Posted on 10/04/2005 2:32:49 PM PDT by wjersey
George W. Bush has just rung the death knell for his presidency.
For the Supreme Court of the United States, a president under fire for cronyism has chosen the ultimate crony.
For the highest court in the land, a president criticized for a lack of gravitas has chosen a woman who the president's own former speechwriter describes as "a taut, nervous, anxious personality."
For one of the nine highest legal positions in the entire country, this president has ignored dozens of candidates with impeccable credentials -- top law school honors, judicial clerkships, distinguished careers in academia, lengthy experience arguing cases before the Su preme Court, superb records as federal judges -- and chosen somebody whose qualifications, on paper, are pretty good only for a lower judgeship, if she were 10 years younger.
For a long, long time, observers on the right and left have said that President Bush doesn't bear criticism well, that he has assembled an administration of "yes men" (and women), that he lives in an insular bubble of adulation bordering on toadyism. The nomination of White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court confirms that impression.
Writes former speechwriter David Frum: "In the White House that hero-worshipped the president, Miers was distinguished by the intensity of her zeal: She once told me that the president was the most brilliant man she had ever met."
Yeah, right.
Because Ms. Miers' resumé is comparatively thin, President Bush in effect is asking Americans just to trust his judgment. But this is the man who said he looked into Vladimir Putin's soul and liked what he saw.
Americans deserve to have a Supreme Court made up of the brightest and most qualified lawyers in the country. And to be sure, her resumé isn't awful. After graduating from SMU, she clerked for a federal district court judge. She was managing partner of a top Texas firm. She was president of the Dallas Bar Association and the Texas Bar Association.
Such a record commends itself for an appeals court judgeship. But it pales in comparison to new Chief Justice John Roberts, whose sterling record is now well known, and to many of the other people mentioned in recent months as potential nominees.
Judge Samuel Alito of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, for instance, graduated from Princeton and from Yale Law School, clerked for a judge on the Third Circuit, worked in the U.S. solicitor general's office and as an assistant U.S. attorney general, and served as U.S. attorney in New Jersey.
Judge Alice Batchelder of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals earned not just a regular law degree from Akron University, where she was editor of the law review, but also a master of law from the University of Virginia, and served as both a U.S. bankruptcy court judge and a U.S. district judge before her current post.
Judge Michael Luttig of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals graduated from Washington and Lee and from the University of Virginia law school, clerked for now Justice (then appeals court judge) Antonin Scalia and for Chief Justice Warren Burger, and was assistant attorney general of the United States.
Judge Emilio Garza of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals earned both bachelor's and master's degrees from Notre Dame and a law degree at the University of Texas, served three years of active duty in the Marine Corps, and was both a state district court judge and a federal district judge.
At least a dozen other potential nominees boast similarly impressive records while also filling the president's stated desire for a mainstream-conservative approach to jurisprudence.
Instead, he puts forth somebody whose chief qualification seems to be personal loyalty to him, somebody a former White House official (not speechwriter Frum) was quoted, in Legal Times, as calling a nit-picky micromanager who, first, "can't make a decision, and second ... can't delegate, she can't let anything go."
Wonderful. Just wonderful.
But forget pure qualifications: The worst thing about this nomination, if you want a successful presidency, is that it will be a political disaster. Mr. Bush already is on the ropes in the opinion polls because his White House is seen as being out of touch (guitar playing camera-mugging after Hurricane Katrina, before even flying over the disaster zone, will do that to you) and for its notorious fondness for inside baseball. ("You're doing a great job, Brownie.").
Now the Ted Kennedy left will have a field day portraying Miers as an unqualified crony while the political right remains unenthused and silent -- because it, too, considers her an unqualified crony.
And those are just some conservatives. The blogosphere Monday was full of other conservatives who weren't silent, but outspokenly angry.
A crucial decision made by an already-reeling president that energizes the opposition while demoralizing or angering usual allies can be nothing other than an unmitigated disaster.
President Bush once described Harriet Miers as "a pit bull in size 6 shoes." It's worth remembering that many are the dog owners who rue the day they unleashed their favorite pit bulls.
"For a long, long time, observers on the right and left have said that President Bush doesn't bear criticism well, that he has assembled an administration of "yes men" (and women), that he lives in an insular bubble of adulation bordering on toadyism. The nomination of White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court confirms that impression."
That is going on in full force on FR. If I hear "I Trust Him" one more time as the sole qualifier for this nominee I think I am going to puke.
The funniest thing I've seen today was this e-mail to NRO's The Corner: "Bush appoints his accountant to head the Fed." That would make about as much sense as this nomination. I can't believe Bush actually had the gall to claim she was the most qualified candidate he could find. Give me a break. No one is buying that crap!
People have short memories.
Exactly. Why not pick someone in their late 40's?????
OMG! That really does put it in perspective. GWB picks his CPA to the Fed to replace Greenspan. This is too sad to cry.
Not to mention the "conservatives" who are too dainty to do something as boorish as overturn any of that creative lawyering that has already happened.
Yep, toadyism, and this here ain't even the White House.
Quinn has been an ardent supporter of President Bush and his Judicial nominees. He has worked relentlessly to get them confirmed and has a website called "Confirmthem.com"
This is not about Conservative being unduly critical of President Bush, this is about President Bush making a grievous error. He is a Human Being and he does make errors, even he knows that.
And absolutely zero evidence that she even knows how to interpret the Constitution.
I see few ad hominems against Ms. Miers in the piece. It reads more as critical of President Bush than critical or Ms. Miers. Sure, her background and experience are compared with those of some judges, but that is not attacking her as a person.
Does this mean Vice President Cheney has to take over, or is he collateral damage necessitating the elevation of Dennis Hastert?
Just want to understand the ramifications of this fine screed declaring the current presidency dead. I'd hate to see Norm Mineta end up in power.
And we'll see so-called conservatives parroting the current liberal cronyism spin, all the while ignoring the fact that Rehnquist would have fit the definition of Nixon White House crony as well - and also had no judicial experience at the time of his nomination.
Let's not help out the Dem spinners and see if we can figure out what Miers actually stands for, and then decide.
Maybe because they only pretend to be conservative? Just a hypothesis, that's all.
But this isn't a hypothesis: the MSM and Harry Reid definitely do not pretend to be liberal. They're the real McCoy. And they're quite happy with Miers.
If I could offer to translate this from MSM into English:
President Bush doesn't bear criticism well
"He doesn't do what we tell him to do!"
that he has assembled an administration of "yes men" (and women)
"Why didn't he appoint Daschle and Kennedy to his cabinet?"
that he lives in an insular bubble of adulation bordering on toadyism
"He ignores our criticisms of him - again, he doesn't do what we tell him to do!"
Ouch.
I'm not sure that I like this nomination, but Mr. Hillyer is over the top, here.
Still working for the DNC I see Inquest.
"...this president has ignored dozens of candidates with impeccable credentials -- top law school honors, judicial clerkships, distinguished careers in academia, lengthy experience arguing cases before the Supreme Court, superb records as federal judges..."
Thank God! Just what we don't need on the bench is another g*dd*m CLINTONITE like those that are described above! God Bless GWB!!!
I trust him, and if he says she's the right person for the job, then for me she IS!
(And I will not engage any of you Buchananite/McCainiac/Perotozoa types on this site who want to knock those of us who love and respect GWB, and seem to think that only some 3rd party idiot can do the job right. You all can kiss my @ss, cause you're dangerous and will help Hillary and Bill with their evil plans.)
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