Souter II ping
Posted on 10/04/2005 1:42:27 PM PDT by Between the Lines
(CNSNews.com) - At 10:30 on Tuesday morning, one day before Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers was to meet with ranking members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, President Bush answered reporters' questions about his selection of Miers.
At a press conference in the White House Rose Garden -- the result of a last-minute schedule change -- President Bush said he appreciates the reception Miers has received on Capitol Hill and he urged the Senate to "conduct fair hearings" and hold an up-or-down vote on her nomination by Thanksgiving.
Bush said in nominating Miers, he "picked the best person" he could find for the job. He said the fact that he's close to Miers means he understands the "intangibles," including her strength of character, and he predicted that the American people will come to know what he knows - that Harriet Miers belongs on the Supreme Court.
"I have no litmus test," Bush said when a reporter asked him if he's ever discussed the issue of abortion with Miers. "What matters to me is her judicial philosophy," he said. "In my interviews with any judge, I never ask their personal opinion on the subject of abortion," Bush said.
Bush said he doesn't remember sitting down with Miers and discussing her views on the subject. But he added, "I understand the type of person she is and the type of judge she will be."
The president's comments on Tuesday apparently were intended to soothe the ruffled feathers of some in his own party.
Some leading conservatives on Monday accused the president of appeasing liberals with his choice of the relatively unknown Miers, when there were so many other qualified candidates with proven conservative track records.
Bush said he's known and worked with Harriet for over a decade, and he mentioned four criteria that went into her nomination:
"She's a woman of principle and character. She's highly intelligent. She's been a pioneer in the field of law in my state of Texas...She's an enormously accomplished person who's incredibly bright."
"Secondly," Bush said, "she knows the kind of judge I'm looking for." (Miers headed the White House search that produced Supreme Court nominee John Roberts.) "I don't want someone to go on the bench to try to supplant the legislative process," Bush said. "I'm interested in people who will be strict constructionists." He said Miers shares that philosophy.
Bush said he knows Miers "well enough to be able to say that she's not going to change; that 20 years from now she'll be the same person with the same philosophy that she has today." Bush said that is important to him.
And finally, President Bush said he "actually listened to Senators when they brought forth ideas" about potential nominees. He said one of the most interesting ideas was to pick someone who hasn't been a judge. Bush said he decided to "reach outside the judicial monastery," as Sen. Patrick Leahy urged him to do.
Asked specifically what he would say to conservative thought-molders Rush Limbaugh and Bill Kristol, both of whom criticized his choice of Miers, President Bush said he hoped they were listening. Then he repeated his praise of Miers' character and capabilities and promised that "she will not legislate from the bench."
Bush also reminded his critics that he thinks it's important to bring in someone from outside the judicial system. "And therefore there's not a lot of opinions for people to look at."
Bush said that means people are going to "guess and speculate" about Harriet Miers, but he doesn't have to: "I know her character, I know her strength, I know her talent and I know she's going to be a fine judge," he said.
Bush said a decision on whether there will be a fight over Miers' nomination "is up to the Democrats." He said it's up to them whether the "special interests will decide the tone of the debate."
*LOL*! How can he know such a thing??
He can't. He's making it up.
Lots of us knew Ronald Reagan when he was a Democrat.... Some of us knew Strom Thurman when he was a Democrat. Many knew Phil Graham of Texas when he was a Democrat.
A Texas Democrat is a lot more conservative than an Ohio Republican. Ask DeWhine And SonOfaVich how that works.
Great.............
From the 10-04-05 Washington Times.
Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the conservative Federalist Society, said Miss Miers "has been a forceful advocate of conservative legal principles and judicial restraint throughout her career. She led a campaign to have the American Bar Association end its practice of supporting abortion-on-demand and taxpayer-funded abortions."
We conservatives are automatons whose every thought is molded by thought-molders such as Limbaugh and Kristol, at least according to the liberal press.
From the 10-04-05 Washington Times.
Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the conservative Federalist Society, said Miss Miers "has been a forceful advocate of conservative legal principles and judicial restraint throughout her career. She led a campaign to have the American Bar Association end its practice of supporting abortion-on-demand and taxpayer-funded abortions."
Ever met a reformed smoke/drinker?
That might be comforting if she had a record on the Constitution and we knew WHERE SHE STANDS NOW!!
That's my bottom line. I could care less what the media does to him or his mediocre nominee after he failed to follow through on his campaign promise. Let them both twist in the wind from here on out.
Recommended by Rudman. That's all we needed to know!
The most damaging thing about this short sighted nomination may be that the President and his men are reduced to telling conservatives to “TRUST HIM” and we will be forced to go on the record saying, “NO, WE DO NOT TRUST YOU.”
Change from WHAT?!!!!
Who the heck knows where she really stands???
Bush is starting to get me nervous - very nervous.
I see 2006 going down the drain - and 2008 too.
Bush is turning out to be the best Republican President the Democrats ever had.
Justice Souter.
Remember Lee Lieberman who co-founded the Federalist Society? She endorsed Souter and said he would be in the mold of Scalia.
She led a campaign to have the American Bar Association end its practice of supporting abortion-on-demand and taxpayer-funded abortions
The ABA is not a government organization. How does being a member of the ABA or taking a position on its own internal politics have anything to do with conservative legal principles or judicial restraint? Seems totally beside the point to me.
Isn't the conservative legal position that the Constitution is silent on abortion and should be a state issue? Isn't the idea of judicial restraint limited to judges, not private organizations?
