2 GOP SENATORS SET TO JOIN CALL AGAINST MIERS

The New York Sun ^ | By BRIAN McGUIRE

[notes2005]

WASHINGTON — At least two Republican senators are poised to call on the White House to withdraw the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, a highly placed Republican Senate staffer told The New York Sun.

The news came amid stepped-up criticism of Ms. Miers by conservative groups and Senator Schumer. The conservatives said they were upset by the emergence yesterday of two speeches in which Ms. Miers said that self-determination should guide decisions involving religion and the law, and in which she cited conservative bêtes noires Janet Reno and Justice Ginsburg as female role models. Mr. Schumer, the Democrat of New York who serves on the Judiciary Committee, complained of the nominee’s delay in completing a follow-up questionnaire from the committee.

Several Republican senators have expressed concerns about Ms. Miers, but none has formally come out against her. An open defection by even one conservative senator would signal that Ms.Miers would have trouble making it through the Senate, conservative activists said.

“I think this will increase pressure on a withdrawal and lead to more pointed questions. I think with the documents that came out today and the speeches she gave will likely lead to at least a couple senators calling for a withdrawal.The things she said are just outrageous,” said the staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “This is the proof of all our deepest fears.”

[Always Right]

Is that Hillary I hear beginning to sing...

[sgtbono2002]

If Schumer doesnt like her, Can she be all bad?

[alnick]

How convenient that these two GOP senators seem to have no names.

[OldFriend]

Wondering if those speaking against Meiers were as vocal in their opposition of Ginsburg and Breyer.

[rhombus]

Broken link? Who are these 2 GOP Senators or do they only speak to "Conservative activists"?

[gridlock]

Friday. 4:45 PM.

[GOPJ]

The things she said are just outrageous,” said the staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “This is the proof of all our deepest fears.”

The fat lady's getting warmed up...

[saveliberty]

Why do I get the idea that at least one of them was a dwarf?

[monkapotamus]

[DustyMoment]

How convenient that these two GOP senators seem to have no names.

My thoughts exactly. I also found it strange that, after the tease in the headline, the story talks about Uppy-Chuckie and whatever and doesn't get back to the story the headline implies.

[pepperhead]

If Schumer doesnt like her, Can she be all bad?

I like Harriet Miers - Harry Reid

[BibChr]

I support the President, but will say this -- she has the DANGEDEST array of proponents and opponents!

Pro: Dr. Dobson, Harry Reid, Jay Sekulow, Hugh Hewitt...

Con: Ann Coulter, Chuck Schumer, Mona Charen, Robert Bork...

We live in Bizzaroland.

Dan

[cynicom]

Tomorrow is the day. If she is to be withdrawn the usual Friday escape will be used. If not withdrawn, Bush will have allowed his arrogance to overrule his good sense.

[monkapotamus]

"If not withdrawn, Bush will have allowed his arrogance to overrule his good sense."

I don't know about arrogance - but this is why one shouldn't appoint a family friend/wife's school chum to such a position; makes it even more difficult to request that the person undergo the humiliation of being withdrawn. And the friendship/crony aspect of course must have contributed to the White House overlooking her potential problems.

[conservativecorner]

After this and other articles like it, I don't blame them. To claim she's a conservative is ludicrous.

The Harriet Miers doctrine of self-determination
Oct 27, 2005
by Cal Thomas


Among the documents presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee by Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers are copies of speeches she gave more than a decade ago. In one 1993 speech before a women's group in Dallas, Miers invoked what might be called a doctrine of self-determination.

Speaking about today's hot-button social issues, including abortion and church-state separation, Miers said, "The underlying theme in most of these cases is the insistence of more self-determination. And the more I think about these issues, the more self-determination makes sense."

She added, "The ongoing debate continues surrounding the attempt to once again criminalize abortions or to once and for all guarantee the freedom of the individual women's [sic] right to decide for herself whether she will have an abortion."

That line might comfortably fit inside a Planned Parenthood brochure.


Miers then delivered what one might reasonably conclude was a libertarian, not a conservative philosophical worldview. She said people who attempt to resolve such disputes should remember, "we gave up" a long time ago on "legislating religion or morality." If she has not changed her views for specific reasons since then, these statements make a mockery of President Bush's use of her flaunted "evangelical faith" as an indicator of her supposed true beliefs and how she would decide cases on these very subjects. An atheist or an agnostic would feel comfortable with the views expressed by Miers in that speech.

White House spokesman Jim Dyke tried to spin Miers' remarks, saying they are "entirely consistent" with the conservative doctrine of judicial restraint. "This is someone who sees an appropriate role for the courts and an appropriate role for the legislature," he said.

Not exactly. In another speech later that year titled "Women and Courage," Miers lamented the relatively high poverty rates in Texas at the time and said the public should not blame judges when the courts step in to solve certain problems. "Allowing conditions to exist so long and get so bad that resort to the courts is the only answer has not served our state well. Politicians who would cry, 'The court made me do it' or 'I did not do that - the courts did' should not be tolerated." Her implication being that the courts couldn't be blamed for activism when the legislature doesn't act. Yes they can. If the people don't like what their legislators do, or fail to do, they can engage in the self-determination of voting them out of office.

In those speeches, Miers doesn't sound like someone who has a clear view of the separate roles of the people's representatives and that of an unelected and unaccountable judiciary. She reflects the judicial activism conservatives have been battling for decades and it tells you why so many are in open rebellion against her nomination.

It appears to have escaped Miers' notice that in the case of abortion someone else is involved. It is one thing to self-determine to have sex. It is another to self-determine to kill the baby, which leaves no chance for that other "self" to make any determination about his or her own life. That strikes me as cold, hedonistic and selfish.

Could the president have known Harriet Miers for such a long time and not been aware of her views on the most important moral, religious and political issues of our time? No liberal president would nominate a stealth pro-life nominee to slip through, and none has since Roe v. Wade was decided. If Miers still believes these things, how could President Bush jeopardize his standing as an unyielding pro-lifer, not to mention most of his political base?

A government that allows "self-determination" in most personal matters is one that supports liberty. A government that allows its citizens to engage in behavior that undermines social structures and a sense of morality contributes to its own demise. Watch the HBO series "Rome." It shows where unrestrained self-determination leads.

I have not joined the pack calling for Harriet Miers to withdraw, but I'm getting close. She should be thoroughly grilled on these 1993 speeches and not allowed to get away with "confirmation conversion."

Miers might consult that Bible in which she says she believes and see the disastrous consequences of self-determination when practiced by the ancient Israelites. A good place to start is in Judges 21:25: "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit."

[George W. Bush]

Friday. 4:45 PM.

I'll take 4:46PM.

[rhombus]

Tomorrow is the day. If she is to be withdrawn the usual Friday escape will be used. If not withdrawn, Bush will have allowed his arrogance to overrule his good sense.

If she is withdrawn what will happend do you think after all the "Conservative activist" champaign corks are popped and the party has subsided?

[gridlock]

I see you are also a fan of The Price is Right.

[ozzysmom]

This cartoon appears to be more at home in my liberal newspaper not a conservative web site like Free Republic.