Federalist Society Staffers Ready to Lauch 'Coup' on SCOTUS Nominee Harriet Miers

ABC News ^ | 10/13/05 | Mark Halperin

[gopwinsin04]

On the heels of Federalist Society staffers appearing in the New York Times and Washington Times on Wednesday, a Federalist Society member tells ABC News the following: (this Thursday morning)

'The Federalist Society staffers are ready to lauch a coup. They have started whispering awful things about Harriet Miers.' The staffers are now just reaching the point of wanting to talk on background.' (to the mainstream media about the nominee)

'The whispers started on Monday, but have revved up...They are willing to talk.'

Federalist Society staffers don't get to vote on the nomination of course, but if the whispers get louder from key Administration allies on judical nominations, perhaps some Senators may listen.

That could be ominous.

[gopwinsin04]

ABC News discovers the Federalist society!

[willgolfforfood]

Exactly. How much credence did ABC give to this society a month ago, when Judge Roberts was facing the Senate?

[dirtboy]

'The Federalist Society staffers are ready to lauch a coup. They have started whispering awful things about Harriet Miers.'

Gawd, this is like being back in third grade.

Memo to the unnamed staffers, if they are indeed doing this (and this is from ABC, so there is no guarantee of such).

Make your case publicly as to why Miers should not be the nominee. Be sure to use your resources to figure out any related Senate confirmation issues. Also, give us YOUR qualifications that you want, so we in turn can debate those.

[oblomov]

Uh oh! Another right wing coup in the works!

Talk radio is responsible for spreading this hate! (/s)

[gopwinsin04]

I can't wait to hear Rush/Hannity today...

[BufordP]

...David Brooks tears into a 1990's-era series of columns by Miers in the Texas Bar Journal, deciding that "sad to say, the quality of thought and writing doesn't even rise to the level of pedestrian." LINK

"I don't know if by mere quotation I can fully convey the relentless march of vapid abstractions that mark Miers's prose& Throw aside ideology. Surely the threshold skill required of a Supreme Court justice is the ability to write clearly and argue incisively. Miers's columns provide no evidence of that."

Here's the link to all of the PDFs of the columns that Miers wrote for Texas Bar Journal. LINK

[gopwinsin04]

When Judge Roberts was before the committee it was the dastardly 'secretive' Federalist Society!

Now ABC News is running to them for scoops!

[ContemptofCourt]

You are so busy shooting the messenger, that you are missing the message.

[LikeLight]

Gawd, this is like being back in third grade.

So true. We have discovered our own "whining class" amongst the conservative movement.

I normally hate the FR polls, but I think the current poll is somewhat instructive. Those opposed to Miers have not broken through the 30% ceiling, despite weeks of antagonistic arguing on the issue. Most FReepers seem to be solidly in the "yay" or "let's see what the hearings reveal" camps, and I don't think that's going to change until the hearings. Hence the increasing frustration of the "whining class".

[gopwinsin04]

David Brooks and his faux outrage on the NY Slimes editorial page, I'll pass! (thank goodness his column is pay-per-view only now)

[Constitution Day]

Coup? Rather a poor choice of words.

[jbwbubba]

Sortal like when the MSM discovered Judicial Watch after they sued Cheney

[gopwinsin04]

I'm tuning in to Laura Ingraham to see what she has to say...

[frankjr]

Geez, I wonder why some people would not want to be on the "short list"?

[cryptical]

I normally hate the FR polls, but I think the current poll is somewhat instructive. Those opposed to Miers have not broken through the 30% ceiling, despite weeks of antagonistic arguing on the issue. Most FReepers seem to be solidly in the "yay" or "let's see what the hearings reveal" camps, and I don't think that's going to change until the hearings. Hence the increasing frustration of the "whining class".

I normally hate the FR polls, but I think the current poll is somewhat instructive. Those for Miers have not broken through the 30% ceiling, despite weeks of antagonistic arguing on the issue. Most FReepers seem to be solidly in the "no" or "let's see what the hearings reveal" camps, and I don't think that's going to change until the hearings. Hence the increasing frustration of the "kool-aid class".

[andyk]

How much credence did ABC give to this society a month ago, when Judge Roberts was facing the Senate?

Well, back then it was a sinister organization. Now, they're speaking truth to power. :)

[gopwinsin04]

I'm starting to believe Dobson's statement that many people on the list (something like 80%) passed on the nomination before Miers.

[LikeLight]

I read those Texas Bar columns a few days back. Incredibly boring but also CAREFULLY prepared so as to reveal nothing of consequence about the author, which I'm sure was absolutely her intention.

And her being a partner in a major law firm at the time of the writing, I also suspect she would have had an associate draft the columns - I doubt she was much more than an editor. That's what partners do in most law firms - the associates do virtually all of the work and the partners "make rain".

[Unam Sanctam]

They're only hurting themselves when they stoop to this leftist-style politics of personal destruction. Harriet Miers has a solid record as a hard-working lawyer. Critics should stick to valid arguments like unknown judicial philosophy and not attack the woman personally.

[McGavin999]

MEMO TO STAFFERS OF FEDERALIST SOCIETY:

If you continue along this route, all you will succeed in doing is making sure that if any nominee in the future is connected in any way to the Federalist Society, they will be passed over for nomination to any federal judgeship.