The Miers appointment is going to blow up in W's face.

[chieftain]

The Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight, which is this WH, has shot itself in the foot yet again. The key element of a successful stealth candidate is to have the person fly beneath the radar. As wary ultra RWers feel compelled to get Miers on the record, she will either satisfy their wacko dream of being in favor of dismantling the safety net erected by FDR and generations of Democrats while simultaneously installing Puritanical behavior police in our bedrooms.This approach will compel the Democrats to filibuster and further weaken a diminished regime. Or she will try and finesse the core issuesof the loonies and risk significant RW defections when the roll is called.
It amazes me that this group of incompetents has cowed the MSM with its facade of brilliance when they don't even know that the secret of Roberts was that he presented a small target to Democrats. They have followed that with someone who presents an ever increasing profile to Democrats and the RW crazies.

[Fire Walk With Me]

1. Perhaps they are using this blowup to cover up one of their low-flying

acts?

If Miers doesn't get in, look for a questionable, conveniently-available alternate to show up as quickly as the "Patriot Act" appeared after 9/11.

I'm angry that these jerks have caused me to begin to think like them. I feel dirty.

[bunny planet]

2. Yup.

Here's hoping Fitzgerald puts a crimp in Jr.'s ability to nominate anybody ever again.

[tularetom]

3. There's a lot of things I don't understand about this

I know they aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, but how could they be so stupid as to nominate such a completely and obviously unqualified stooge for this position? And what the fuck is the objection that right wingers have to her? She idolizes bush, she's anti abortion, she fucking loves jesus and goes to a big fundagelical church in texas, plus she appears to be dumb enough that she could be convinced to support any position advocated by the bush admin. I guaranfuckintee you she'll vote against Roe v Wade if she gets confirmed. So why are they opposed to her? Is rove so distracted by the pile of shit thats about to drop on his head that he has forgot to get out the latest talking points?

[Mz Pip]

4. THe real question is

whether or not the Dems have the balls to fillibuster Miers. BushCo is counting on her passing.

I suspect that oppostion to her from the Right will fade away. It's already beginning to. So what if a couple of Repgs vote against her if enough Dems vote for her. Unless the Dems are will to fillibuster her and it seems questionable at this point, I sure don't see the Repugs doing it.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Captain Hilts]

5. They won't need "balls" to filibuster. A spine will do just fine. nt

[jarnocan]

7. I just can't imagine the questioning

That is going to be so weird- they should ask her what she has been UP to-but would she be able to say???? Really? and if not how could she even be considered- this should just be shot down as totally improper from the start PERIOD! I wouldn'tcare if she advocates FOR abortions-this is so wrong in every way. It should almost be impeachable- and Bush sounds like such a fool-babbling "My friend" "I know she won't change" What an idiot!

[MrBenchley]

8. Couple probable answers

My feeling is that Harry Reid rope-a-doped him on this...Chimpy sees his poll numbers in freefall and wanted desperately to have a nominee that would not be controversial...and Harry made vaguely approving noises about Dirty Harriet.

"And what the fuck is the objection that right wingers have to her?"
That's easy. The Dobson/Robertson crowd wanted a full crank right wing loony of the sort that would order Terri Schiavo exhumed, gay people exterminated, school prayer and Jim Crow reinstated and Spongebob yanked off the air. Roy Moore would have fit the bill. Harriet ain't it.

And the George Will/William Buckley crowd are up in arms because Chimpy WAS rope-a-doped...and now as the GOP sinks in the cesspool they've got a nominee who just by being there will remind mainstream America every day for the next few months about:
--the "Chimpy knew about 9/11 in advance and did nothing" scandal
--the Tom Delay scandal
--the "unqualifed boob at an impoortant job like FEMA" scandal
--the "Chimpy is a wartime deserter" scandal
--the "Chimpy lied about his arrest record" scandal
anbd a bunch of other things that those guys didn't necessarily want America to be reminded about every day for the next few months...

[KaryninMiami]

9. Really? You think Reid was savvy enough to play by their rules?

Gosh- that would make this much more bearable because if that's not what happened and Reid really did endorce her, we're in deep shit. I think he wants her in because he knows the Fitzgerald investigation might make it all the way to the Supreme Court (if enough of them are inticted) and he wants to make sure that he has another pal on the bench who would never betray him.
I was wondering the opposite- whether the Right wing was objecting so that the Dems would think she's got some liberal qualities (which she does not).

[MrBenchley]

10. The attacks on Reid and other Democrats just outrage me...

Do none of these DUers know how politics work? (And here I'll exclude the actual "third party" goons.)

Reid didn't endorse her. What Reid did was make vaguely nice noises. As did folks like Schumer, Corzine, Lautenberg, and the like.

