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The office of Sen. Jon Kyl (R.-Ariz.) released a letter he sent to Time magazine correcting multiple falsehoods in an article about his role in Harriet Miers nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the November 7 issue of Time, an article by Massimo Calabresi ("Kyl-ling Her Softly") accused Sen. Kyl, Chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, of being "the man most responsible for taking Miers down." The article quotes "a G.O.P. staff member" that from "Day One" the conservative "[Kyl] was trying to kill Miers." Time also accused Kyl of organizing "internal whisper campaigns" and claimed "that the...

When Harriet Miers’ nomination was first announced, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley called her an “amazingly bad choice.” This morning, he weighed in Samuel Alito:JONATHAN TURLEY: He’s the top choice for particularly pro-life people. Sam Alito is viewed as someone who is likely to join the hard right in likely narrowing Roe and possibly voting to overturn Roe. KATIE COURIC: So he is a strict constructionist in every since of the word? I know President Bush is looking for a conservative jurist, so he fits the bill in terms of someone who will interpret the Constitution literally and...

Conservatives and constitutionalists are lining up to praise W's choice of Samuel Alito. Heritage Foundation press release: "President Bush has made an outstanding choice in nominating Judge Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court. Judge Alito is a distinguished scholar, a gifted lawyer with broad and impressive experience, and is known in the bar as one of the greatest appellate judges in America today." [...] "Judge Alito also has the personal characteristics and dedication to the rule of law that will make him a renowned justice of the Supreme Court. He is a humble man with the highest integrity, an even...

As President Bush prepares to make a new appointment to the Supreme Court, the lessons of the failed Miers nomination are still being absorbed. One that deserves study is how a lightning-fast news cycle, a flat-footed defense and the growth of new media such as talk radio and blogs sank Ms. Miers's chances even before the megabuck special-interest groups could unload their first TV ad. Ms. Miers herself has told friends that she was astonished at how the Internet became a conveyor belt for skeptical mainstream media reports on her in addition to helping drive the debate.

SNIP - ALITO DISSENTING OPINION Maj. Op. at ----. In other words, the majority argues in effect that the private, purely intrastate possession of machine guns has a substantial effect on the interstate machine gun market. This theory, if accepted, would go far toward converting Congress's authority to regulate interstate commerce into "a plenary police power." Lopez, --- U.S. at ----, 115 S.Ct. at 1633. If there is any sort of interstate market for a commodity--and I think that it is safe to assume that there is some sort of interstate market for practically everything--then the purely intrastate possession of...

ACTION NEEDED! New Nominee a Threat to Reproductive Rights Dear xxxxxx, Roe Hangs in the Balance Since the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade decision, the number of justices willing to affirm the right to choose has decreased. » 1973 Roe v. Wade was decided: Seven justices supported a woman's right to choose. » 1992 Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey was decided: We were down to five justices who supported a woman's right to choose. » 2000 Stenberg v. Carhart was decided: The court was split five to four, with five ruling that a woman's health must be the...

One thing you're going to hear a lot of, with Samuel Alito the next nominee for the Supreme Court, is Judge Alito's dissent in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the big 1992 abortion case that passed through the Third Circuit on its way to the Supreme Court. Patterico takes a close look at that dissent, and you should go check that out. But what's even more interesting about potentially staging a big fight over Alito's ruling in the Casey decision is the identity of the defendant in that case, the governor who signed into law and defended in court the abortion...

They Said It!: Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), And Former Sen. Bill Bradley (D-NJ) On Samuel Alito(title shortened for length)SEN. TED KENNEDY (D-MA): “You Have Obviously Had A Very Distinguished Record, And I Certainly Commend You For Long Service In The Public Interest. I Think It Is A Very Commendable Career And I Am Sure You Will Have A Successful One As A Judge.” (Sen. Ted Kennedy, Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 4/5/90)SEN. FRANK LAUTENBERG (D-NJ): “I Believe Mr. Alito Has The Experience And The Skills To Be The Kind Of Judge The Public Deserves –...

With the announcement of a new Supreme Court nominee expected as early as Monday, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, warned President Bush on Sunday not to pick one of the candidates said to be on the president's short list, Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. "I think it would create a lot of problems," Mr. Reid said on "Late Edition" on CNN. Republicans close to the selection process said over the weekend that as Mr. Bush neared a final decision, Judge Alito, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, remained a leading candidate, along...

Per Fox News...

