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Antonin Scalia Defends Miers
Newsmax ^ | 10/9/5

Posted on 10/09/2005 9:10:09 AM PDT by Crackingham

In an interview set for broadcast on Monday, leading conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia appears to be defending Harriet Miers against critics who say she doesn't have the qualifications to sit on the High Court.

"I think it's a good thing to have people from all sorts of backgrounds [on the Court]," Scalia tells CNBC's Maria Bartiromo, as the debate rages over Miers' lack of judical experience.

Without mentioning the Bush nominee by name, the conservative legal icon said that the High Court needed someone who had never served as a judge to take the place of the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

"There is now nobody with that [non judicial] background after the death of the previous chief," Scalia laments to Bartiromo.

"And the reason that's happened, I think, is that the nomination and confirmation process has become so controversial, so politicized that I think a president does not want to give the opposition an easy excuse [to say] 'Well, this person has no judicial experience.'" Scalia concludes: "I don't think that's a good thing. I think the Byron Whites, the Lewis Powells and the Bill Rehnquists have contributed to the court even though they didn't sit on a lower federal court."


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: antoninscalia; endorsement; harrietmiers; miers; scalia; scotus; supremecourt
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To: Gelato
"Temperament and agreements aside, the one thing that bothers me most about the Miers pick is the precedent it sets--particularly if Miers turns out to match our best hopes, or even exceed our expectations. The manner of her nomination now will become the model that all future Republican Presidents will follow.

We will forever have stealth, wait-and-see, trust-me kinds of nominations. Qualified candidates who in their past had been open and articulate in their judicial philosophy will be passed over for risky appointees with no background or record."

Very much agreed. I've made similar comments myself.

481 posted on 10/09/2005 3:24:04 PM PDT by TAdams8591 (A Reagan Conservative and mighty proud of it.)
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To: bray
By your obvious disgust with the "God Squad" it must mean your a secularist Conservative which explains everything. If you look at the list of Conservative gods you will find most are Secularists and the pro-Miers are mostly Christians.

I just think there are more serious issues than a persons religion. The Evangelicals supporting Miers don't, and that's why they're supporting Miers.
Bush should have given us a nominee that everyone could support for reasons beyond just her choice of faith.
482 posted on 10/09/2005 3:32:16 PM PDT by counterpunch (Save the GOP - withdraw Miers now)
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To: MojoWire

FWIW, I understand that she is very family oriented. She takes care of an aged mother and is very involved with her nephews (I'm not sure if it was nephews, or nephews and nieces). It may not be the same as having children of your own, but she does have a family with which she is very much involved.


483 posted on 10/09/2005 3:43:58 PM PDT by Bush 100 Percent
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To: Gelato
The manner of her nomination now will become the model that all future Republican Presidents will follow.

We will forever have stealth, wait-and-see, trust-me kinds of nominations. Qualified candidates who in their past had been open and articulate in their judicial philosophy will be passed over for risky appointees with no background or record.

It is a concession to the Democrats: We would rather avoid their criticism than stand for what we believe.

NOWHERE in that disappointment did you mention the qualifications of Ms. Miers. Plenty of people have expressed that rationale for being disappointed. Your expression is, IMO, one of the best stated for the point of view.

The point of view you expressed has not been substantively attacked.

- bump -

P.S. Record setting game of baseball - Astros and Braves in the 18th! inning.

484 posted on 10/09/2005 3:50:25 PM PDT by Cboldt
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To: ThePythonicCow
Rush is not entirely happy with this pick.

By selecting Miers, we are sending a message to the Dems which implies we are scared to death to nominate and fight for a real strong conservative.

Make no mistake. This will come back to haunt the GOP in years to come.

The Dems now know they can intimidate us Republicans into putting up stealth candidates in which we cross our fingers and hope for the best.

485 posted on 10/09/2005 3:55:10 PM PDT by Edit35
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To: Crackingham

I think this is why the promotion of a sitting justice to chief is a better political move than an outsider.

The CJ nominee sort of powers a way through for the much more important AJ nominee that nets us another vote.


486 posted on 10/09/2005 4:00:47 PM PDT by zendari
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To: Republic

What are you mumbling about? I'm supporting Miers. You sure you ain't a troll?


487 posted on 10/09/2005 4:01:37 PM PDT by Brilliant
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To: TAdams8591

Thank you, but in this particular case, I know that wouldn't be helpful. I do appreciate your concern and advice though.


488 posted on 10/09/2005 4:02:50 PM PDT by DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet (I have an FR stalker, folks. He's already driven one woman off of FR...going for two, I guess.)
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To: HostileTerritory

I think you're correct. I do believe she may pleasantly surprise all but red meat nay sayers. Yes, I , like you, would have prefered someone a little more well known, but, I think this may be a shrewd poker play by a man who doesn't lose .

I think bashing Miers with no to little foundation, and worse, based on statements from the Left of all places, is really short sighted at its best.

