Posted on 10/03/2005 9:02:27 AM PDT by hipaatwo
This begins a series of seven posts on Harriet Miers, based on interviews with those who know her. Some background for the first five: I spoke yesterday with Nathan Hecht, the Texas Supreme Court justice who is a prolife hero for strongly supporting parental notification laws five years ago when a SCOTEX majority was scuttling them. Hecht, 55 and never married, and Harriet Miers, 60 and never married, have known each other for 30 years and are -- to quote Hecht -- "very close friends. We dated some. The relationship has been close: Platonic... We go to dinner, I go to Washington for special things."
Harriet Miers -- pro, part 2
Miers has been a member of Valley View Christian Church in Dallas for 25 years, where Hecht has been an elder. He calls it a "conservative evangelical church... in the vernacular, fundamentalist, but the media have used that word to tar us." He says she was on the missions committee for ten years, taught children in Sunday School, made coffee, brought donuts: "Nothing she's asked to do in church is beneath her." On abortion, choosing his words carefully for an on-the-record statement, he says "her personal views are consistent with that of evangelical Christians... You can tell a lot about her from her decade of service in a conservative church."
Harriet Miers -- pro, part 3
Hecht says about Miers' judicial philosophy: "She's an orginalist -- that's the way she takes the Bible," and that's her approach to the Constitution as well -- "Originalist -- it means what it says." He notes that her legal practice involved writing contracts rather than tort law, so she was always looking at the plain meaning of the words: "Originalist." He also says she's not a social butterfly who will be swayed by Washington dinner table conversation: "She goes to the dinners she's supposed to go to. She's not on the social circuit."
Harriet Miers -- pro, part 4
Hecht says Miers never got married because she "probably worked too hard. She's close to her family, has a sister and three brothers, goes to her nephews' high school football games, bought a car for one of them." She "had a Catholic upbringing, had not been close to the church, it was off again, on again, then she came to a point in her life when she wanted to change that…. She made an abrupt change in 79 or 80. She was very hard-working and successful, she wanted new meaning, substance in her life.” Her father died when she was a freshman in college. "Look at her commitment in taking care of her [now 93-year-old mother] all these years. Look at her tax returns. She tithes, gave a full tithe to the church. Helps out in missions, Bible translation. These are the kinds of values she shows." Hecht and Miers "went to two or three prolife dinners in the late 80s or early 90s."
Harriet Miers -- pro, part 5
Questions are being raised about Harriet Miers' politics because published records show her making contributions of $1,000 to Lloyd Bentsen in 1987, Al Gore in 1988, and the Democratic National Committee that same year. Hecht says, "She was a Democrat years and years ago, in the early 80s." As far as the late 80s contributions, "If she did it, it was because the [law] firm made her do it." She is loyal to President Bush and he to her: "The president demands a lot. The people he's loyal to are productive." Miers and Laura Bush are "very close. Harriet just loves Laura, has the deepest respect for her. Laura has migrated in her faith, it’s stronger than when she got to Washington.”
Harriet Myers -- anti
Hecht's evaluation needs to be taken seriously, but here's one negative analysis from a lawyer who is a conservative Christian and worked with Harriet Miers in Texas (I agreed to go off-the-record with this lawyer, a credible person whose practice could be seriously hurt by this criticism of Miers): "Harriet could have become a conservative in Washington, but unless she did, she doesn’t have any particular judicial philosophy… I never heard her take a position on anything… We’ll have another Sandra Day O’Connor… Harriet worships the president and has called him the smartest man she’s known. She’s a pretty good lawyer…. This president can be bamboozled by anyone he feels close to. If a person fawns on him enough, is loyal, works 25 hours a day and says you’re the smartest man I ever met, all of a sudden you’re right for the Supreme Court."
