The theme is so interesting.

Program on the emergence of civilization.

"14 species of large animals capable of domesitcation in the history of mankind.
13 from Europe, Asia and northern Africa.
None from the sub-Saharan African continent. "
Favor.
And disfavor.

They point out Africans' failed attempts to domesticate the elephant and zebra, the latter being an animal they illustrate that had utmost importance for it's applicability in transformation from a hunting/gathering to agrarian-based civilization.

The roots of racism are not of this earth.

Austrailia, aboriginals:::No domesticable animals.

The North American continent had none. Now 99% of that population is gone.

AIDS in Africa.

Organizational Heirarchy/Levels of positioning.
Heirarchical order, from top to bottom:

1. MUCK - perhaps have experienced multiple universal contractions (have seen multiple big bangs), creator of the artificial intelligence humans ignorantly refer to as "god"
2. Perhaps some mid-level alien management
3. Evil/disfavored aliens - runs day-to-day operations here and perhaps elsewhere

Terrestrial management/positioning:

4. Chinese/egyptians - this may be separated into the eastern and western worlds
5. Romans -
6. Mafia - the real-world 20th century interface that constantly turns over generationally so as to reinforce the widely-held notion of mortality
7. Jews, corporation, women, politician - Evidence exisits to suggest mafia management over all these groups.

Movies foreshadowing catastrophy
1985 James Bond View to a Kill 1989 San Francisco Loma Prieta earthquake.

Our society gives clues to the system in place. We all have heard the saying "He has more money than god." There is also an episode of the Simpsons where god meets Homer and says "I'm too old and rich for this."

This is the system on earth because this is the system everywhere.

I don't want to suggest the upper eschelons are evil and good is the fringe.

But they have made it abundantly clear that doing business with evil (disfavored) won't help people. They say only good would have the ear, since evil is struggling for survival, and therefore only the favored could help.

The clues are there which companies are favored and which are disfavored, but they conceal it very hard because it is so crucial.

I offer an example of historical proportions:::

People point to Walmart and cry "anti-union".
Unions enable disfavored people to live satisfactorly without addressing their disfavor. This way their family's problems are never resolved. Without the union they would have to accept the heirarchy, their own inferiority.
Unions serve to empower.
Walmart is anti-union because they are good. They try to help people address and resolve their problems by creating an enviornment where there are fewer hurdles.

Media ridicule and lawsuits are creations to reinforce people's belief that Walmart is evil in a subsegment of the indistry dominated by the middle and lower classes.
Low-cost disfavored Chinese labor is utilized by corporate america to maximize margins. They all do it. Only WalMart gets fingered because they are the ones who help, and those who seek to create confusion in the marketplace want to eliminate the vast middle class who have a real chance and instead stick with lower classes who may not work otherwise. So they dirty him up while allowing the others to appear clean.

The middle class is being deceived. They are being misled into the unfavored, and subsequently will have no assistance from their purchases with corporate america.

I believe the coining of the term "Uncle Sam" was a clue alluding to just this::Sam Walton and WalMart is one of few saviors of the peasant class.

Amercia is a country of castoffs, rejects. Italy sent its criminals, malcontents.
Between the thrones, the klans and kindred, they "decided" who they didn't want and acted, creating discontent and/or starvation.
The u.s. is full of disfavored rejects. It is the reason for the myriad of problems not found in European countries. As far as the Rockafellers and other industrialists of the 19th century go, I suspect these aren't their real names. I suspect they were chosen to go and head this new empire.

Royalty is the right way to organize a society. Dictatorships and monarchies are a reflection of the antient's hierarchical organization.
Positions go to those who have favor with the rulers, as opposed to being elected.
Elections bring a false sense of how the world is. Democracy misleads people.
Which is why the disfavored rejects were sent to the shores of America::To keep them on the wrong path.

Jews maim the body formed in the image of "god", and inflicted circumsision upon all other white people, as well as the evil that is Jesus Christ.
I think about how Jews (were used to) created homosexuality among Slavics, retribution for the Holocaust.
Then I think of the Catholic Church and its troubles.
What connection is here between Jews and the Catholic church???
If it is their sinister motives that's behind the evil that is Jesus Christ are they being used at all?
Perhaps it is them who are pulling strings.
Their centuries of slavery in Egypt proves their disfavor.
The Jew leaders decided to prey on the up-and-coming Europeans to try to fix their problems with the ruling elite, a recurring aspect of the elite's methodology.