As President Bush prepares to make a new appointment to the Supreme Court, the lessons of the failed Miers nomination are still being absorbed. One that deserves study is how a lightning-fast news cycle, a flat-footed defense and the growth of new media such as talk radio and blogs sank Ms. Miers's chances even before the megabuck special-interest groups could unload their first TV ad. Ms. Miers herself has told friends that she was astonished at how the Internet became a conveyor belt for skeptical mainstream media reports on her in addition to helping drive the debate. The rapidity with...

NEW CBSNEWS PRESIDENT: WORLD SERIES OVER SUPREME COURT? Sun Oct 30 2005 20:27:16 ET At his first editorial meeting of the "CBS Evening News" since being named president of CBS News last week, Sean McManus listened to the proposed rundown for that night's program: Harriet E. Miers' troubled nomination for the Supreme Court; the possible indictments of I. Lewis Libby Jr. and Karl Rove in connection with the leaking of the name of a CIA agent, the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma and the World Series victory of the Chicago White Sox. The NEW YORK TIMES reports on Monday, "Then they...

The last group President Bush thought he had to worry about opposing Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers was the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill. But it turns out the man most responsible for taking Miers down was an insider, the G.O.P.'s fourth-ranked Senator, Jon Kyl (rhymes with smile). The second-term conservative from Arizona argued at length in meetings with majority leader Bill Frist and G.O.P. whip Mitch McConnell that the Miers nomination was too risky ideologically and too costly politically, sources on Capitol Hill tell TIME. From Day One, says a G.O.P. staff member, "[Kyl] was trying to kill Miers."...

The Bush administration's second-term bear market has bottomed outLAST WEEK THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S second-term bear market bottomed out. On Monday, Bush nominated as the next Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who of all the leading candidates will be the central banker least hostile to tax cuts and least likely to direct monetary policy to any end other than combating inflation. At the end of the week, the Commerce Department announced that economic growth in the third quarter had been 3.8 percent, suggesting that, thanks in large part to Bush's supply-side tax cuts, our economy may remain strong enough to overcome...

Nov. 7, 2005 issue - The mood in the White House last Friday afternoon was grim, but eerily quiet. Dick Cheney was gone, off in Georgia giving yet another apocalyptic terrorism speech to yet another military crowd. The president, just back from his own rally-the-troops address, was eager to chopper to Camp David for the weekend. But, in the small dining room adjoining the Oval Office, he was doing something uncharacteristic: watching live news on TV...

Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Senate's minority leader, said on ABC's "This Week" today that Bush's nomination of Harriet MIers was not a mistake and he believes she could have done well in a nomination hearing. He urged the president not to be too quick to move to the right on a nomination and to steer toward the middle.

President Bush neared a decision on a new nominee for the Supreme Court as Republican lawmakers suggested Sunday he should pick a solid conservative with a track record as a judge. But the Senate's top Democrat raised the possibility of "a lot of problems" if Bush settles on federal appeals judge Samuel Alito to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a swing voter on abortion and other social issues.

For what little it's worth, FNC is saying "at any moment" we may have a pick announcement. Yes, I know everyone is watching football or making Halloween treats, but I'm just being your friendly neighborhhood useless rumor mill.

The White House decided to employ a politically-palatable, pundit-prescribed exit strategy with the withdrawal of Harriet Miers. Because of that, Miss Miers is no longer a nominee to the United States Supreme Court, and much of America may believe the Bush Administration's contention that she withdrew over a request for documents. In actuality, she withdrew because her 1993 pro-abortion speech came to light, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back for the great Dr. James Dobson, Senator Sam Brownback, Senator John Thune, and any members of the conservative base who had reserved judgment up to that point....

One thing's for certain about this Harriet Miers mess: The conservative movement can never, ever play the Bork card again. No more whining about liberals tarring-and-feathering Robert Bork in his 1987 Supreme Court confirmation hearing. For two decades, conservative activists have droned on about their spiritual leader's defeat in the Senate. They carry him around on their shoulders as proof of how the establishment's out to get them. Well, forget that nonsense. No more of that cry-babying, not after what conservatives like writer David Frum and organizations like Concerned Women of America — using National Review magazine and The Wall...

WASHINGTON - Rebounding from the failed nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, President Bush is poised to select between two of the nation's leading conservative federal appeals court judges--both experienced jurists with deep backgrounds in constitutional law--for what promises to be a bruising Senate confirmation battle. With an announcement expected Sunday or Monday, administration officials have narrowed the focus to Judges Samuel Alito of New Jersey and J. Michael Luttig of Virginia, sources involved in the process said.