Thanks for the thoughts.


489 posted on 10/09/2005 4:13:41 PM PDT by gatorbait
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To: jdm
No one is getting it. Scalia says NOTHING about Miers in this article. Nothing.

You naysayers are the ones who aren't "getting it".

Scalia says having a Justice on the court who has no previous judicial experience would be a good thing. Roberts had been a FEDERAL JUDGE before being elevated to the SC, so he couldn't have been referring to him. Given the highly publicized controversy over Bush's current nominee, the only person he can be talking about is Harriet Miers.

But why should we give any weight to Scalia's opinion anyway? We can just take the word of renowned Constitutional "experts" like Coulter and elitist Hahvahd graduate Bill Kristol that Ms. Miers is nothing more than an ignorant fundamentalist Christian from TX who doesn't know the difference between the Constitution and a bass fiddle. If Ms. Miers had happened to be a well bred, Ivy League educated graduate of the Hahvahd law school, and a Unitarian agnostic just for good measure, those same elitist snobs would be singing her praises from the top of the Capitol Building.

490 posted on 10/09/2005 4:17:50 PM PDT by epow (Israel's surrender in Gaza proves that surrender to terrorism only guarantees more terror.)
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To: Map Kernow
I really don't understand why we critics of the Miers nomination don't have a right to see these things in a nominee, or to reject the nominee as unqualified if we don't see them.

At every stage of Scalia's life he accomplished more than I did. As hard as my personal shortcomings are to swallow, he is a better man than me in many ways. I want such persons on the SC, not mediocrities.

491 posted on 10/09/2005 4:23:10 PM PDT by AndyJackson
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To: epow
elitist Hahvahd graduate Bill Kristol

You know, there is no one more elitist or a clubby insider than this Bush crony. Talk about a well connected Texas schmoozer, they don't come any bigger than Miers. Get off this elitist crap.

492 posted on 10/09/2005 4:25:42 PM PDT by AndyJackson
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To: gatorbait
based on statements from the Left

No, it is the left that has come out in her defense. Some of us base our opposition on the emptiness of the suit before us. A blank resume speaks volumes.

493 posted on 10/09/2005 4:27:20 PM PDT by AndyJackson
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To: AndyJackson
At every stage of Scalia's life he accomplished more than I did. As hard as my personal shortcomings are to swallow, he is a better man than me in many ways. I want such persons on the SC, not mediocrities.

Ditto that. It's not simply a matter of what school you went to---it's also a matter of what you managed to do with what you learned in school that counts.

I've had it up to here with this "elitism" talk, particularly given the cynicism and hypocrisy of the people making the charge: Harriet Miers isn't an "elitist" pick in the most narrow sense of the word, as being chosen from the "elite" of Bush's White House Staff and---pardon the expression...it's more just than the term "elitist"---cronies?

494 posted on 10/09/2005 4:43:33 PM PDT by Map Kernow ("I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing" ---Thomas Jefferson)
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To: Reactionary
We all that Bush's lawyer is a closet feminist, Marxist, and liberal.

Yeah, she's a deeep plant in the Bush family. Thanks for blowing her cover. Of course, Bush is too stupid to know that a close confidant of his is really a liberal and has been pulling the wool over his eyes for the past 20 years.

495 posted on 10/09/2005 4:46:48 PM PDT by garbanzo (Free people will set the course of history)
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To: AndyJackson
No, it is the left that has come out in her defense.

No, it is the Left who is playing this for all it is worth, giddy with the delight that the "true and principled" would come from their lairs and rip up the non ideal. They aren't defending her, they are playing to the go,Pat, go crowd and doing a damn fine job of it, playing the "true and principled" likea fiddle.

496 posted on 10/09/2005 5:05:37 PM PDT by gatorbait
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To: TAdams8591

You are so wrong. And I can say they would not get approved. All they need is the "conservative" label and they're toast.

You call it defeatist, I call it realistic.


497 posted on 10/09/2005 5:28:09 PM PDT by BushisTheMan
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To: Brilliant
< flogging self in deep humiliation >

Misread your post...thought you wrote Harriet is not qualified.

Please forgive....I am not a troll, but feel like one about now...

498 posted on 10/09/2005 5:38:34 PM PDT by Republic (Michael Schiavo LIED about having a college degree on his guardianship application,)
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To: Howlin
You should have been here the day Bush picked Cheney as his VP; it was actually worse than this.

Do you remember what their problem with Cheney was? It couldn't have been that he wasn't conservative enough. Too old? Or was it the one that the media tossed around: Recycled from his dad's administration? I remember rolling my eyes at that one.

499 posted on 10/09/2005 6:23:12 PM PDT by alnick
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To: Howlin
You've outted yourself now.

It's like dangling red meat in front of the Dobermans...
500 posted on 10/09/2005 6:24:31 PM PDT by George W. Bush
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