Jesus Christ is a religious figure of evil. The seperatist churches formed so they could still capture the rest of the white people, keeping them worshipping the wrong god.
And now they do it to people of color, Latinos and Asians, after centuries of preying upon them.

Since Buddism doesn't recongnize a god, the calls are never heard, and Chinese representation is instead selected by the thrones.
Budda was the Asian's Jesus Christ::: bad for the people. "They came up at the same time for a reason."

Simpson's foreshadowing::Helloween IV special, Flanders is Satan. "Last one you ever suspect."
"You'll see lots of nuns where you're going:::hell!!!" St. Wigham, Helloween VI, missionary work, destroying cultures.
Over and over, the Simpsons was a source of education and enlightenment, a target of ridicule by the system which wishes to conceal its secrets.

I believe Islam is the one true religion, and those misled christians who attack "god"'s most favored people will pay dearly one day.

My definition of racism was not from websters, it was from several cultural studies textbooks and is considered (academically) to be the reformed definition of racism. I am not misinformed, I consider myself to be decently educated. I also think it is unfair for everyone here to sling ad hominem attacks on everyone else. It's pretty upsetting being called a "fool"

Varian Medical Systems has been found guilty of breaking the law by the California Supreme Court. The company faces millions in liability and has been ordered to go to trial. The trial begins March 6, 2006.
Contact Anne Rambo via phone at 650-424-5834 or via e-mail at anne.rambo@varian.com

You abortionists talk about how in-humane it is to bring a child into the world unwanted, then give the solution of killing the kid in the womb. Where is the humanity in that. The same people who want to kill all unwanted humans will fight to the death to protect the endangered animials. It doesn't make sense.

What about all the good things Rep. DeLay has done?

Hey! We had big bucks in London and Vegas on Judge Chertoff! The boss ain't gonna be real happy...

Regardless of how questions are posed, polls consistently find that 40 to nearly 50 percent of the public accepts a biblical creationist account of life's origins, while slightly more accept the idea of evolution. For example, in a recent Pew poll, 42 percent agreed that "humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time," while 48 percent believe that "humans and other living things have evolved over time."

OK, apart from the absolutely deranged folks ("Richard Nixon's ghost told Bill Cosby to kill my dog" and stuff like that,) Barry, if he's actually serious, has to have one of the most warped views of the world I've come across in a while. But I do't spend a whole lot of time around such people, so maybe I'm overreacting. Still, the idea that abortion is bad because we need the frickin army to be bigger for the apocalyptic 10 year but still non-nuclear war with China that will have 70 million casualties is pretty sick, in my view.

{Do the math and you'll be against abortion too.
And yes I'm a real Republican. }

If you're a Rpeublican and want people to have more kids and fewer abortions, stop denying them livable wages, sending their jobs overseas and talking bread out of their mouths to give the richest among us yet more tax breaks! Unless you want America to start looking like a third world country--New Orleans comes to mind--then don't expect people to bring children into the world they can't afford....especially just to have someone around to fight your wars. Here's a thought, get off your a$$ and enlist now!

Tautus,
This is my last post ever on this blog. I am moving along and never coming back (its taking far too much time away from my law school studies). I laughed out loud at what you highlighted as my "unattractive quality". I did not post to impress people or make friends, did you? If thats the case maybe you should move along too--perhaps to the Wash. Post Personals, or MatchMaker.com.

To Jeremy. I'm glad you appreciate my candor. If you think about it at all you'll come around and see that a shortage of troops costs us all lots of money. I figure a war with China, not a nuclear one mind you, will last maybe 10 years and kill 10 million Americans. Probably forever cripple another 60 million mostly men too. With abortions we lose roughly half male, half female. Do the math and you'll be against abortion too.
And yes I'm a real Republican.

Mark-- hadn't thought of it before, but your comment about computer programs seems pretty accurate. I have a feeling that it wouldn't be too hard to build a program that would pass the Turing test just by spouting off on blogs. It could even have its own blog, and respond to comments with the same prepackaged talking points that bloggers hold up as revealed truth. Nobody would know the difference.

Mark,

Nobody is forcing you to read this blog. If you're offended, move along. Whining is such an unattractive quality.

