• Politics

    Judge Bork Borks the Miers Nomination

    I share some of the concerns expressed by Judge Robert Bork in this morning’s Wall Street Journal. The following selection in particular rings true: By passing over the many clearly qualified persons, male and female, to pick a stealth candidate, George W. Bush has sent a message to aspiring young originalists that it is better not to say anything remotely controversial, a sort of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” admonition to would-be judges. It is a blow in particular to the Federalist Society, most of whose members endorse originalism. The society, unlike the ACLU, takes no public positions, engages in no litigation, and includes people of differing views in its programs.…

  • Culture,  Politics,  Theology/Bible

    “The Abortion Debate No One Wants to Have”

    Patricia E. Bauer with her husband, Edward Muller, and their children, Margaret and Johnny Muller, in June at Margaret’s high school graduation in Massachusetts. Photo Credit: Courtesy Christina Overland Patricia E. Bauer, former Washington Post reporter and bureau chief, writes a stunningly pro-life Op-Ed today titled “The Abortion Debate No One Wants to Have.” The article discusses whether it is right to abort a baby simply because pre-natal testing confirms that the baby has a disability. In Bauer’s case, the issue is intensely personal because she is raising a daughter named Margaret who has Down syndrome. She writes this about her daughter: Margaret is a person and a member of…

  • Politics,  Theology/Bible

    Will James Dobson and Richard Land Be Subpoenaed?

    It looks like James Dobson, Richard Land and others may very well be subpoenaed to appear before the Senate judiciary committee. The subpoenas look more and more likely as news of a certain conference call becomes public. According to John Fund in today’s Wall Street Journal, Dobson, Land and others were a part of a conference call, set up by the Bush administration, in which they received assurances that Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Here is a paragraph from Fund’s piece: The conference call will no doubt prove controversial on Capitol Hill, always a tinderbox for rumors that any judicial nominee has taken…

  • Politics

    John Fund Reverses His Position and Opposes Miers

    Conservatives continue to line-up against the Miers nomination. Today, the Wall Street Journal’s John Fund joins them: I have changed my mind about Harriet Miers. Last Thursday, I wrote in OpinionJournal’s Political Diary that “while skepticism of Ms. Miers is justified, the time is fast approaching when such expressions should be muted until the Senate hearings begin. At that point, Ms. Miers will finally be able to speak for herself.” But that was before I interviewed more than a dozen of her friends and colleagues along with political players in Texas. I came away convinced that questions about Ms. Miers should be raised now–and loudly–because she has spent her entire…

  • Politics

    Peggy Noonan: “President Feels So Free To Stiff Conservatives”

    Once again, Noonan’s analysis is brilliant. She argues that in nominating Harriet Miers President Bush completely misread his base. And she’s right. The base wanted a bench-clearing brawl, but the President decided to take a knee and run the clock out. Not very inspiring, and not a good way to rally the troops. My own analysis is forthcoming, but in the meantime you should read Noonan’s piece: “The Miers Misstep: What was President Bush thinking?”

  • Politics

    George Will: Miers Should Not Be Confirmed

    In today’s Washington Post, conservative columnist George Will opposes the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. He writes: “Senators beginning what ought to be a protracted and exacting scrutiny of Harriet Miers should be guided by three rules. First, it is not important that she be confirmed. Second, it might be very important that she not be. Third, the presumption — perhaps rebuttable but certainly in need of rebutting — should be that her nomination is not a defensible exercise of presidential discretion to which senatorial deference is due.” Washington Post – “Can This Nomination Be Justified?”

  • Politics,  Theology/Bible

    “Strong Grounding in the Church Could Be a Clue to Miers’s Priorities”

    (From the Washington Post) “One evening in the 1980s, several years after Harriet Miers dedicated her life to Jesus Christ, she attended a lecture at her Dallas evangelical church with Nathan Hecht, a colleague at her law firm and her on-again, off-again boyfriend. The speaker was Paul Brand, a surgeon and the author of ‘Fearfully and Wonderfully Made,’ a best-selling exploration of God and the human body. “When the lecture was over, Miers said words Hecht had never heard from her before. ‘I’m convinced that life begins at conception,’ Hecht recalled her saying. According to Hecht, now a Texas Supreme Court justice, Miers has believed ever since that abortion is…

  • Politics,  Theology/Bible

    Why Quick Endorsements for Miers from Evangelicals?

    The newspaper of record has the best reporting that I have seen thus far on Harriet Miers. The story is titled “In Midcareer, a Turn to Faith to Fill a Void.” This article gives great insight into Miers’s conversion to evangelical faith and the subsequent reconfiguring of her politics. This one is definitely worth your taking the time to read it. For those who have been wondering how prominent Evangelicals have been able to offer such a quick endorsement of someone who is largely an unknown quantity (e.g. James Dobson), there may be some information in this piece that helps to explain. The White House had Texas Supreme Court justice…

  • Politics

    Miers Found Christ and Turned Republican

    White House Counsel Harriet Miers speaks after being nominated by President George W. Bush as Supreme Court Justice during a statement from the Oval Office on Monday October 3, 2005. -White House photo by Paul Morse According to the Matt Drudge, Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers found Christ in 1979, and then became a Republican. Drudge is saying that the New York Times is set to splash the story on front pages tomorrow morning. Well, this could be a tough pill for Harry Reid to swallow. Her merits of personal affability and answering phone calls promptly are not likely to outweigh the unconscionable demerit of her being an evangelical. For…