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 Who the hell is Harriet Miers and should I care?
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 10/03/2005 :  06:51:39  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message
I don't know, but she's Bush's SC nominee, and has no experience as a judge. And yes, we should care.

Looking around, I found this; an "Ask the White House" Q&A she did:
quote:
Harriet Miers


Hello, this is Harriet Miers. I am Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy at the White House, and I am delighted to be here to answer your questions this Friday afternoon. This is always a great weekend because we will all get an extra hour of sleep Saturday night. And given all that is going on, I have to say, we here at the White House are looking forward to that extra hour!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James, from Mountain View, CA writes:
Are we better off now than we were four years ago?

Harriet Miers
Thanks, James, this is a very good question, and I am pleased to give you my views. What we did not know fully in January of 2001 turns out to be very important in answering your question. In January of 2001, there were problems facing the Nation that we did not fully perceive. First, as 2001 progressed we saw the stock market continue a decline that had begun in the middle of 2000 before the Bush Administration took office. We also witnessed an economy slipping further into a recession as 2001 unfolded. We also learned as time passed that corporate misbehavior in the nineties resulted in the eruption of scandals that shook the foundation of trust that we had in the strength and integrity of our economy.

And we all know that on September 11, 2001, we learned that there had been gathering dangers for the United States that would materialize in terrorist attacks that would kill innocent Americans as well as people from countries around the world and dramatically impact the economy, including tremendous loss of jobs and shock to our airlines industry.

In response to the economic problems, the President acted immediately to implement tax relief to get the economy going again. He signed into law corporate governance reforms to address the wrongdoing that had been occurring, and those reforms were the most far-reaching since President Franklin Roosevelt' s time. The President's optimism and faith in the American people and our economy helped inspire a remarkable recovery. Just today, we saw new statistics showing that our economy continues to grow solidly and compensation for our workers continues steady growth. Working families now keep more of their paychecks, and we are growing faster than any other among major industrialized nations.

The President responded swiftly to the attacks on September 11th. He has our country on the offensive against terrorism. American is waging a global war on terrorism with the help of many friends and allies from around the globe. The President believed it important to confront regimes that harbored or supported terrorists as well as the terrorists. And he is also confronting outlaw regimes that pursue weapons of mass destruction, and he is committed to ensuring that the terrorists do not obtain the world's most dangerous weapons. At the same time, the President led in the creation of the Homeland Security Department and strengthening our defenses here at home. Although I am sure the President would be the first to say more needs to be done, we are a safer Nation today than we were four years ago.

Additionally, with victories in Afghanistan and in the toppling of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and other efforts around the world, we are promoting freedom and democracy in the greater Middle East as well as elsewhere. Sowing the seeds of freedom around the world brings the goal of peace for all nations ever closer. All these efforts require great resolve and sacrifice, but we are making our Nation safer and we will leave a better world for our children and grandchildr

"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

pleco
SFN Addict

USA
2998 Posts

Posted - 10/03/2005 :  07:39:36   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit pleco's Homepage Send pleco a Private Message
I heard a small blip on CNN this morning that most Dems seem to be fine with her, and some ultra-conservatives aren't happy.

by Filthy
The neo-con methane machine will soon be running at full fart.
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard

3192 Posts

Posted - 10/03/2005 :  10:11:58   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send BigPapaSmurf a Private Message
Yeah shes the worst kind of politician, one that used to be on the other side. Was DEM in the 80s it appears, so we wont know if shes just an opportunist or an actual genuine near center pick.

So either way shes not conservative enough and the dems will just have to hold their breaths to see what shes like, the dems wont put up too much a fight I dont think because some of the alternative candidates are much scarier.

"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History

"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini
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pleco
SFN Addict

USA
2998 Posts

Posted - 10/03/2005 :  11:18:04   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit pleco's Homepage Send pleco a Private Message
Plus Bush is too weak politically to try to push through a social conservative (imho)

by Filthy
The neo-con methane machine will soon be running at full fart.
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 10/03/2005 :  11:19:25   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message
When in doubt, go to the Rude Pundit. Here's his incomparable take on it:
quote:
10/3/2005
Harriet Miers Gets Ready For Her Striptease:
Let's say, and why not, that you're the best man for your buddy's wedding, and you're puttin' together one motherfucker of a bachelor party, the main event of which will be a stripper at the hotel suite you've gotten. Everyone's got their demands on what is necessary in said stripper: she's gotta have big titties, little titties, round ass, flat ass, blonde hair with a dyed landing strip, brunette with a Brazilian. She's gotta be able to really dance, she's gotta be willing to let you touch her on the lap dances, she's gotta be willing to lift a whiskey bottle with her snatch. Some of the partygoers want her to be a full-on hooker, some wanna make sure she'll at least give blow jobs, some of 'em have said their wives and/or girlfriends'll dump 'em if the stripper turns tricks. It's a burden, no doubt.

