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Miers unlikely to 'evolve'
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ^ | 10/10/5 | Marvin and Peter Olasky

Posted on 10/10/2005 12:33:51 PM PDT by Crackingham

Question: What does Harriet E. Miers, a highly successful lawyer, longtime member of Valley View Christian Church in Dallas and confidant of the president of the United States, want more than anything else?

Answer: The approval of the faculty of Yale Law School.

Or at least that is the fear among conservatives. They worry that although Miers is believed to be a pro-life evangelical conservative, she -- like David Souter and Anthony Kennedy before her -- will be seduced by liberalism. As former Bush speechwriter David Frum noted after Miers was nominated, "The pressures on a Supreme Court justice to shift leftward are intense." Frum noted "the sweet little inducements -- the flattery, the invitations to conferences in Austria and Italy, the lectureships at Yale and Harvard -- that come to judges who soften and crumble."

Ah, yes, the sweet little inducements: Washington dinner parties, laudatory editorials from the nation's great liberal newspapers and, perhaps most important, praise from the smug savants back at dear old Yale or Harvard. Many leading lawyers never forget their roots in the Ivy League, where all-knowing professors throw laurels on judges who "get it" and scorn those who don't. Forget Austria: It takes a very strong (or very principled) constitution to do without that intellectual flattery.

But perhaps that makes Miers the perfect candidate. Perhaps it takes someone who did not go to Harvard or Yale and has never seemed to care. Miers went to law school at Southern Methodist University, which, although a well-respected institution, was unlikely to have been a bastion of progressive thought when she entered the law school in 1970.

As a result, she likely avoided the flaying of conservative justices that would have been tattooed in the minds of most members of today's Supreme Court.

(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: harrietmiers; miers; olasky; scotus; supremecourt
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To: Cyber Liberty; flashbunny
...it's impolite to refer to people in your posts without including them in the "To" line...

Yes, the Howlin Rule of Proper Internet Etiquette.

Call me crazy, but she doesn't strike me as one to scrupulously adhere to the standards established by Emily Post or the Marquis de Queensbury.

61 posted on 10/10/2005 4:13:01 PM PDT by Do not dub me shapka broham ("We don't want a Supreme Court justice just like George W. Bush. We can do better.")
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To: Do not dub me shapka broham

Well, that's between you and her. I prefer to form my opinions one at a time, and Howlin's been very nice to me over the years I've known her.


62 posted on 10/10/2005 4:14:25 PM PDT by Cyber Liberty (© 2005, Ravin' Lunatic since 4/98)
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To: BonnieJ
They always have their wish list of candidates, not knowing if they could or would serve on the S.C..

After watching what they've done to Harriet Miers, who in their right mind with accept the offer?

63 posted on 10/10/2005 4:14:33 PM PDT by Howlin
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To: Do not dub me shapka broham

Well, that's between you and her. I prefer to form my opinions one at a time, and Howlin's been very nice to me over the years I've known her.


64 posted on 10/10/2005 4:14:33 PM PDT by Cyber Liberty (© 2005, Ravin' Lunatic since 4/98)
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To: Cyber Liberty
You're certainly entitled to your opinion, and I'm sure that she's a perfectly reasonable woman in non-online forum-based settings, but c'mon!

(Quizzical Smiley.)

65 posted on 10/10/2005 4:17:46 PM PDT by Do not dub me shapka broham ("We don't want a Supreme Court justice just like George W. Bush. We can do better.")
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To: Howlin

Ann Coulter really debased herself the other day. What was that she said? When Bush was "boozing it up"? Thought we had Paul Begala on the line....


66 posted on 10/10/2005 4:18:02 PM PDT by Cyber Liberty (© 2005, Ravin' Lunatic since 4/98)
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To: Do not dub me shapka broham

I wouldn't know.


67 posted on 10/10/2005 4:18:33 PM PDT by Cyber Liberty (© 2005, Ravin' Lunatic since 4/98)
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To: Cyber Liberty
Neither would I.