By Ben Lando Oct. 30, 2005 at 12:17PM Washington, Oct. 30 (UPI) — Liberals and conservatives are calling for the next Supreme Court nominee to have a known stance on abortion -- they just disagree on the stance. President Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers to succeed retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was knocked down after conservative complaints that Miers' stance on abortion wasn't clear. The nomination of Miers, White House counsel, was withdrawn Thursday. The New York Times reports Bush is getting pressure from conservatives to nominate someone with an anti-abortion rights stance and a short wish list with...

WASHINGTON — Rebounding from the failed nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, President Bush is poised to select between two of the nation's leading conservative federal appeals-court judges — both with deep backgrounds in constitutional law — for what promises to be a bruising Senate confirmation battle. With an announcement expected today or Monday, administration officials have narrowed the focus to Judges Samuel Alito of New Jersey and Michael Luttig of Virginia, sources involved in the process said. Both have sterling legal qualifications and solid conservative credentials, and either would set off an explosive fight with Senate Democrats,...

Ann is scheduled for a speech appearance at the "Amercian Compass Book Award" at 9:14 EST for about 15 minutes.

This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which follows. To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47112 Saturday, October 29, 2005 In Bush we trust? Posted: October 29, 20051:00 a.m. Eastern By Don Feder © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com That the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers has been mercifully euthanized is good news. What this bizarre episode says about the "conservatism" of George W. Bush is the bad news. Whenever someone tries to tell me about the supposed commitment to the cause of our 43rd president, my off-handed response is: "Colin Powell, Christine Todd Whitman, Alberto Gonzales, Arlen Specter (Bush supported...

President George W. Bush on Saturday was narrowing his choices of Supreme Court nominees to replace Harriet Miers as Republicans said the short list consisted of highly credentialed, solidly conservative judges. Among the candidates most talked about were appeals court judges Michael Luttig and Samuel Alito. Bush, who is spending the weekend at his Camp David retreat, was expected to unveil his choice within days. A source close to the selection process who spoke on condition of anonymity said avoiding a battle with Democrats, who have warned Bush about picking a right-wing activist, would not be the president's top priority.

The choice of Harriet Miers to be nominated to the Supreme Court, and her subsequent withdrawal, shows that caution is sometimes the most dangerous policy.She was obviously chosen cautiously as a "stealth" nominee -- someone without a paper trail or a judicial record that could ignite controversy -- in hopes of avoiding a confirmation fight that the Senate Republicans had the votes to win, but had neither the unity nor the guts required to make victory certain.Harriet Miers was a choice made from political weakness. Now she is gone but the political weakness remains. So celebrations in conservative quarters may...

As long as Miers doesn't return from Camp David with a renomination in hand, and Card doesn't return having been nominated for the Treasury Secretaryship he covets, what's the problem?  If what the White House told us about Miers' role in the Roberts nomination process is accurate, and everything we've heard seems to bear that out, then she did a good job for the President and for conservatives.  There is nothing to suspect they won't give the President strong advice. White House insiders say that while President Bush has not yet had a "Come to Jesus" moment, the past ten days have come pretty...

My, My! Miers Morphs Carol Turoff October 28, 2005 Since the withdrawal of Harriet Meirs’s nomination to fill the O’Connor supreme court vacancy, spin has centered on the enormity of the conservative clout. It is no secret that many were dissatisfied with her lack of demonstrable qualifications or even an inkling of her judicial philosophy. Service as the Texas lottery director, a stint as an at-large city council representative and personal lawyer to George W. Bush is hardly the background one expects for a U.S. Supreme Court justice. But those meager qualifications alone were not enough to energize the onslaught...

After Miers, the Right Is Expecting More By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK Published: October 30, 2005 In his two choices for the Supreme Court so far, President Bush has tapped what some conservatives called "stealth" nominees: jurists without a clear record of legal opinions on abortion rights or other contentious social issues. But with the announcement of a third nominee to succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor expected as early as Monday, prominent conservatives said they were confident that this time would be different. They argued that the reaction against the nomination of Harriet E. Miers had proven the perils of such...

Merrillville native Maureen Mahoney's name being considered as a U.S. Supreme Court nominee doesn't surprise her mother, Marian Mahoney. "I talk to my daughter or e-mail her every day. I've known for some time," said Marian Mahoney in regard to her 51-year-old daughter being mentioned as a potential nominee. Maureen Mahoney confirmed Friday she is a potential nominee, but she said she can't talk about the process leading up to her accepting the nomination. "I already have a dream job, but it's extremely flattering to be considered," she said. She said she has been compared to Supreme Court Chief Justice...