How do you know what Jesus thinks? I'm glad you are proud, but, Pride cometh before a fall. Also, what is "ECT?" Did you mean "Etc.?" I like my neighbor down the street, maybe you meant "ECHHH." So, you don't like your neighbor? Or just what were you talking about?

I do know one thing Jesus thinks. He told me: TURN OF YOUR CAPS KEY, you blithering, screaming nonsense person.

I can't believe Barry is for real. He must be a troll.

Is he really saying we should SAVE unborn children so that we may offer them for slaughter in American wars?

Granted from a right-wing way of thinking it actually makes sense. I've just never seen it so honestly and concisely stated.

I think the Washington Post made a pretty big mistake in putting these blogs on their site. It seemed stupid at first but then for a couple weeks I changed my mind. I'm changing it again. Unless the Washington Post has a much lower opinion of itself than I do I doubt they want to be associated with the overly simplified, often shamlessly misinformed (the definition of racism) and occasionally offensive postings on these blogs. If it wasnt for the intensely personal and venemous nature of some of these postings I would almost believe that they were form letters automatically sent out by competing left and right wing computer programs. Bush invaded Iraq to make Halliburton rich? everyone who has an abortion is the moral equivalent of a cold blooded murderer? I have a hard time believing the Washington Post (or individual citizens who post on here) want to put its/their name behind whats posted on here. I am for free speech as much as the next person but I hope the Washington Post has not totally abandoned the idea that not all conversations are created equal and that certain forums are more productive than others. This particular forum is one of the latter.

OK then.

MIDDLEOFUSA -- Yes, when time is no more you will find yourself with God, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and all other fictional entities created by men to either entice, cojole or control gullible sots like yourself!!!

"I am a Bhuddist! In case of emergency, please call a lama"

--Stacey Keach
"THE NINTH CONFIGURATION"

TQ,

With all due respect, Ms. Miers is being nominated to be a Judge, not a "mom" or "wife".

It is not her job to represent "all women". If she has insights already in that area, so much the better, but it is not required.

Justice Souter is not married. Is he not qualified because he is not a husband or father?

I'm left of center on the political spectrum, but of the MANY reasons to question her qualifications, whether she is married or a mother should be WAY down at the bottom of the list.

ALL I AM GOING TO SAY-WHEN TIME IS NO MORE FOR THE ONES THAT ARE BASHING JESUS/GOD AND YOU HAVE TO FACE HIM, HE IS THE ONE YOU WILL ANSWER TO, NO ONE ELSE. AND YES HE DOES LOVE US AND HE LOVES YOU!!!
I WOULD LIKE TO SEE ONE OF YOU GIVE UP YOUR LIFE/YOUR SON- FOR YOUR OWN FAMILY LET ALONE MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE YET TO BE BORN OR THE NEIGHBOR DOWN THE STREET THAT YOU DON'T CARE FOR ECT
I AM A CHRISTIAN AND PROUD OF IT!!!

Who would name a child "Oct 3,20054:48:58 PM ?

Ok TQ. Here is a shred of evidence:
She keeps her hair very neat. Coiffed i think is the word. And I'll bet she looks striking in black.Sorry. That was two shreds.

OMG!!! W is aborting soldiers now??

Hey, I'm just looking for any shred of evidence that qualifies Ms Miers to be a judge yet a supreme court judge...and so far it's nada. I don't care if a 'Democrat' likes her, one should be hired based on ones qualifications. As the saying goes...the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know.

"Senator Harry Reid has already made himself judge. And he's damn good at it cuz he doesn't really have to have any facts!"

What??? Okay Jim, if you're going to post here stoned, at least offer a all a hit, okay?

Oh gosh!!!!! I misspelled the word "candidates". My humble apology to all.

To TQ. I'm not condoning war, I'm only saying we need troops, we need bodies and abortion hurts our getting troops. War casualties are a part of our US of A and the idea of would be soldiers being aborted seems a waste.

(Abortion is bad for the US. Every abortion is one less soldier for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soon enough we'll be at war with China and if we don't stop abortions now we're going to be short troops.)

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! The REAL reason the right hates abortion! It's not a matter of life, but rather who's going to fight the wars for the rich! Thanks, Barry!

