<p>Your pentultimate sentence was pretty unfair, since she was appointed state lottery commissioner for the express purpose of turning a corrupt Ann Richards-era agency around. Didn't know that? Don't take my word for it, you can read about it here in the Daily Democrat: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/03/politics/politicsspecial1/03cnd-scotus.html?hp&ex=1128398400&en=4dab3da8ec1406ad&ei=5094&partner=homepage%5B/url%5D">http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/03/politics/politicsspecial1/03cnd-scotus.html?hp&ex=1128398400&en=4dab3da8ec1406ad&ei=5094&partner=homepage</a></p>
<p>As to the lottery, just mentioning the jobs she's held. Heck, being a lottery commissoner probably has about as much value in terms of background for the Supreme Court as say, hmmmm, being the director of an Arabian Horse Association would have for a director of FEMA.</p>
<p>
[quote]
As to the lottery, just mentioning the jobs she's held.
[/quote]
No, with typical disingenuousness you put a falsely negative spin on one public service job she held. Anyway, I'd say the comments here tend to confirm that the chaff drop has been effective.</p>
<p>Thanks for the personal insults, with typical disingenuousness -lol</p>
<p>Moose said:
[quote]
[Miers] was the state's lottery commissoner at a time that the company administering the lottery was under investigation for bribes and kick backs.
[/quote]
NYT said:
[quote]
In 1995, Mr. Bush, then governor of Texas, named [Miers] chairwoman of the Texas Lottery Commission and gave her the task of cleaning up that scandal-plagued agency.
[/quote]
Yes, I call that disingenuous on your part, moose. No personal insult, just a statement of the obvious.</p>
<p>Also appears she is a former Democrat, contributed to the Gore campaign in 1988, and was on the "acceptable nominee list" that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid gave Bush when they met several weeks ago. Initial response from Rush, Irving Kristol and some others on the right is negative.</p>
<p>Well, there's all sorts of interesting stuff floating out there, hard to know what's chaff and what's real. In addition to her 1980s donations to Gore and Bentsen, it's also reported that she's an evangelical Christian with ties to a group that attempts to steer homosexuals back to a hetero lifestyle. Should make for an interesting confirmation hearing. Who says politics is boring? I don't think for a second that all of this is an accident. But I don't know what it means yet, either.</p>
<p>driver-first of all, that's Mr. Moose to you. In any event, I'm trying to figure out what is funnier, you quoting the New York Times or this nomination. </p>
<p>As to the circumstance of Bush, as Governor, appointing his personal attorney to look into allegations of corruption in a commission operating in his state.....oh, I forgot, that was ALL the fault of the previous state democratic administration.</p>
<p>she gave three times as much to Republicans as Democrats</p>
<p>She is also publically anti choice</p>
<p>It means they didn't want someone with any kind of record that could be discussed</p>
<p>Its payback time</p>
<p>Surprise, not like Bush picks his friends for job or anything</p>
<p>From Bush's POV, she's a good candidate. GWB knows her views, but he'll be able to hide all of them under various claims of privilege. And, given her track record of government "service", he probably knows she's suitably compliant. </p>
<p>A choice like this does not surprise me at all, and I think the conservatives should be proud. And will be.</p>
<p>
[quote]
As to the circumstance of Bush, as Governor, appointing his personal attorney to look into allegations of corruption in a commission operating in his state.....oh, I forgot, that was ALL the fault of the previous state democratic administration.