There are way too many conservatives who aren't happy unless they're unhappy.
Change from the person he knows, and knows well.
He can't know. He's not God.
just aske Ronnie Earle eh tator?
Hey, at least they're happy! I think there are too many conservatives that need to totally submerged in kool-aid to be happy. Unless they can believe their guy is 100% right and on their side, they aren't happy. Me? I'm happy either way. It doesn't ruin my day that the president is a mediocre sap.
Can someone please ask the president how can a person who is donating to the likes of the Al Gore and the DNC "IN THEIR ADULT YEARS!!!!, and then decide to embrace candidates and leaders of conservative values?
1987 - Gave $1,000 to Dem. Lloyd Bentsen - 47 years old
1988 - Gave $1,000 to Dem. Al Gore - 48 years old
I can't find any records between 1989 and 1994, which is odd.
I don't know about most people, but by the time you hit forty, I think most people know where they stand.
Makes you think she can be just as wishy washy on future items, or she might just be fishing for a rising star.
I don't consider the evaluation of one person to be a consensus. I believe Bush blinked. I think he and his people are reeling from the bad press of the hurricanes, Iraq, low poll numbers, etc. This was a chance to move the court right. It is a missed opportunity. She was a democrat. Gave money to Kerry, Klinton. There are plenty of good, conservative judges out there who were just as qualified as this person. He did not choose one of them. The appeased. We are rolling the dice here. Maybe she will be good. Maybe she won't. Why take the chance again like Daddy did. He could have gone to a right person. Old Dancing Harry loves here. Nothing but good to say about her. That alone makes me sit up and pay attention. When your enemies like your people, something is desperately wrong!
She's given plenty of money to republicans in that timeframe.
And back then, Al Gore and Llyod Bentsen were (supposedly) pro-life Dems. Which would be a natural draw for southern pro-life conservative Dems.
There's a reason why the South is owned by the GOP now. However, it's foolish to condemn former Dems who are now solidly GOP.
Just read something that said she "is not confrontational - she prefers to negotiate and compromise".
So really, she's a spineless, directionless jellyfish who'll go with whatever "everyone else" thinks? GREAT!
You know, she was instrumental in finding and helping to confirm John Roberts - the new "first among equals" at the SC.
So - maybe what Bush saw was a 60 year old spinster that went completely gaga over a young, charming, articulate conservative jurist, who'll now be her boss - you know, guiding her, molding her thoughts, helping her to come to a conclusion on SC cases. If Miers is a "conformer" and non-confrontational, maybe the thought is that she'll just fall into line with whatever her new "hunky" Cheif Justice tells her to do!?
Maybe?
I agree. You donate to AL GORE and there is no turning back. Ever.
She gave no money to Kerry or Clinton. She has not donated to a Dem since 1988 - back when a lot of southern conservatives were Democrats. Those southern conservatives are now the reason the GOP controls the White House, Senate, and House. And you would deny one of them a place on SCOTUS because of political donations nearly 20 years ago, in a very different political era? Fooey.
Beats me.
Does the word "Conservative" mean you have to agree 100% of the time with the fallible human being who sits in the White House?
I have supported President Bush to the point of no longer speaking with family members who say nasty things about him but this nomination is a failure of leadership and foresight.
Well, then, let's kick all the former Southern Democrats out of the GOP and tell them to go back to being Democrats. And see the GOP majorities disappear.
Y'all are, quite frankly, being idiots over the campaign contributions from 1988.
I can't find any records between 1989 and 1994, which is odd.
You have your opinion pal and I have mine. Since I am over the age of 21 and you are not my parent, I will stick with my opinion. You can do with your what you please because it means "dirt" to me, boy.
Gave money to Kerry, Klinton.
Translation: I DONT CARE ABOUT THE FACTS! I WANNA BITCH!
She gave no money to Clinton or Kerry. She's a conservative who used to be a Dem, like lots of Southern conservatives, which was a cultural factor dating back to Reconstruction and the backlash afterwards.
If they had not switched over to the GOP, there would be no GOP majority now.
He's already indicated that his opinion is more important than any facts.
No, the translation from me to you is: KMA. If you can read between the lines, because I don't give a rat's butt what you have to say. End of subject. End of conversation with you.
He knows her heart.
So, once again, you don't care about the facts.
Actually, I read it on a post here yesterday. It was mentioned in some article that someone pointed out. I do not recall the posting subject, sorry.
Facts?
We have facts on judicial decisions Miers has made regarding the Constitution?
And, once again, the claim that she donated to Clinton was found to be erroneous. There was NO claim that she donated to Kerry.
She donated to Gore and Bentsen back when she was a pro-life southern Dem and they professed to be pro-life southern dems. The Dem affiliation of the south at the time dated back to Reconstruction. That was changed by the inclusiveness of the GOP for conservatives. And apparently, for someone like you, it's OK if we have their votes, just don't ever give them a SCOTUS nomination because they once gave to Dem candidates nearly 20 years ago.
Fooey again.
All this does is tell us a little more about Prez Bush--not his nominee.
How many Judicial decisions did Rehnquist make prior to his nomination?
How about Byron White, who dissented against Roe v. Wade?
The point is, the poster is citing disproven facts about who Miers donated to in the past. That is NOT factual, but he doesn't care.
Snore.
I see you are as allergic to facts as many liberals are. Quite sad.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.