However, if we were to go by the manner in which she conducts herself here, I can only say that her bedside manner in real life would probably make Nurse Ratched cringe.

68 posted on 10/10/2005 4:20:50 PM PDT by Do not dub me shapka broham ("We don't want a Supreme Court justice just like George W. Bush. We can do better.")
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To: Cyber Liberty

Brit Hume says Kristol and Buchannan are conservative icons......when did that happen? After watching and listening to Ann morph into a Bush bashing shrew, I'm befuddled beyond confused. :-(


69 posted on 10/10/2005 4:23:24 PM PDT by Jrabbit (Kaufman County, Texas)
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To: Cicero

By nominating a stealth conservative to avoid having the debate, Bush has basically said to outspoken conservatives . . . if you want to be nominated to a high court position, you better cool it.

Bush did not do this intentionally, of course. But it is the implied message: To all conservatives who publicize and debate their views in public, we give you our moral support. But when the rewards are handed out, you will be passed over for others who kept their opinions secret.


70 posted on 10/10/2005 4:24:50 PM PDT by TSchmereL ("Trust but verify.")
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To: Jrabbit

I'd guess that somebody forgot to consult her before nominating. She was OTR about Roberts, too. Still is.


71 posted on 10/10/2005 4:26:14 PM PDT by Cyber Liberty (© 2005, Ravin' Lunatic since 4/98)
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To: TSchmereL

Get 51 non-RINOs in the Senate, and you'll see more glasnost from a conservative president.


72 posted on 10/10/2005 4:27:23 PM PDT by Cyber Liberty (© 2005, Ravin' Lunatic since 4/98)
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To: Do not dub me shapka broham

Hard for me to say. I'm a pretty nasty one, myself.


73 posted on 10/10/2005 4:28:34 PM PDT by Cyber Liberty (© 2005, Ravin' Lunatic since 4/98)
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To: Cyber Liberty
Nothing wrong with that.

:-)

74 posted on 10/10/2005 4:34:19 PM PDT by Do not dub me shapka broham ("We don't want a Supreme Court justice just like George W. Bush. We can do better.")
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To: TSchmereL
Bork was born in March of 1927. He is now over 78 years old.

And, he'd still be a better pick than Miers!

75 posted on 10/10/2005 4:41:21 PM PDT by Ol' Sparky
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Comment #76 Removed by Moderator

To: Itzlzha

you are absolutely cracking me up today....


77 posted on 10/10/2005 5:03:12 PM PDT by Stellar Dendrite ( Mike Pence for President!!! http://acuf.org/issues/issue34/050415pol.asp)
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To: Crackingham
"Why would a lawyer who has never seemed to chase after fame or establishment intellectual credentials suddenly long for the embrace of the blue state intelligentsia? Isn't it more likely that her "taut, nervous, anxious" personality would not feel especially comfortable mingling in such a foreign crowd?"

HUH??? Miers hooked her star with President Bush in 1989. Around the same time she was born again and became a Republican. The girl's got timing.

78 posted on 10/10/2005 5:07:05 PM PDT by TAdams8591 (A Reagan Conservative and mighty proud of it.)
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To: Do not dub me shapka broham; Cyber Liberty

I've got to agree with CL on the issue of citing a FReeper in a post without welcoming said FReeper into the ongoing discussion. I'm not trying to hijack here, but I have seen a lot of this going on lately and it p!sses me off to no end. At best, it's lazy; worst, cowardly. Usually, it is a lazy coward. Yeesh! I need a nice cold beer.


79 posted on 10/10/2005 5:45:46 PM PDT by grellis (Coming in September 2006! SURVIVOR: MORDOR)
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To: grellis
Sorry for that.

I honestly have no problem with telling others what I think of them, regardless of how critical my opinion might be.

If I had any hesistation whatsoever in expressing my honest opinion I'm certain that I would have a lot more FRiends on this forum.

But if what I did really was that tactless, then I apologize.

80 posted on 10/10/2005 6:03:32 PM PDT by Do not dub me shapka broham ("We don't want a Supreme Court justice just like George W. Bush. We can do better.")
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