The reasons behind Harry's praise.
By c17wife Posted in User Blogs — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Well, we knew it wouldn't be long before Harry Reid stepped out to explain his praise of Harriet Miers.
http://news.yahoo.com/fc/us/supreme_court
Take a look-
"When Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid surprised liberals this week by prominently applauding Harriet Miers' nomination to the Supreme Court, he was displaying a hint of his disdain for elitists as well as his admiration for a Western lawyer, who like him, pulled herself up by her bootstraps.
Reid, who grew up in a small Nevada mining town and worked his way through law school, alluded in an interview with Knight Ridder to Miers' struggles as a young woman working part time to pay for her education after her father was incapacitated by a stroke.
"She overcame difficult family circumstances to become the managing partner of a successful 400-lawyer Dallas law firm," Reid said."
This is an interesting take from Reid. He also answers questions about the cronyism charge later in the story.
"Liberals have tried to link Miers, a longtime Bush loyalist, to their denunciations of Bush for cronyism. Reid himself on Tuesday called for changing "the culture of corruption and cronyism spreading throughout the nation's capital. But, speaking to the bloggers, Reid made one thing clear about Miers: "I will include everybody as a crony, but not her, when I make my case."
Stealth pick? Great political move? Sacrificial lamb? Who knows. It should be an interesting confirmation.
http://neodanite.redstate.org/story/2005/10/5/13836/7233
Subject: McCain is a Liberal
I think I finally get it now.
appointment yesterday. For now, I'm joining Ruffini's "coalition of the chillin'".
My point in this dairy was to hopefully get people to look at a bigger picture than what we have been examining. To, if we could, possibly see Miers as someone on the opposition would see her. Reid has given an interesting perspective on the perceptions of SCOTUS nominations.
Honestly, we have been acting like a bunch of elitist snobs with all the whining about where she went to law school, etc...And I include myself in that. Lord knows I was hoping for pretty boy Luttig to follow pretty boy Roberts.
I basically think Dirty Harry is nothing more than a snake in the desert, but I do have to give him some credit here. For the moment, he at least seems willing to give her a chance. Which is more than I can say for the rest of us.
**disclaimer**
Do not quote me on any of this. As a woman, I have the right to change my mind and be ticked off completely all over again in the morning. :)
I'm not sold on the nominee yet but I agree with you whole heartedly on that point. The idea that someone who clerked for a federal judge, made law review, practiced law for 20-30 years, oversaw the merger of two major law firms, and worked her way to becoming a managing partner of a major law firm is somehow not "qualified" because she didn't go the "right" law school ticks me off something fierce.
I have an honest question: where have you been reading that people are mad that she didn't go to Harvard or Yale, except from people lambasting such an idea?
There are people who are concerned that she isn't a judge (which is a point I disagree with), but I don't believe I've seen one person say, "SMU isn't good enough for the Supreme Court."
And such an argument would make no sense, given that these same people would have been thrilled with CS-Sacramento (UCLA Law) alum Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen, who went to Baylor both undergrad and for her law degree (their law school is tied for 52nd with SMU's, while their undergrad program is ranked 78th to SMU's 73rd).
It's a straw man invented by the Administration to distract from the actual issue of her qualifications. Nothing more, nothing less.
I think that Harriet Miers is a winner. Bush says that she's a strict constructionist, she's active in an evangelical Christian church, I think that we can trust the president on this one.
By the way, I have a new diary out. Be sure to check it out and comment on it if you have time.