[/quote]
moose:
you can work your way up to Mr. by getting you facts straight. W became governor of Texas in 1995, which is when he appointed Miers to clean up the Lottery Commission which had been previously run by the Ann Richards administration.</p>
<p>NMD: I think it works either way, whether she's a feint or a stealth nominee. She isn't going to be his father's stealth nominee, IMO.</p>
<p>For the record, Reinquist and Thurgood Marshall had significant and substantial experience as trial lawyers and legal strategists, more so than many, if not most, of members of the courts they joined.</p>
<p>Hugo Black was a local (county, I believe) judge in Alabama and was no firebreathing liberal. Yes, he was a confidant of FDR but Black formed his 'expansive' opinions on the Bill of Rights based on the prosecutorial and police abuses he witnessed as a judge in Alabama.</p>
<p>The most unspectacluar choice for a chief justice ever arguably was probably Nixon's pick of Warren Burger, who, incidentally, got his law degree from a part-time or night school program.</p>
<p>Lately, I am not so much concerned about ideology as I am concerned about elitism. Who could deny Roberts' talent, but must all of our justices come from Ivy League law schools? And why not nominate someone who has not been a judge?</p>
<p>Driver,</p>
<p>I wouldn't call her either a feind or a stealth nominee. She's just a trusted friend. And, if one believes the press on GWB, he turns to trusted friends, especially in times of stress. </p>
<p>I wouldn't be a bit surprised if GWB just thought s***w them all, I'll go with someone I like. After all, the ole presidency job hasn't been much fun lately. Vacation interrupted. Both sides carping, one saying spend more, one saying spend less. Heck, he's probably getting rust on the mountain bike. </p>
<p>Let's face it, GWB has already made his legacy: tax cuts, NCLB, Democray in the Middle East (aka Iraq?). Maybe it's time to just kick back and start having fun?</p>
<p>drivel - i thought i had the facts straight. As I posted, I forgot, it was all the previous democratic administration's fault. But thanks for setting me straight again. </p>
<p>Also, good job in misdirecting this, your boy Karl would be so proud. My point all along was simply that being Bush's former personal attorney, being president of a bar association and being a lottery commissoner is hardly the background one would hope for in a Supreme Court Justice, IMO, and regardless of partisan issues or bias. But, you just keep doing your Ann Coulter impersonation in response.</p>
<p>NMD, you could be right. Cheney was originally in charge of the committee to pick a vice-president, and look what happened. Same thing could be happening with Miers, who was leading (or high up in) the committee to pick SC nominees.</p>
<p>Miers has got a record such that getting a handle on it will be like clawing at a window pane. </p>
<p>As a judge, I have no idea...which is, I suspect, part of the Point.</p>
<p>But compared to others appointed to the SC without prior judicial experience, she's a mediocrity, which is one thing, whatever else I think about him, you can't accuse Roberts of being.</p>
<p>But the pick fits Bush's m.o.: personal comfort level and loyalty above all else and an almost positive disdain for competence, experience, or anything that might be construed as a drive for excellence.</p>
<p>All that said, the wing-nut portion of the blogosphere has positively detonated over Miers. May they go into a feeding frenzy as they consume each other.</p>
<p>Driver:</p>
<p>Apparently the Exodus group Miers belongs to is dedicated to helping ex-prisoners transition to life outside prison; it's different from a group with a similar name that is anti-gay. (from Andrew Sullivan's blog).</p>
<p>Today is Monday. Are you ready for some action on MNF aka Monday Night Forum? </p>
<p>Presenting tonight's opponents: </p>
<p>In the left corner, Bullwinkle aka Mister Moose, wearing his customary tight blue shorts and weighing 1600 pounds. In the right corner, Driver aka Drivel, wearing red shorts, rose-tinted glasses, and a nicely fitting ten-gallon hat -weight undisclosed for privacy reasons. </p>
<p>The fight will be referee-less, as we could not find an impartial party among our members. </p>
<p>Kickoff is at 8PM EST. Do not miss it.</p>
<p>Look we all know what is going to happen at the hearings. Ted Kennedy will ask Ms. Meiers how she will rule once on the court and she will answer, "I will do everything I can to adopt the Democratic Party's agenda," and Ted, on the attack, will demand, "And what else?"</p>
<p>Xiggi:
Well, I'd hope Driver is wearing something more than those shorts when she steps into that ring...</p>