Luttig is by all accounts a brilliant judge-- he clerked for Scalia. His personal story is compelling. The Dem Senators in many states would have a helluva a time opposing him. The murder of his father and the near murder of his mother in the driveway of the home he grew up in makes him a sypathetic figure... it's hard to Bork a fellow who has known pain of this sort and who acted with such class and honor to see justice done in the matter. He is a Virginian-- by way of Texas. Announcing the nomination in the days...

WASHINGTON - Rebounding from the failed nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, President Bush is poised to select between two of the nation's leading conservative federal appeals court judges - both experienced jurists with deep backgrounds in constitutional law - for what promises to be a bruising Senate confirmation battle. With an announcement expected Sunday or Monday, administration officials have narrowed the focus to Judges Samuel Alito of New Jersey and Michael Luttig of Virginia, sources involved in the process said. Both have sterling legal qualifications and solid conservative credentials, and both would set off an explosive fight...

In the "Buzz" section at the end of the just-completed Beltway Boys, Mort Kondracke predicted that Pres. Bush would nominate Court of Appeals judge Mike McConnell. Fred Barnes predicted Sam Alito, Jr. I'd say that the great majority of FReepers would be pleased by either pick.

The short list of potential nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court suddenly appeared much shorter Friday as 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. quickly emerged as perhaps the most likely second choice to fill Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's seat. In the wake of Harriet Miers' withdrawal of her nomination, the New York Times reported Friday that Alito was one of three "finalists" three weeks ago when Miers was chosen. The other, according to the Times, was 4th Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig. Hours later, on the popular law blog, SCOTUSblog.com, attorney Tom Goldstein was predicting...

High On Bush's Supreme List Third Circuit Court's Alito Being Considered For Nomination (AP) WASHINGTON A New Jerseyan may be figuring in President Bush's plans for the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Samuel Alito's name came up earlier this year when Bush was considering replacements for Sandra Day O'Connor. Now that Harriet Miers bowed out, Bush could be going back to names widely circulated before her nomination. Topping the list are Alito and other federal appeals court judges. Alito sits on the Third U-S Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia and lives in West Caldwell, N.J. The former federal prosecutor has...

Mark Steyn on the dangers of the Court becoming a nine-member parliament. HH: Mark Steyn, columnist to the world, are you in New Hampshire today, Mark? MS: Yes, I am. A very snowy part of New Hampshire, too. HH: Oh, it is. The noreaster got you, huh? MS: Yup. I've got snow stuck on the ground, which isn't a good start to winter. HH: No, it's pretty early, actually. A very somber day. What do you make of the Harriet Miers withdrawal, Mark Steyn? MS: Well, you know, I think we can all ease up on the insults of Harriet...

Why Bush picks stealth nominees Posted: October 29, 20051:00 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com Many conservatives cannot understand why President George W. Bush has taken the stealth approach in his selection of nominees for the Supreme Court. After all, we have what appears to be a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate. If the Democrats trash highly qualified nominees because their thinking reflects the president's judgment instead of the Democrat Party platform, it won't be hard to convince the public that they are simply trying to achieve through intimidation what they couldn't achieve at the ballot box in the last presidential...

WASHINGTON - President Bush's bad week may yet prove the administration's great turning point. None of the reverses need be fatal; each of them contains an opportunity to move back on to a more successful path. Everything depends on the wisdom, self-discipline, and perspective of the President himself. Yesterday's indictments of Lewis Libby are one opportunity. For while Mr. Libby now stands in serious legal peril, the broader administration has been exonerated of intentional wrongdoing. From the start, there have been two competing theories of what happened in the CIA leak scandal. Call them the "big" theory and the "little"...

More than nine troubled months after taking the oath of office and in the wake of the indictment of a senior administration official, President Bush will try to give his second term a fresh start by naming a new nominee to the Supreme Court, intensifying his drive to cut government spending and continuing to speak more bluntly about the threat from Islamic fundamentalism, the NEW YORK TIMES reports on Sunday. The administration's goal was to reassure its divided and demoralized conservative base, chalk up a few victories on Capitol Hill and set the stage for a more robust comeback next...