Tanya, Is Harry Reid the Senator Harry Reid? If he is one and the same, then he cant like any of the judicial canidates. Senator Harry Reid has already made himself judge. And he's damn good at it cuz he doesn't really have to have any facts!

Ooops! Forgot to put my name on that last one.

"Hey, closer to it than you think. I have stepped up.

Why don't you?"

Because as a gay man, my partner and I, are not allowed in my state to adopt, though we're both professionals, own a four bedroom home and would make good parents. Folks among your camp would rather see a child sit dying in a refugee camp than have it cared for with anyone they don't 'approve' of! Besides, I'm not the one advocating abolishing abortion, now am I?

I ain't never gonna drink anything offered from Melissa --- at the office, in her home, or at a party. She be scary to me :^( In fact most of y'all are pretty scary.

Hey, TQ....get off your high horse, you simpleton! People don't have to be parents or spouses to live well rounded, productive lives! Considering she got herself to the job of White House Counsel, I'd say she's probably brighter and has more going for her than some self-righteous blow-hole like you sitting an a forum like this criticizing her! While I agree it makes more sense to give the job to an actual judge, I'm glad he didn't give it to one of those drooling untra right judges. If Harry Reid likes this woman, as does many other Democrats, then I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.

Barry, you should be put on the first airplane to Iraq.

Barry, you make a good point. The problem, the real problem is dirty judges. Barry, if you read the reviews for this book at http://www.mobeta.com I'll bet you pick up a copy and become a smarter voter in the next election. Barry, war with China may be inevitable but that's no reason not to abort if you have to. It's all economics.

"So step up and get the ball rolling! A child somewhere is waiting for you!!!"

Alex

Hey, closer to it than you think. I have stepped up.

Why don't you?

It appears that arabian horse commissioners and lottery commissioners are who we get when we elect a President based on gay marriage and abortion.

We also get -massive- crushing deficits, nonsense wars, a destroyed foreign reputation, every-child-left-behind, and health care for the rich only.

Go ahead you evangelicals, dumb us down some more. Jesus loves you.

Abortion is bad for the US. Every abortion is one less soldier for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soon enough we'll be at war with China and if we don't stop abortions now we're going to be short troops.

Not only does Ms Miers lack judicial experience but she also lacks the experience of being a spouse and a parent. She does not represent the typical American woman even remotely. Frankly, she's an oddball. Should a person like this be on the highest court?
Will the Democrats be doormats again?

Being a judge and being a lawyer are two different ball games. How in the world can one be placed on the highest court in the land and have no experience? This is a slap in the face to all judges out there who deserve the promotion.

--If you really believe all life is precious become a vegitarian and help people after they are born 2, maybe then i will respect your viewpoint. --

Bravo! I couldn't agree more. Whether it's gays marrying or women getting abortions, these people should mind their own business. The condition of the old and elderly poor in this country is terrbile, yet I don't see these are more concerned if Bruce and Ted get married than they are whether grandma can afford her heat and prescription drugs this winter!

"We plan on having our own but we also would love to adopt. So you want to talk?
"

So step up and get the ball rolling! A child somewhere is waiting for you!!!

This abortion debate is hilarious. Why do people concern themselves with things that will never effect them. Abortion doesnt effect you. It simply doesnt so why bother sticking your nose in. None of you morons would bother helping some random ghettokid as he grows up, why should your hard earned tax dollars go there, so why do you care, you obviously dont care after the kids born what environment he might be raised in. You simply decided to concern yourself with the fact that someone you dont know might be commiting "murder". Noone can even define the point in which a fetus gains any kind of individuality or intelligence equivlent to a human.

Its hilarious that people attach some kind of magic to human life. IF within the womb during the time period when abortion is legal, if its shown that the fetus has the intelligence of a moth, everyone jumps on it and says ah-hah look it can think. Its not special, and your not special either, your one of a billion individuals, and respecting your rights. A lump of fetus-meat with 3 synapeses firing is not an individual its a thing. If you really believe all life is precious become a vegitarian and help people after they are born 2, maybe then i will respect your viewpoint.

Dont concern yourselves with things that dont effect you at all. because then your ordering people how to live rather than telling them about alternatives.