"I think he wants her in because he knows the Fitzgerald investigation might make it all the way to the Supreme Court (if enough of them are inticted) and he wants to make sure that he has another pal on the bench who would never betray him. "
So? You mean you think that the Republican party would have even a speck of credibility left at that point?

Go back and look at Nixon's downfall....do you think it mattered that Nixon wasn't indicted?

[VPStoltz]

14. Ask Miers if she knew starting a war without Congressional

approval was not "constructionist?" As and advisor and later counsel, she sure advised The Chimp in a manner not in keeping with the constitution.

[MrBenchley]

17. The amazing thing about Harriet

is that she's so obscure, and yet she's connected to pretty much everything that the GOP would rather not have dredged up into view.

About the only thing she can be asked about that doesn't turn into a mine field is about her activities at church.

No wonder the right wing is imploding in rage...

Did you see this?

"At one point in the first of the two off-the-record sessions, according to several people in the room, White House adviser Ed Gillespie suggested that some of the unease about Miers "has a whiff of sexism and a whiff of elitism." Irate participants erupted and demanded that he take it back. Gillespie later said he did not mean to accuse anyone in the room but "was talking more broadly" about criticism of Miers."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/05/AR2005100502200.html

[chieftain]

19. It is amazing how she is involved with so many events

that couldhave/shouldhave already blown up in Doofus's face.You have to wonder whether they even took this aspect of the appointment into account as they made the decision.
Of course the prospect of something much worse being foisted on us,if she is defeated or the nomination is withdrawn, is very real. I remember Nixon followed the very bad nomination of Haynesworth with the really, really bad naming of Carswell.
Just like in Iraq, W charts a path that leaves the rest of us with limited and mainly bad options.

[MrBenchley]

22. In my opinion

I think it was utterly invisible to the Chimp and his inner circle...because they're all involved too.

"I remember Nixon followed the very bad nomination of Haynesworth with the really, really bad naming of Carswell."
And Democrats defeated both, and got stuck with the guy even Nixon called "that idiot Renchberg."

On the other hand, it is delightful to see Republicans howling with rage because she might actually be impartial, and Chimpy assuring them publicly that the fix is in. I don't think any of that is playing well with most Americans.

Would you trade a seat on the Supreme Court for the House and Senate?

[chieftain]

24. I would, simply because I think winning one or both houses

of Congress in '06 is the most important thing we can achieve in politics in the short term.Getting and aggressively using the subpoena power will allow us to shine a bright light on the depth and breadth of corruption and venality that is today's Republican Party. The MSM will have a difficult time ignoring Congressional Investigations which demonstrate the extent of the RW's criminality.

[MrBenchley]

27. Exactly...

The big meme that the GOP has pushed for the past year is that the Democrats are the party of obstructionism, that they have no ideas and just say "No" for partisan reasons...

And that just got flushed down the toilet.

[bornskeptic]

29. Actually the Carswell/Haynsworth story had a happier ending.

The third nominee for the seat was Harry Blackmun, who wrote the majority opinion in Roe v Wade. Rehnquist was appointed to the next vacant seat.

[chieftain]

30. Thanks. For the life of me I couldn't remember who

ultimately got that seat.

[bklyncowgirl]

20. Yup, Vegas Harry may have trumped the Chimp

Dirty Harriet may get confirmed, they'll manage to herd enough Republicans together to force her through but it's going to be at a cost and that cost is going to be thier relationship with their base.

They'll lose the moderates as they try to explain to the Fundies how she's really one of them and With wingnuts like Coulter going batshit over this they've hurt their relationship with their base. Bt's going to take a long time to heal.

Sweet.

[chieftain]

21. Also sweet is how this plays into the growing disgust with

the cronyism which is emblematic of this regime.The real W is now on display and it would seem that the number of people who still give
him the benefit of the doubt grows smaller day by day.

[MrBenchley]

25. Exactly...

Chimpy has been adept in getting into lose-lose situations his whole life, and this is a particularly silly one...on the one hand he tells the country that he hasn't spoken to her about the issues of the day (especially Roe v Wade), but in the next breath he tells the country he knows where she stands on the issues of the day (especially Roe v Wade), so the fix is in.

I don't think that is playing especially well with the average American...or even the somewhat below average American.

And the scum of the earth is foaming with rage because she might actually behave like a judge is supposed to...and saying so!

[MrBenchley]

23. Exactly so....

The people outraged because Senate Democrats are soft-soaping her don't seem to know how politics work.

George Will went from hailing this incompetent drunk as the next Churchill to calling him a dimwit....Think of the dilemna this puts Faux Noise in..do they attack her, or not?

