[Stellar Dendrite]

ping

[SE Mom]

Bookmark.

[vikingd00d]

We got RULES around here.. :)

[Rodney King]

Proportional Representation is what Lani Guinier advocates. Even I know that. Am I qualified for the Supreme Court?

[connectthedots]

Peter Principle on steroids is at work here.

[SteveH]

One senator found her much too quiet. The lawmaker had such a hard time hearing Miers that aides had to tell people outside the meeting room to quiet down.

Is it that she doesn't really want the nomination, but was forced by personal circumstances to accept it?

I don't think it's fair of GWB to ask HM to step up to the plate if she herself really does not want it for any reason. Getting a SC nomination is more than an honor, it is a duty with heavy responsibilities, and it makes one very visible very quickly.

Somehow I don't think GWB gave her the option to refuse.

[caisson71]

I'm sorry, but I am sick and tired of "conservatives" saying Miers is not good enough. Though I respect their opinions, none of the anti-Miers conservtives has a more convincing argument than President Bush - he was elected President, Miers is his choice.

[Congressman Billybob]

The only SPECIFIC "bad" example is a reference to "proportional representation." In the context of a City Council election, Miers' concern at the time, the relevant Supreme Court decisions question whether at-large elections or multi-member district elections are unconstitutional because they deny "proportional representation" to minorities, who might not elect any of their own members in such elections.

Malkin should be aware of this well-known line of cases. Apparently she isn't.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column: "How's your wife?" "Compared to What?"

[JohnnyZ]

Michelle Malkin is so hot. What is the article about?

[ConservativeDude]

""There is no proportional representation requirement in the Equal Protection Clause," said Cass R. Sunstein, a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago. He and several other scholars said it appeared that Miers was confusing proportional representation -- which typically deals with ethnic groups having members on elected bodies -- with the one-man, one-vote Supreme Court ruling that requires, for example, legislative districts to have equal populations."

For what's it's worth, Cass Sunstein is a big time liberal. The Bush bots will say, "aha, he's just trying to embarrass her." But another response would be that he is describing the current state of the EPC accurately, even though he would no doubt like there to be a proportionate representation requirement.

[Cboldt]

Here are links to Ms. Miers answers, and the Senate response in HTML ...

http://images.redstate.org/images/miersquestionaire.htm <- Mires' Answers
http://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/200510/101905b.html <- Senate response

Thanks, Stellar, for the collection of quotes from the Senators.

[moehoward]

In describing one matter on the Dallas City Council, Miers referred to "the proportional representation requirement of the Equal Protection Clause" as it relates to the Voting Rights Act.

Any bets this is just the tip of her "Constitutional interpretation" iceberg?

[rcocean]

I'm waiting for all the Bushbots to come and tell us that Michelle is now a loser, stupid, a DU troll, an elitist, sexist, homophobe, anti-semite.

Just like Bork, anyone at NR, Buchanan, Rush, Coulter, and Novak.

Anyone who disagrees with "Our Leader" must be destroyed.

[piceapungens]

The sky continues to grow darker for the Bushies. It looks like the conservatives have had it with the toadies and RINOs surrounding the president. I hope the flashback includes some serious discussion of the Bush open-borders policy.

[rwfromkansas]

I must say, her complete and utter inability to understand the difference between proportial rep and the winner take all system is rather bothersome...

I have supported Miers up to this point, but this DOES worry me that she flat doesn't even understand how our electoral process works.

I mean come on. Yeah, I have taken comparative government and advanced American government, but I really don't know that much more than the average person does. And, certainly a lawyer should know this stuff.

[rwfromkansas]

er......proporTIONAL, not proportial.

Heaven help me today.

[GOPJ]

Specter said he remained perplexed by a disagreement Monday stemming from his meeting with Miers in his office, after which their accounts differed on what the nominee had said about Supreme Court rulings that preceded Roe.

In dealing with 11 Supreme Court nominees, Specter said, "I've never walked out of a room and had a disagreement as to what was said." He smiled politely as Leahy said, "I've never known him to make a mistake on what he heard."

I suspect Miers told Specter an answer he wanted to hear -- and when he went public, she backed down. Specter's too smart to be played.

[Texas Federalist]

My experience on the City Council helps me understand the interplay between serving on a policy making board and serving as a judge. An example, of this distinction can be seen in a vote of the council to ban flag burning. The Council was free to state its policy position, we were against flag burning. The Supreme Court’s role was to determine whether our Constitution allows such a ban. The City Council was anxious to encourage minority and women-owned businesses, but our processes had to conform to equal protection requirements, as well.

What is with the last sentence? It discusses a topic in the concluding sentence (encouraging minority and women owned businesses) that is unrelated to the previous paragraph (a vote of the council on flag burning). This structure is reminiscent of Ralphie's essay in "A Christmas Story":

"What I want for Christmas is an official Red Ryder BB Gun with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time. I think that everyone should have a Red Ryder BB Gun. They are very good for Christmas. I don't think that a football is a very good Christmas present."

[USPatriette]

I haven't read this thread yet so I apologize if this is repetitive, but I am just so ..... angry, actually.

I don't know if I can ever forgive those who launched the vicious attacks on this woman and the president. No, I've never thought Miers was "the most" qualified potential nominee (as far as I'm concerned, though, that could be said about any nominee). But I cannot imagine what it is like to try to go senator to senator and impress people when you are under constant attack and ridicule and don't even have the support of the people on your OWN SIDE.

I feel zero pride in being associated with the views expressed by Coulter, Frum, et al. And I hope that new voices -- respectable, adult voices -- will emerge from this shameful epidsode (the shame is the "pundits'," not Miers' or the president's) to speak for the rest of the conservatives in this country.