The President today named White House Counsel Harriet Miers--a member of the inner circle and his one-time personal lawyer--as his choice for Associate Justice. Miers was the first woman to head her Dallas law firm, the first woman president of the Dallas Bar and the Texas State Bar. This is going to be a fascinating nomination!The selection of Miers was announced right before Chief Justice John Roberts took his seat on the court this morning (after sailing through his nomination). Miers helped steer that nomination through the Senate.
Bush's choice to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is a lawyer who has never been a judge, which makes it tough for both liberals and conservatives to suss out where she might stand on hot button issues like abortion.
From early press reports, some of the staunch right are shrieking like wounded swamp sows.
The Democrats--not so much. The right is more up in arms than the Democrats. After all, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid had her on his suggestion list. He said today that “the Supreme Court would benefit from the addition of a justice who has real experience as a practicing lawyer.”
On his blog today, Pat Buchanan began hucking brickbats at The President:
"Handed a once-in-a-generation opportunity to return the Supreme Court to constitutionalism, George W. Bush passed over a dozen of the finest jurists of his day -- to name his personal lawyer. In a decision deeply disheartening to those who invested such hopes in him, Bush may have tossed away his and our last chance to roll back the social revolution imposed upon us by our judicial dictatorship since the days of Earl Warren."---o0o---
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