2008 Woodie Awards
Point-Counterpoint
Trust in Bush's Decision
Papincak, Michael
Issue date: 10/21/05 Section: Opinions & Editorials
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This week I have been asked to talk about the ever-controversial nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. However, I do agree with President Bush's selection of Miers, and I will explain why in the following: First, I am very happy that this nominee is a woman. I was actually disappointed that President Bush selected John Roberts first as Sandra Day O'Connor's replacement. I thought, as I think a lot of others thought, that since O'Connor was the first woman on the Court, her seat should remain a "female seat" for as long as tradition will allow. President Bush saw a chance to correct his mistake and he took it. Second, she is conservative, or at least we hope so. As history has taught us, not everyone is what they seem. Both Presidents Eisenhower and George H.W. Bush elected men that they thought wholeheartedly would be conservative on the bench, and they turned out to be either among the leading liberals or just moderate, not being as conservative as expected. Most recently, this would be Justice David Souter. Supporters of Bush and Miers are just hoping that she doesn't enter the Court conservative and leave a liberal. Third, she has worked extremely closely with President Bush for the last several years and also worked with him while he was the Texas governor. She was the first woman to serve as the president of the Texas State Bar, as well as the first woman to be the president of the Dallas Bar Association. She has also consistently been ranked in the top 50 of female lawyers nationwide. She was also Bush's personal lawyer while he was in Texas. So, we can definitely see that this is someone who is very close to President Bush, someone that he knows extremely well. When President Bush asks us to trust him on this one, I can do that because of how well they do know each other.
However, there are some problems with this nomination in comparison to other nominations. She has no judicial experience - the majority of justices have had some judicial experience, whether it be in federal or state courts. However, there have been several justices that have come from Congress, the executive branch, and the academic world. The late William Rehnquist worked for Richard Nixon as part of his staff before he was nominated. Also, when researched, you will find that senators actually called that this nominee not be from the appellate court system. Miers not having a judicial record does not give us a clear view of her true conservatism. The only thing that we can trust is her relationship with President Bush. Also, she has had a history of giving to Democratic candidates and is a convert to the Republican Party. Miers also opposed President Bush's decision to ignore the American Bar Association when selecting his court nominees. So, we do have a history of being on the other side of the fence from Bush when it comes to Miers' thinking. However, what I see is someone who is close to Bush and will take their kind of conservatism to the bench with her, which I think will be a good thing for this country. Though I think there is going to be a long and hard fight to get her on the bench, I think she will make it once she is able to prove herself to the Judicial Committee, the Senate, and the American people.
However, there are some problems with this nomination in comparison to other nominations. She has no judicial experience - the majority of justices have had some judicial experience, whether it be in federal or state courts. However, there have been several justices that have come from Congress, the executive branch, and the academic world. The late William Rehnquist worked for Richard Nixon as part of his staff before he was nominated. Also, when researched, you will find that senators actually called that this nominee not be from the appellate court system. Miers not having a judicial record does not give us a clear view of her true conservatism. The only thing that we can trust is her relationship with President Bush. Also, she has had a history of giving to Democratic candidates and is a convert to the Republican Party. Miers also opposed President Bush's decision to ignore the American Bar Association when selecting his court nominees. So, we do have a history of being on the other side of the fence from Bush when it comes to Miers' thinking. However, what I see is someone who is close to Bush and will take their kind of conservatism to the bench with her, which I think will be a good thing for this country. Though I think there is going to be a long and hard fight to get her on the bench, I think she will make it once she is able to prove herself to the Judicial Committee, the Senate, and the American people.