Who is this bitch anyway?

The latest wire reports show that Harriet Miers, as president of the Texas Bar Association, championed "self-determination," at least in terms of women's issues, at least in one speech. This would appear to be self-determination in terms of abortion, the separation of Church and State, and women's issues. Of course we also know she is now a "reborn Christian" and the running dog of George W. Bush. Please realize that in the pic to the left, Ms. Miers was the White House Staff Secretary!

Honestly, I love it that President Bush nominated Ms. Miers. I love it that thru his unrelenting devotion to cronyism and his premature lame-duck laziness, he has lobbed the ultimate softball to the Judiciary committee and the nation, prompting Arlen Specter to note that the Supreme Court nominee needs a crash course in Constitutional law. Unless Ms. Miers' nomination is withdrawn, her confirmation hearings will probably be the swan song of the Bush administration.

Ironically, I think Ms. Miers would probably do just fine as a Supreme Court Justice. After all, in a room with intellectual heavyweights like Clarence Thomas, how could anyone appear inadequate? Of course, she could be a Trojan horse, just like John Roberts could still prove to be a pig in a polk. But if you look at the history of the Supreme Court, you may realize that by the nature of its lifetime appointments, the Supreme Court is the last bastion of integrity in the U.S. government. It is easily observed that the Justices appointed, at least in my generation, have often failed to support the agendas of the regimes that nominated them, which is as it should be. Sandra Day O'Connor may have been the best legacy of the Reagan administration. I have grudging respect for Justices with whom I disagreed, but who had at least had integrity in their agendas. Look at the career of the late Chief Justice Rehnquist, nominee of Richard Nixon in 1972 just before Watergate, appointed as Chief Justice by Ronald Reagan in 1986.

I was in law school from 1980 thru 1983. Stanford was a liberal environment, and Rehnquist was often seen as the new devil on the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, who was a guest instructor in my second year but the eminent Tony Scalia.

Now I won't hold it against Justice Rehnquist that if you look at the Supreme Court Reporter for the late 70's you'll see in the group photo that he is passed out from his painkiller addiction. In fact, once he became Chief Justice history reveals that he did his job as administrator of the Court, and gave up his job as conservative hatchet man. But now, Tony. Tony looked like Richard, the swarthy scowl, the skulk. I was terrified that Bush would nominate Tony the Knife as Chief Justice. But he didn't .

Now it appears to me that what has happened with these Supreme Court nominations is that Bush, at the end of his political career, doesn't give a shit. Roberts was just easy. Miers is the equivalent of JFK nominating Byron Young, more or less because he was underfoot at the time.

So it doesn't matter if Miers is confirmed or not. She probably will not be. If she were to be, I would not be too concerned, worse things have happened. What is significant here is that the Bush administration has given up any attempt at legitimacy or credibility, and let it shine. So next time, think more. Vote your mind, not your ass.