Harriet Miers -- her pastor's view
I talked yesterday with Miers' pastor, Ron Key, who for 33 years (until a few weeks ago) was pastor of Valley View Christian Church in Dallas. “She started coming to church in 1980. She helped out with kids, made coffee, furnished donuts, served on missions committee. She worked out her faith in practical, behind-the-scenes ways. She doesn't draw attention to herself, she's humble, self-effacing." Key has still seen her in recent years because "her mother is 93. Harriet tries to get home as much as she can." When Key and Miers met in 1980, "I don’t know how strong her faith was at that time. She came to a place where she totally committed her life to Jesus. She had gone to church before, but when she came to our church it became more serious to her.... Our church is strong for life, but Harriet and I have not had any conversations on that…. We believe in the biblical approach to marriage."
Wow. This really is Souter deja vu!
Maybe Dubya is doing something right.
That's not true. We went with Reagan twice and elected a Republican governor and Republican senators. By 1988, the GOP majority was clearly emerging in Texas. She was defintiely lagging behind.
Very informative post. Thank you.
You can tell a lot about people from the company they keep. An old maid who belongs to a conservative (read fundamentalist) church and is close to her aged mother. Good lawyer who has outstripped most of the members of her class.
BUT I suspect that some of this is spite. Bush says:You movement conservatives refuse to accept Al because of one dubious opinion; OK, this is what you get.
She's a woman of her times. You don't have a career like hers and raise a family at the same time.
If I had to vote for Sam Nunn of 1975 and Linc Chafee of 2005, I'd vote Democrat.
LOL. I noticed that name too.
I remember some leftist Congresscritters some time ago mentioning the president could/should nominate someone from Congress, knowing full well that most of them had never been judges either.
I think it's good she's never been a judge. We've had lots of Supreme Court justices who had never been judges, including Rehnquist, I think. And I am delighted we will have someone who has not in the echo chamber created by happenstance once one becomes a judge. It makes her more "regular people" who can relate to Middle America.
It's is possible just possible this one is a stealth candidate. Being a former dem innoculates her a little. The former dem part troubles me but it is possible for people to change as was the case with W.
Good for you!
I have been more or less active in pro-life activities in Dallas for 15 or so, and Valley View Christiann Church is a wonderful church. I don't that Harriet Miers would feel comfortable there if she weren't pro-life.
<-------- Visit Stingray blogsite for conservative Christian commentary
It's is possible just possible this one is a stealth candidate. Being a former dem innoculates her a little. The former dem part troubles me but it is possible for people to change as was the case with W.
As I said, I was a dem in the 80s but I never held to all their veiws, I have always been pro life, have been pro gun and believe in the constitution as it was written.
Judging her on a few donations that may have been required of her to keep her job(read the article) isn't the smartest thing to do.
I am going to keep my options open and see what happens. All of you trolls and DUers trying to cause problems here just roll off my back.
ping
This is an issue that requires-in the words of John McLaughlin-"metaphysical certitude."
Perhaps she'll turn out to be a stellar associate justice-presuming, of course, that she's ultimately confirmed-but I'd rather not leave it up to chance, especially when there were so many other possible choices who had already established firm, unwavering judicial philosophies, and who would have been absolutely certain to stand with us.
Every conservative life-long Texan over the age of 40 was once a Democrat. 25 years ago the only real races in most counties were the primaries and they were between conservative Democrats and slightly-less-than-conservative Democrats. There really was no Repubican Party in Texas until Reagan.
15 years ago Al Gore promoted himself as a moral, pro-lifer. That changed. She also gave to Lloyd Bentsen, who got out of the Clinton administration as soon as he could. I still consider Bentsen to basically be an honorable man.
<-------- Visit Stingray blogsite for conservative Christian commentary
"I voted for Jimmy Carter."
I am a former Demo too. A Rabid Conservative now. I find her pick refreshing and in the interests of conservatives throughout the country.
This is going to be a bad one for the Demos. If she's anything like other converts, this is a truly solid pick.
I think it was regarding the forged Dan Rather doc. Buckhead of FR outed Rather, thereby scooping the MSM.
This information looks very promising.
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