[jarnocan]

6. So she had a semi-romantic relationship

for 3 decades- does that mean she had semi-sex? The guy she had this semi-affair with says she is deeply involved with this church they go to and like them all a firm right to lifer ETC.
I wrote this letter to the editor-Moveon has a form

George Bush's personnel friend and lawyer Harriet sounds like a nice lady and a devoted, smart and faithful companion, which is all very nice, but also should absolutely rule her out as a candidate for the Supreme Court. Many newspapers have mentioned the Alexander Hamilton statement concerning the senates' vital role in preventing the appointment of cronies, in order to ensure a qualified appointee, and even more importantly to maintain the separation and independence, of the judiciary from the executive branch.

I also have been reading that according to a long time, proportedly very close personnel friend, who attends her church she would agree with the churches' (and apparently in their opinion-God's) opinion on various issues.

What I can't get out of my head is that image of Ms. Miers gleefully assisting the president, going over his briefings on the morning of August 6th 2001. Wow, I wonder who released that particular photo, taken on that day! On that day one of the most controversial memos, subsequently denied and lied about several times by various members of the Bush administration, came across his desk. The infamous report detailing Bin Laden's plans; his terrorist were ready, would attack soon, would use airplanes and fly them into important, high profile targets in New York and WDC. Was she in agreement that it wasn't that important, not to worry? Did she advise him not to cut his vacation short? You've got to wonder.

[MrBenchley]

12. Here's something to point out often in public

When Chimpy told conservatives "I know she won't change" he's saying in effect that the court won't be impartial because the fix is in.

Think most Americans want that sort of thinking in their Supreme Court...or their pResident? I don't.

[gratuitous]

15. What I'd like to know

Is how Mr. Bush can so confidently proclaim that he not only knows how Miss Mier thinks today, but how she will think 20 years from now. As Mr. Spock so perspicaciously pointed out in an episode of "Star Trek," "No person can guarantee the actions of another."

I'd like to see a Senator ask Miss Mier how it is that Mr. Bush can say that with such assurance. I mean, I don't know what my cat is going to do two minutes from now, and Mr. Bush is saying that he knows what Miss Mier will be thinking and presumably doing 20 years from now. How does Miss Mier feel about that? Is she that predictable, or does she have that much knowledge about everything in the world that no happenstance, no new fact, could ever change her mind about anything? Or is Mr. Bush so omniscient that he knows in detail every event of the next 20 years and what Miss Mier's reaction to each of those events will be?

Seems a tad presumptuous to me . . .

[MrBenchley]

16. If you saw or read the McClellan press briefing today

You saw lying Scotty get turned inside out trying to explain how Chimpy knows that Miers agrees with him on abortion, if, as he claims, he hasn't discussed it with her?

http://www.first-draft.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4356&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

[1democracy]

13. Than's a great question to ask during confirmation.

[elsiesummers]

31. 2nd base maybe? Kissing & petting above the waist?

Maybe during the Senate confirmation hearing they'll ask her how she reconciles her personal life with her religious beliefs and it could turn into a whole pubic-hair-on-a-coke-can sort of event.

If republicans were willing to investigate eyewitness testimony about the dimensions and appearance of a presidential penis, then why shouldn't this confirmation hearing delve the depths of how she reconciles her personal conduct with her religion...maybe a subpoena for her boyfriend's testimony...

[delhurgo]

11. I doubt that will happen.

I think theres more of a chance that she won't seem qualified enough and that could doom her nomination. But she'll likely answer in a similar way that Roberts did and that should be good enough for a majority of senators. I really don't see a filibuster at this point. For what, because she's a christian who's personally anti-abortion? I don't think thats enough.

As for her real judicial philosophy, I think an AP headline may have had it about right: "An anti-abortion moderate". I think she will likely satisfy christian conservatives on moral issues, even though I'm not convinced that she'd vote to completely overturn Roe V Wade, I'm pretty positive she'll vote to narrow that right and be conservative on other hot button issues. But on others that Cons care about like affirmative action, laws re discrimination, etc.... she may be more moderate.

I think the people that are most likely to be disappointed by her could be libertarians. Thats just a guess though, it'll take a couple years to know for sure.

[MrBenchley]

26. Anything that disappoints libertarians and pisses off loons like Dobson

is okay with me.

[radfringe]

18. question:

If Miers gets out of committee and goes to Senate -- will the repugs fillibuster? :evilgrin:

on a more serious note -- Miers doesn't appear to have the kook-aid sheep support from the "reich-wing" that makes up the bulk of bush*'s base. I don't see any big revelation on the horizon that would cause them to change positions.

Given that and bush*'s numbers are not translating into coat tails for repugs to ride on -- I think Miers' nomination will be withdrawn. Wouldn't doubt that the bushies are trying to come up with a "...personal reasons...." excuse for it

[chieftain]

28. My bet is that her round of visits to the Senate this week

will be decisive as to whether the nomination is withdrawn.If she fails to assuage some of the presidential hopefuls like Brownback ,her prospects will have diminished significantly.