Bush
pal hits jackpot
By John Breneman
President Bush said today he is "supremely confident"
that nominee Harriet
Miers will be confirmed to the Supreme Court.
Miers has never been a judge but supporters say she is supremely
well-qualified. Her favorite musical group is The Supremes
and she subsists primarily on Pizza Hut Super Supreme pizza,
though there is little or no paper trail on what toppings
she prefers. She also has a cat named Oliver Wendell Holmes
and a schnauzer named Bork.
Currently serving as White House counsel, Miers has a reputation
as a shrewd lawyer who has spent much of her career being
appointed to various positions by George W. Bush, starting
with the Texas Lottery Commission in 1994.
Asked if the selection of a longtime friend who once gave
personal legal advice to Bush smacked of cronyism, a White
House spokesman pointed out that in selecting Miers the president
passed up an opportunity to nominate his brother, his dad
and several cousins.
Described in 1996 by Bush as "a pit bull in size 6 shoes,"
Miers is being compared favorably to both William Howard Taft
("Hippo in a Size XXXL Robe") and the woman she
is nominated to replace, Sandra Day "Wolverine Protecting
Her Young" O’Connor. Her idol is said to be the distinguished
former Chief Justice Joseph
Albert Wapner and she once did pro bono work for Sonny
Bono.
However, critics say Miers’ lack of a judicial track record
makes her a "stealth candidate" and raises concerns
that she might be a strict neo-originalistic anti-Darwinian
constructionist. Democrats have already asked for records
of her work in the White House and Sen. Ted Kennedy has reportedly
demanded samples of her brain tissue.
During
the upcoming confirmation hearings, Democratic senators are
expected to employ a variety of tactics — including intense
questioning, badgering, tickling, sodium pentathol and genital
electrodes — to get Miers to reveal her opinion on Roe v.
Wade, the landmark 1973 decision upholding the right of all
fetuses to own a gun.
Related stories:
Judge
Roberts faces abortion litmus test — July 29,
2005
Court pick seen as victory for oppressed white Christian male
— July 20, 2005