdrawal of the Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination as The Washington Times learned that a key promoter of the nomination had suddenly quit the White House lobbying effort. Leonard A. Leo, who had been on leave from the Federalist Society to be chief conduit between the White House and conservatives, said last night that he has returned to his full-time job as executive vice president of the conservative legal group. The...

Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers said in a speech more than a decade ago that “self-determination” should guide decisions about abortion and school prayer and that in cases where scientific facts are disputed and religious beliefs vary, “government should not act.” In an undated speech given in the spring of 1993 to the Executive Women of Dallas, Miers appeared to offer a libertarian view of several topics in which the law and religious beliefs were colliding in court. “The ongoing debate continues surrounding the attempt to once again criminalize abortions or to once and for all guarantee the freedom of...

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee warned Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers yesterday that he intends during confirmation hearings to probe her views of the Bush administration's detention of suspected terrorists in the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, making clear he remains uncertain of her command of complex constitutional issues. Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) dispatched a letter to Miers, the White House's top lawyer, saying that she must also convince the Senate that as a justice she would be independent of President Bush and would not give him "any special deference" on cases before the court. In particular,...

"Those who would be leaders must be willing to steadfastly hold to principles they believe right regardless of public reaction and acceptance. "This is the courage of a true leader. And we should each strive to become this kind of leader. That we do not receive acclamation or maybe lose an election is not a finding we were wrong. It simply means we lost. Our position may be in fact exactly right and maybe next year we will be able to prove it. Courage is lacking in would-be leaders many times today. Doing the political thing rather than the right...

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee served notice Wednesday he intends to question Harriet Miers about the Bush administration's policy of detaining suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, injecting new uncertainty into a Supreme Court nomination already in doubt. In a letter to Miers, who is White House counsel, Sen. Arlen Specter also said he would ask what assurances she could offer that she would be independent, if confirmed, "and not give President Bush any special deference on any matter involving him that might come before the court." Specter, R-Pa., released the letter as the White House struggled...

...when you hear the Courts blamed for activism or intrusion where they do not belong...Stop and examine what the elected leadership has done to solve the problem at issue and whether abdication to courts to make the hard decisions is a not too prevalent tactic in today's world.... Where else do we hear a lot today about the Courts.[sic] The law and religion... Abortion clinic protestors have become synonymous with terrorists and the courts have been the refuge for the besieged... The ongoing debate continues surrounding the attempt to once again criminalize abortions or to once and for all guarantee...

With just two weeks remaining before confirmation hearings, no Republican senator has publicly suggested that she withdraw, but the most recent rumblings from Capitol Hill are at best neutral about the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet E. Miers, says a report in the NY Times. Even as White House Counsel Miers continued her visits with lawmakers, she has not excelled at winning the minds and hearts of GOP leaders, concluded the Times. Of the 10 Republicans on the key 18-member Judiciary Committee, three have publicly raised concerns. "I am uneasy about where we are,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama....

Miers' 1993 Speech Draws Fire from Pro-Life Groups Pro-life organizations are expressing concern over statements made by Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers in 1993 to the Executive Women of Dallas in 1993. During the speech, which was recently provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Miers gave several examples of contentious issues, including abortion, which she said involved religion and law. She stated,"The ongoing debate continues surrounding the attempt to once again criminalize abortions or to once and for all guarantee the freedom of the individual women’s right to decide for herself whether she will have an abortion." "The law and...

Washington, D.C. – Concerned Women for America (CWA), the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization, is calling for Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers’ name to be withdrawn. “CWA was founded to provide an alternative to radical feminists – who claim to speak for all women – and who seek to impose policies that do not respect unborn babies, family or God. Too often these radical feminists found success, not through democratic means, but through activist courts,� said Wendy Wright, executive vice president. “Harriet Miers has shown respect for Christian values by attending an Evangelical church. But her professional and civic...

With the understanding that Harriet Miers’s Spring 1993 speech to the Executive Women of Dallas is just part of the evidence that has led me to conclude that she should withdraw her nomination, let me highlight the elements of that speech that I find disturbing. Much of the first ten pages I find unobjectionable in substance (though certainly not well composed). Indeed, Miers soundly criticizes “a shifting to the judicial system of the responsibility for making all of the hard decisions� and the unwillingness of political leaders to make these decisions: "My basic message here is that when you hear...

The Last Line of Defense By: Leon H · Section: SCOTUS Much hay is (rightly) being made today about this speech that Harriet Miers gave to the Executive Women of Dallas (EWD) in 1993. The transcript of this speech pounds another nail in the coffin of the hopes that Harriet Miers resembles Scalia or Thomas in the slightest - and gives further credence to the concern that Miers may actually be to the left of Sandra Day O'Connor. With each passing day, we are asked to discard more and more evidence that this woman is not a conservative, and that...

New York Senator and former First Lady, Hillary Clinton, wants an answer from Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers. In an Associated Press article Clinton said she's eager for the Senate confirmation process to be played out, and there is one question she thinks Miers should be asked, "Please tell us one thing you disagree with the president on."

There has been an uproar in Washington, D.C., over the nomination of Harriet Miers by President Bush to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. Miers faces charges that she is an unknown, with no judicial background and no specific qualifications to serve on the court. There's also a charge that she may be the beneficiary of "cronyism," having served as the president's personal counsel for many years — and these are the charges being made by conservatives and Republicans! Combine those facts with the observations of some prominent Democratic senators who will also vote on her nomination —...

<p>WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers said in a speech more than a decade ago that "self-determination" should guide decisions about abortion and school prayer and that in cases where scientific facts are disputed and religious beliefs vary, "government should not act."</p>

WASHINGTON - After being roundly criticized for submitting an incomplete questionnaire to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers gets a second chance today. Her new submission, due to the committee by the end of the day, will be important in determining whether she gets confirmed. Her nomination has not generated much enthusiasm in the Senate and could be in jeopardy if senators aren't satisfied with her second batch of answers. Sen. Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the "unprecedented" request for more answers shows both parties are skeptical about Miers. "Both Republicans and Democrats...

Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers said in a speech more than a decade ago that "self-determination" should guide decisions about abortion and school prayer and that in cases where scientific facts are disputed and religious beliefs vary, "government should not act." In a 1993 speech to a Dallas women's group, Miers talked about abortion, the separation of church and state, and how the issues play out in the legal system. "The underlying theme in most of these cases is the insistence of more self-determination," she said. "And the more I think about these issues, the more self-determination makes sense." In...

< /snip> Those who claim that it is only Washington eggheads and activists who are disillusioned, misunderstand and underestimate the consequences of such Washington-based problems. The current Washington Republican negativity to Mr. Bush is as a stone thrown into a lake -- it will ripple outward until it causes waves on the distant shores of the heartland. < / snip> More importantly, the president is perilously close to duplicating the estrangement his father experienced from his congressional allies when George H.W. Bush raised taxes in 1990. Just a year out from congressional elections, Republican congressmen and senators are in the...

(Angus Reid Global Scan) – More adults in the United States are questioning whether George W. Bush’s most recent Supreme Court nominee should serve in the tribunal, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports. 34 per cent of respondents believe Harriet Miers should not be confirmed, up six points since mid-October. In the U.S., Supreme Court justices are appointed for life by the president and confirmed by a majority vote in the Senate. On Sept. 29, John Roberts was sworn in as the new chief justice. Roberts—who served as a judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District...