Now there's approaches you can take to the choice: you can search around, lookin' for the hot-ass stripper who'll please about half of the horny dudes at the soiree, with at least another third goin' along because they're so hard up to see live, naked tits in a small space that they don't give a shit if she's a toothless, stretch-marked, leather-skinned skank who'll take three dicks in her asshole at once 'cause it's the only way she can feel anything anymore. 'Course, the problem for you is: which half are you gonna please?

So, which half, eh? Or perhaps neither half at all....?

Not to forget that now & again the nominee turns out to be something other than what the nominating entitity and/or the affirming body had considered. O'Connor comes to mind, to Reagan's suprise and dismay (although the scungy, old barfbag would have been delighted to the point of incontinence with her 2,000 desision).

We shall see, we shall see. I think that she'll be affirmed in a walk, as was Roberts, unless something truly horrible comes to light and her nomination is withdrawn. What with all his other self-inflicted insanity crashng down about his ears, Bush doesn't need a fight in the Senate, and knows it, even though the Democrats there are far too pussified to give him much of one, anyway.

Edited to add that the freepers are going a little apeshit over her nomination. That's usually a pretty good sign. Hoping they'll be stark, raving mad tomorrow....
quote:
This proves it. Bush is no conservative. What he is is a gutless weasel! If he'd had any nads he would have nominated Janice Rogers Brown, but this slithering bag of moderate (liberal might be more accurate, based upon how he's grown the government) goo stabbed his supporters in the back AGAIN!!! I will NEVER , EVER vote for ANYONE named "Bush" again!



"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

Edited by - filthy on 10/03/2005 12:54:14
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Siberia
SFN Addict

Brazil
2322 Posts

Posted - 10/03/2005 :  13:31:31   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Siberia's Homepage  Send Siberia an AOL message  Send Siberia a Yahoo! Message Send Siberia a Private Message
quote:
I will NEVER , EVER vote for ANYONE named "Bush" again!

Yay?

"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa

"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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ronnywhite
SFN Regular

501 Posts

Posted - 10/03/2005 :  13:37:59   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send ronnywhite a Private Message
I heard Supreme Court openings/appointments referred to as being "The Holy Grail" equivalent to the Republican Party simply because of the duration of their individual influence, and the scope/finality of the judgements. Plus elsewhere, opinion contrasting GWB to his father-"His father was more of a moderate Republican... W is so far to the right, it's ridiculous." 1 + 1 = yea, reason for concern.

Ron White
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard

USA
3834 Posts

Posted - 10/05/2005 :  00:22:28   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send beskeptigal a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by pleco

I heard a small blip on CNN this morning that most Dems seem to be fine with her, and some ultra-conservatives aren't happy.

Ohhh this is so clearly calculated! Am I the only one who sees the pattern here?

Just who are these supposed conservatives that are having a problem with the church lady? My guess is they are born of the talking points memos and have no real counterpart in the real world.

Anyone care to bet?

Are we that gullible as to not see the pattern. The same ploy was used with Roberts and while maybe the position Roberts took on that gay case in his past made it a bit more credible that there actually were conservatives with concern, in this case there is no gay case in the closet. (Nice pun, ya think? )

This woman has several very significant church references in her resume. Just where would the Christian right wing have concerns if it is indeed true? It is a made up ploy and we're stupid if we don't see through it.
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard

USA
3834 Posts

Posted - 10/05/2005 :  00:34:08   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send beskeptigal a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by filthy

.....Bush doesn't need a fight in the Senate, and knows it, even though the Democrats there are far too pussified to give him much of one, anyway.....
More talking points slipped into the woodwork to slant the decision. What fight would this be? There are Republicans that are pissed at Bush's incompetence but to think they would object to an anti-abortion pro-corporate power on the S court? That is their constituent base just like Bush's. These people have no reason to switch support regarding the court nominee unless maybe there was some 'Brownie' incompetence in the candidate and the house members had a temporary coming to their senses. Cronieism as the key quality of the nominee isn't going to influence Republicans to vote against Bush on this one.
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Chippewa
SFN Regular

USA
1496 Posts

Posted - 10/05/2005 :  00:41:44   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Chippewa's Homepage Send Chippewa a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal

quote:
Originally posted by pleco

I heard a small blip on CNN this morning that most Dems seem to be fine with her, and some ultra-conservatives aren't happy.

Ohhh this is so clearly calculated! Am I the only one who sees the pattern here?
Just who are these supposed conservatives that are having a problem with the church lady? My guess is they are born of the talking points memos and have no real counterpart in the real world.
Anyone care to bet?...

I agree. It smacks of Karl Rove. Make the Democrats think she's a centrist rather than a rightwing fundy. And the ultra-conservatives pretend to be concerned. They'll follow any crooked path to get what they want: more and more control of the country away from the people.
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 10/05/2005 :  05:56:30   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message
I don't agree, at least not yet.