Today's TWP: By Jo Becker and Amy Goldstein: .....Alito, a former federal prosecutor, has strong enough credentials to satisfy and reunite Bush's conservative base, which fractured over the Miers nomination. Nicknamed "Scalito" for his philosophical similarities to Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative darling, Alito has the type of lengthy record that should please many conservatives..... Adding to the speculation were reports by those close to the process that Alito arrived in Washington Thursday night. Asked why the judge came to town and whether he was in chambers yesterday, Alito's clerk laughed and said he would have to take a message....

Comment: Drudge has posted the latest article by Bob Novak that gives strong hints that Judge Williams is the front runner (see 3rd paragraph): ______________________________________________________________________________ WASHINGTON -- Managers of the failed Harriet Miers nomination for the Supreme Court set the actual day of her demise as Oct. 18, when conservative Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Sam Brownback of Kansas called for the release of her work product as White House counsel to justify her confirmation. Miers's strategists at that point felt the game was over because of inability to fight congressional demands for documents that the White...

October 28, 2005 The Honorable George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear Mr. President: Today the Senate received your withdrawal of the nomination of Harriet Miers to be an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. We agree with Senator John Danforth, until recently a high-ranking official in your Administration, who has called the circumstances of Ms. Miers’s withdrawal “a power play” by “the right wing of American politics.” We regret that Ms. Miers was not even afforded the opportunity to answer her right wing critics at a Judiciary Committee hearing. The...

Samuel Alito Jr Age: 55 Education: Princeton University, B.A, 1972 Yale Law School, J.D., 1975 Federal Judicial Service: U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Nominated by George H.W. Bush on February 20, 1990. Confirmed by the Senate on April 27, 1990, and received commission on April 30, 1990. Professional Career: U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, 1987-1990 Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, 1985-1987 Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice, 1981-1985 Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of New Jersey, 1977-1981 Law Clerk, Hon. Leonard I. Garth, U.S. Court of...

In 2000, Pat Buchanan was edged out for President by George W. Bush. His presence in the race was a potential disaster for conservatives who realized that a Gore presidency needed to be avoided. Fortunately, Ralph Nader blunted the Buchanan effect by drawing votes from the idealistic left, balancing the Buchanan votes from the idealistic right. Of course, the Constitution entrusts the right and responsibility to nominate all federal judges to the President. That's George W. Bush, not Mr. Buchanan, of course. But Mr. Buchanan vigorously opposed the nomination of Harriet Miers, just like he vigorously opposed President Bush in...

President Bush is mulling a short list of prospective Supreme Court nominees this weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat. Liberals fear Bush will nominate someone to please the GOP's right flank, which opposed the failed nomination of Harriet Miers. Conservatives expect Bush to choose someone with a stellar legal background, judicial experience and a public record of opinions. For three weeks, conservative Republicans criticized Miers, saying the Texas lawyer and loyal Bush confidante had thin credentials on constitutional law and no proven record as a judicial conservative. "Interest groups are not entitled to an extraconstitutional veto over Supreme Court...

The White House counsel, Harriet E. Miers, and the chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., as President Bush spoke Friday about the indictment. WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 - When Harriet E. Miers withdrew her nomination to the Supreme Court, she may have taken with it the last chance to avoid a climactic confrontation over who will succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who is retiring. As he picks another nominee - Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit emerged as a leading candidate on Friday - President Bush faces redoubled pressures from...

It's my sense - and tell me if you disagree - that the wounds of the Miers battle are already close to healed. The expectation is that President Bush will appoint one of a dozen well-qualified conservative nominees who will delight his supporters and prove acceptable to a majority (and maybe more than a majority) of the US Senate.

WITH THE indictment of Lewis Libby and possible indictment of Karl Rove, President Bush faces a fateful choice. Bush can adopt a bunker mentality and try to appease his base of social ultra-conservatives and military hawks who have brought him such grief. Or he can reach out to the broad mainstream, as he pretended to do when he ran as a ''uniter, not a divider" in 2000. Who would have predicted that the Bush machine would implode so spectacularly, on so many fronts simultaneously? -snip- If he were Bill Clinton, you would expect him to ''triangulate" -- forsake his own...

LAST WEEK THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S second-term bear market bottomed out. On Monday, Bush nominated as the next Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who of all the leading candidates will be the central banker least hostile to tax cuts and least likely to direct monetary policy to any end other than combating inflation. At the end of the week, the Commerce Department announced that economic growth in the third quarter had been 3.8 percent, suggesting that, thanks in large part to Bush's supply-side tax cuts, our economy may remain strong enough to overcome the twin hurdles of high energy prices and...