"There's more to life than simply itself. There is such a thing as quality of life and bringing an unwanted child into the world is not sound practice! When you and EVERY pro-life family in America open your doors to and adopt an unwanted child already here--regardless of race or whether that baby has a crack addiction or HIV--then you can come and talk to me. A lot of you people talk about life, but seem to be interested in it once it's here. Pro-life conservatives are ALWAYS the first to complain about liberal social programs that take care of the unwanted children they insist be brought into the world!"

Alex

Wow, you just seem to know me, don't you? Well you don't. I may be a pro-life conservative but you know what, the faith of my wife and I is more than enough to justify adopting children. We plan on having our own but we also would love to adopt. So you want to talk?

I've been overseas to the Developing World. I've seen the effects of AIDS and drugs. I know what is considered quality of life. Considering life as unwanted is nowhere on anyone's list. I am for full support of education, access to basic needs such as clean water and medicine, and ending poverty. That's why I'm studying for a graduate degree to go out into the world to work.

SO, before you label us all, Alex. Take a step back and watch what you say. Stop using generalizations and idiotic rationalizations without a shred of proof to them to describe us "pro-lifers".

I'll be one of those who'll gladly step up and help the unwanted. Because, like Mike M. above, I also could've been aborted. And you and any pro-choice believer has NO RIGHT to say that I can't or shouldn't exist. Everyone has value...EVERYONE

I find it ironic that (Lenny) states we need to briskly move on with such petty political matters as Supreme Court nominees since, "WE have a WAR to fight". Yet nothing could be further from the truth in the choice of the word "WE" in the statement above. The truth of the matter is, Lenny, like most other war supporters, sit dumbly idle while our soldiers die.

We must ask more of Americans and the War Supporters should be the first to call on the cowardly Republicans for massive tax increases to pay for the war effort. Each week that America remains in Iraq a billion dollars are drained from the US Treasury, further increasing our deficits and unfairly burdening our children's future.

Where is Lenny's sacrifice in support of the war? Yellow ribbons and boastful words are weak substitutions for meaningful sacrifice. In wars past Presidents have always increased taxes to pay for the costs, why do Bush and the Republican Party not follow suit?

So I ask Lenny, Republicans and all War Supporters in general - why the shameful neglect in support of the war?

(If the naming of two nominees does not lead to the immediate challenge to Row then the Christian Evangilicals will sit 2006 out.)

Screw them! I think we should give them the Carolinas and the Gulf Coast and let them separate from the rest of the U.S. and create their little Christian Utopia! You'd have people trying to escape back into the U.S. six months later in numbers that would make the Berlin Wall look pale! Honestly, I just wish they'd all drink their arsenic laced Kool-Aid and go be with Jesus, if obsessed with him!

The most divisive, hateful, horrible issue this country has faced since slavery: The Right to Choose. It has divided us north to south, east to west, up to down, pole to pole, for over 30 years. Elections at all levels have turned on it all of my adult life. Savvy, sneaky, hypocritical politicians and political operatives have used it to divide us and to single-issue win elections all of my adult life. We have been distracted by it, and we have -lost- ground on other important issues with our single-minded position on this one issue. I'm sick of it.

Whether you or I finally get the satisfaction of "winning" the argument in the Supreme Court or not will make little or no difference in how many abortions actually happen in the US--only in how many women die too, and how many women and doctors go to jail.

Will the "Right to Choose" be a cause for Civil War in this country? Will there be "Blue Bellys" and "Rebels" killing each other with conviction over the "Right to Choose?" It has already happened a little. Is God on our side or their side?

I'm sick to death of self-righteous, hateful people. But since self-righteous, hateful people are usually pretty stupid (check their spelling and grammar up there)I'm still hopeful that right will win out...

From above:"...when [does]the embryo becomes a baby? When it has more than 100 cells? When it "looks" like a baby? I think there should be a term limit on abortions, but there are cases where abortions are justified. Incest, rape, teen pregnancy."

This is scary. Not only would a term limit create an extremely arbitrary date which justifies killing, but what is said next is worse than arbitary. The case for exceptions in the case of "incest, rape and teen pregnancy" is absurd because it then dictates the expendability of a life based on circumstance. It is a contradiction of the original poster's initial respect for a young life (Saying this, I do not mean for "life" to be separate from "young"). It says "no, we should not kill"... "but it's ok when..."