There are a couple of other female vultures candidates, with experience on the bench, that would have had the far right circus, Bush's power base, swooning with orgasmic rapture. However, they would not have had an easy time of it during conformation, even with the gutless Democrats currently in the Senate. With Miers, he gets a rabid loyalist and a dedicated suck-up (read the Q&A I posted earlier), and for all practical purposes, that's about all we know about her.

I'm reading some very odd things concerning her; like for instance some are saying she's a lesbian. The hysteria has begun....

Bush is in a very real danger of losing his Senate majority next year. Now is not the time to get in a pissing contest with them. And while Rove is the very picture of a back-stabbing slime-bucket, I don't think that even he could pull off that big a scam. Unlikely as it sounds, many of those Christians have a conscience, and all, far less unlikely, have big mouths.

I will continue to wait and see what happens. It won't be much longer.


"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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GeeMack
SFN Regular

USA
1093 Posts

Posted - 10/05/2005 :  08:13:01   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send GeeMack a Private Message
I expect more than one skeleton will be found in Harriet's closet...
quote:
Miers Led Law Firm Repeatedly Forced to Pay Damages For Defrauding Investors...

In case anyone thought Harriet Miers wasn't a corporate-shill-in-White-House-clothing, take a gander at how Miers did her best Ken Lay impression while heading a major Texas corporate law firm. That's right, according to the 5/1/00 newsletter Class Action Reporter, Miers headed Locke, Liddell & Sapp at the time the firm was forced to pay $22 million to settle a suit asserting that "it aided a client in defrauding investors."

The details of the case are both nauseating and highly troubling, considering President Bush is considering putting Miers at the top of America's legal system. Under Miers' leadership, the firm represented the head of a "foreign currency trading company [that] was allegedly a Ponzi scheme." The law-firm admitted that it "knew in March 1998 that $ 8 million in [the company's] losses hadn't been reported to investors" but didn't tell regulators.
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard

3192 Posts

Posted - 10/05/2005 :  10:13:37   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send BigPapaSmurf a Private Message
It seems now that she is a born again and ultra pro-life. Im shocked really.

"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History

"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard

USA
3739 Posts

Posted - 10/05/2005 :  11:17:36   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit marfknox's Homepage  Send marfknox an AOL message Send marfknox a Private Message
Ohhh this is so clearly calculated! Am I the only one who sees the pattern here?
Just who are these supposed conservatives that are having a problem with the church lady? My guess is they are born of the talking points memos and have no real counterpart in the real world.
Anyone care to bet?...



and

I agree. It smacks of Karl Rove. Make the Democrats think she's a centrist rather than a rightwing fundy.

She's not an ideologue, otherwise there would be direct and hard evidence of it. Under such scrutiny, someone would blab. (It's the same argument against many conspiracy theories.) She could keep her opinions secret if she only said them to her husband and priest, but if she was blabbing it to business and political cronies, it will comes out during this screening process. Especially since so many Republicans in those high-up circles are strongly pro-choice. (Yes, I know, liberals tend to forget that important little factoid.)

It seems now that she is a born again and ultra pro-life. Im shocked really.

I'll agree it “seems” she's born-again, but “ultra pro-life”? Do you assume that adherents just believe everything their church stands for? In my experience, that is hardly the case. Sure, she's a member of an ultra-conservative, pro-life church. And my mother is a (very active) member of a Catholic Church, but she still disagrees with the church on tons of issues, including abortion. Miers is also educated and a woman, which means even if she thinks abortion is a wrong personal decision to make, she's more likely to be pro-choice in terms of the law. But the bottom line is: we just don't know.

This woman, like Roberts, has obviously kept her hands clean her entire career, so she puts ambition before ideology. You can't argue that she's a political puppet or loyalist because of the nature of being a Supreme Court Judge. She will do whatever she goddamn well pleased once she's on that bench regardless of what either political party or her church thinks. This position is exactly what she's been keeping herself clean for.

The best we could have hoped for in a nominee from Bush was an unknown that seems moderate. That is exactly what we've got in Miers. She's gonna get in no matter what we think or say, so I for one accept it and hope.

"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong

Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com

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Starman
SFN Regular

Sweden
1613 Posts

Posted - 10/06/2005 :  06:53:54   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Starman a Private Message
Oh-oh!

Harriet Miers' church supports the crankiest of young-earth creationists
quote:
Harriet Miers attends Valley View Christian Church. Their website's "links" page links to Carl Baugh's Creation Evidence Museum. Baugh, a cranky young-earth creationist with diploma mill credentials, is notorious for making claims so bogus that his fellow young-earth creationists debunk them.

"Any religion that makes a form of torture into an icon that they worship seems to me a pretty sick sort of religion quite honestly"
-- Terry Jones
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pleco
SFN Addict

USA
2998 Posts

Posted - 10/06/2005 :  07:59:31   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit pleco's Homepage Send pleco a Private Message
Bush says they share the same views - so I'm worried.
She is a fundie-sleeper cell, waiting for activation.

by Filthy
The neo-con methane machine will soon be running at full fart.
Edited by - pleco on 10/06/2005 08:02:38
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