But so far, I have seen hundreds of hand-wringing and snarky posts opposed to Miers because of the following critical issues regarding judicial temperment:
She's not pretty.
She's single and doesn't have kids.
She has been a capable admistrator for the president and that somehow disqualifiers her.
We don't know anything about her, therefore she should be opposed no matter what subsequently comes out.
She has no previous judicial experience, even though the same applied to Rehnquist and he turned out OK.
That is the depth of argument I've seen here today. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.
Unfortunately, we have a group of people here who appear to be incapable of rational thought.
A lot of these "snarky" comments are variations of what we are hearing from the talking heads, like Levin, Malkin, Kristol, etc.
I expect better than this sort of reactionary finger pointing from them, as they set the tone.
You wrote: She's single and doesn't have kids.
One interesting thing I've noted in all these threads.
Some people feel that in order to be conservative, she needs to be married and have children.
Others feel that she needs to be younger.
If a woman graduates college at 21, then graduates law school at 24, marries, has two children whom she parents (no daycare drop off for this conservative mom), she'll be in her mid-to-late 40s when her youngest heads off to college.
I've been married to an attorney for 21 years, and we have four children. You can certainly be a working mother in this profession, but the hours can be grizzly. Sixty-hour work weeks are baseline -- it can easily be 80-96, especially during trial periods. Not ideal for our mom with conservative values.
A mother who insists on a 40-hour work week will likely face some difficulties. There are some part-time options -- everything from legal aid and pre-paid legal services to working of-counsel with a firm or starting your own practice in your home -- but none of these options are as easy as some might think, especially with the demands of children. They are also not options likely to give you great experience on your resume. I'm not saying it can't happen or doesn't happen -- it's just not that easy.
So at 46, our conservative legal eagle begins a more serious part of her legal career. She has about 10 years to go from virtual novice to Supreme Court calibre.... Pretty ambitious. Not impossible, but very, very difficult.
I believe women should be on the Supreme Court. It doesn't make sense to ignore the wisdom of 50% of the population. I don't think they should be chosen solely because of their gender, but because of the insight, experience and perspective they can bring to the Court.
I personally agree that parenthood brings many changes to one's understanding and outlook. I highly recommend it! But if we want a conservative married mother on the bench, we may need to accept a woman of more advanced years.
If we want a younger woman on the bench, then perhaps it's good to have a woman who has ordered her life in such a way as to serve in this capacity -- even if it means remaining single and childless.
One woman of our acquaintance was a brilliant law school student who got a job with a large state firm. She was married to the Vice President of a bank who understood her working hours. She worked long and hard her first few year, made partner at a very young age (early 30s). She was partner for a few years and then became a judge. After she became a judge (which has regular hours, vacation, etc. Nice gig!), they started a family. She and her husband have two children. She will probably go far in her judicial career.
Not everyone, however, can do what she did. I know that if I had waited until my 30s to have children, we would be childless.
You forgot:
1) Gave money to Gore in 1988.
2) Didn't give money to Clinton, but someone with a similar name DID.
3) Harry Reid said she would be a good pick (much worse than having Leahy on board with Roberts?)
4) Frum may or may not have said she would cave under pressure
I'm sure there were even MORE good reasons to dislike this pick, but those are the 4 I noticed missing from the list.
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Disappointing at best. It appears that some of those posting are denizens of DU.