Posted on 10/03/2005 5:19:55 AM PDT by Former Military Chick
Oct. 3, 2005 — Harriet Ellan Miers is White House counsel and was formerly President Bush's personal lawyer in Texas. She first served in the White House as staff secretary and was deputy chief of staff before she was named counsel upon Alberto Gonzales' transition to attorney general.
When he was the governor of Texas, Bush once publicly introduced Miers as a "pit bull in size 6 shoes."
Born and raised in Dallas, Miers earned her undergraduate degree in mathematics and her law degree from Southern Methodist University. In addition to her legal career, she served one term on the Dallas City Council.
Miers, 60, broke barriers for women throughout her career. She reportedly was the first woman hired by the prestigious Dallas law firm Locke Purnell Boren Laney & Neely, where she became a successful commercial litigator. She also became the first female president of the Dallas Bar Association in 1985 and was the first woman elected president of the Texas Bar Association in 1992.
Miers met Bush in the 1980s, according to published reports, and she was counsel for his 1994 campaign for governor. He appointed her chair of the Texas Lottery Commission in 1995.
Miers then was president of Locke, Purnell, Rain & Harrell and co-managing partner of Locke Liddell & Sapp before she joined the White House in 2001.
In addition, Miers was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Lawyers by the National Law Journal in 1998, and she received numerous other awards from groups including the Dallas Women Lawyers Association, the Anti-Defamation League and the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers.
Interesting list of $$ contributions. One makes me pleased. She gave to "JON NEWTON FOR CONGRESS" $1,000 for the general election in 2000. Jon's a very conservative guy (I worked on his campaign) who ran against incumbent Congressman Ralph Hall. At the time, Mr. Hall was a Democrat but who is now a Republican and has been a good friend of the Bush family for years.
Dear wagglebee,
And it appears that although he was still pro-life as late as 1987, by early 1988, Mr. Gore had turned on a dime and become a pro-abort.
Mrs. Meirs gave her money to an openly pro-abort presidential candidate.
sitetest
Put the plug in the jug.
Not true. I sure that a JRB nomination would have been cheered. At least I would have been cheering.
From Political Moneyline, contributions made by Harriet E. Miers in the 2000 election cycle:
$1,000 to Kay Bailey Hutchison for Senate Committee
$1,000 to Bush for President
$5,000 to Bush-Cheney 2000 Recount Fund
$1,000 to Bush-Cheney 2000 Compliance Committee
$1,000 to Dallas County Republican Party
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!?!
<< "At best Miers maintains the balance of the Court, and that is best case scenario. "
I don't understand that statement. Do you mean you are happy with the political direction of the Supreme Court for the last few years? >>
He means the best we can hope for is that it stays as bad as it's been.
And might well be worse.
and when Pres. Nixon nominated William Rehnquist, who was not a sitting jurist, i guess he was a crapshoot also.
We will complain about this nomination until she gives us a reason not too. This is the first real disappointment for me with regard to his judicial nominations.
There are just a couple of things that give me something to hang my hat on.
1. She mentioned her admiration for the wisdom of our founding fathers (not a liberal statement). She was clear about her philosophy of strict application of the law AND Constitution.
2. Her participation in Exodus ministries and Women's Christian Association is far better than Chief legal counsel for the ACLU. A quote from Exodus Ministries says, "[A]t EXODUS, we recognize that recently released and paroled ex-offenders need help. In addition to their need for intimate knowledge of the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
3. The POTUS knows her well. This is his big selling point. He looked directly in the camera, stated his criteria, and assured us that she met it. There is no way he can claim to have been bamboozled like his father was with Souter.
If he is the real deal then she will be fine. If she is a Souter, then we have been duped and there is no place to go (politically) for Evangelicals in this country. I for one will be done with politics. I look back at all the hours I spent working and praying for the last 2 presidential elections. For me it was about these vacancies on the court.
We don't really need to guess. President Bush always does what he says he'll do. He promised us strict constructionists and that is what he is going to give us.
We don't know her, but President Bush does.
did i accidently click on to DU?
Is it me, or do the same folks keep coming out to bash The President?
Seems its the same ole offenders everytime-DUers must be feeling frisky this morning!
Mrs. Meirs = Ms. Miers.
Based on her biography, obviously she has worked with Pres. Bush quite a bit in the past. So he must trust her and have at least some familiarity with how she thinks on a variety of issues, including the social ones that I suspect many here are most concerned about (abortion, special rights for homos, etc.)
Now if that is the case, and the facts suggest it is, I can't believe that the President would deliberately betray his own base by nominating someone that he personally knows would do harm to the conservative movement. I mean, it's one thing to nominate someone you think is conservative (Souter) and then find out they're not. It's quite another to nominate someone you personally know. In other words, if she turns out to be another Souter, then the President must have either known she could be turn out like him or his judgement has totally left him. I find either of these unlikely.
His Dad's mistake with Souter was to trust his advisors too much. I think it was Sununu who pushed Souter on GHW Bush. In this case, this pick is totally W.'s. If it turns out to be a disaster, it's on him and no one else.
Perhaps you're right about that. Forgive me, however, for being a cynic about it. I'd have 3 points on the streets saying Bush would have been considered "pandering" if he made that choice.
If you want a Google GMail account, FReepmail me.
They're going fast!
My understanding is that she only donated him money in the primary. Remember he was up against Dukakis. Draw your own conclusions. I don't know her position on abortion. I just hope the POTUS took the time to find that bit of information out before nominating her.
Sure was. He turned out to be a conservative, by and large, thank God. Most crapshoots, for whatever reason, with the Supreme Court however, turn out to be decidedly liberal. My point is, why do this? You have 55 Senators in your party. You have a conservative base critical to your party's long term success that will be deeply disappointed by the pick. Why not go to war with the people who went to war with you to get you elected in the first place?
Gore, however, is inexcusable.
Bush will do nothing. He's made his choice, it's out there and that is the end of it for Bush.
I love it when they go nuts.
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