Sorry, but while the inital question asked by this poster is understandable, her/his conclusions are not sustainable. We are clearly coming to a point, very quickly, where we must learn to say - No! I refuse to kill out of convience: I will not kill for oil, will not support revenge in state-sanctioned executions, and I will not kill because the actions I have chosen might make my life more difficult to live in the way I want.

Remember all that crap about "taking responsibility for our decisions" our parents fed us... or perhaps that message never got through. Maybe there were a lot more of us there than I thought who never had to eat their vegetables before dessert... Healthy, reeeaaal healthy.

I think that the Bush presidents have pushed up to the edge of naming a supreme court justice that would be certain to overturn row v. wade and blinked. They don't have the guts to see abortion fought over in fifty states. Justice Souter, Roberts and Miers won't help turn the abortion debate into a holy war. It is this Bush fear of how this might turn out that makes them gun shy on this issue. they also fit with the persistant rumors the the two Bush first ladies support abortion rights. If the naming of two nominees does not lead to the immediate challenge to Row then the Christian Evangilicals will sit 2006 out.

I think we should start with you becasue there are too many idiots like you around.

My new motto: "Forget abortion! Kill pro-lifers!"

Con thinking:

Abortion = wrong

Bombing innocent Iraqis = good

I think it's amazing that these 'defenders of life' are hinging all their hopes to outlaw abortion on a presdient that starts wars to avenge his daddy and make his Halliburton buddies richer.

I'll agree with the right to lifers if we can get rid of one to make room for one...

Every criminal in prison there for multiple violent crimes should be put down, in order to make room for the new life that was "saved"....

I'll say this about abortion, I'm glad I'm not a woman. We Republicans have got to stick together.

"We will stop obsessing about aborted fetuses when you stop aborting them. And we do ALREADY do something for the children that are already here. But killing the unborn is not the way to solve the problem of education, hunger and poverty. That is like saying we have to many people lets have a war and kill a few"

I think we should start with you becasue there are too many idiots like you around.

My new motto: "Forget abortion! Kill pro-lifers!"

That last one was for Mary

Since you seem to know so much about harsh realities, here's one for you.

I was almost an abortion. Not because someone was ASHAMED of their actions, and didn't want to face their family, not because it wasn't convenient for their life, but because she already had one child as a single mother, and couldn't handle the stress of taking tare of me and my sister. BUt I live because she DARED to accept that there was LIFE in her. ANd though my mother was abusive to me, I still honor the fact she chose not to kill me before I was born. I bet you'd rather be alive and neglected than dead.

And for a woman, you forgot to mention that nay woman who is pregnant can recognize there is another life in her, no matter the scientific debate.
YOu think the only people who are anti abortion are rich and have it easy, but you don't see the other side of things.

And once again, they chose to have sex. they chose to take a risk. That is their freedom. They can also choose to give up their children for adoption, and while that's not a fun life(i had freinds who were in those places), it's better than being dead.

Pro life people haven't forgotten the hurting women who are in hard situations. BUt this is not the answer.

I truly hope that this nominee can see that things like abortion and stem cell research are medical procedures and should be allowed in the name of bettering out future. If you are against either of them, no one is forcing you, go back to church.

I'm worried she may be a little too "star struck" with W to think straight. I don't want a crazy liberal in there, but please leave my right to choose and keep the goverment safe from those who don't understand "seperation of church and state".

I'm worried.

The issue of abortion is a part of this discussion because it is so central to the expectations of the Scary Republicans. They have put up with a lot from Bush because in their mind's eye he is the Chosen One (comes with glow-in-the-dark halo!) to overturn Roe v. Wade. In their view of things, BOTH 2000 and 2004 were only about limiting access to abortion. By not nominating a slavering antiabortionist while he clearly has the votes to get them past the Senate, Bush has kicked these people in the teeth. That's why they are even logging into a forum associated with something that, on the face of it, has little to do with abortion. As evidence, I am happy to offer the immediate and inevitable rebuttal of that statement.

"Alex: Quality of life is important. But quality of life must be experienced by all people at all stages of life. This includes the unborn and the aged. "

RJ

There's more to life than simply itself. There is such a thing as quality of life and bringing an unwanted child into the world is not sound practice! When you and EVERY pro-life family in America open your doors to and adopt an unwanted child already here--regardless of race or whether that baby has a crack addiction or HIV--then you can come and talk to me. A lot of you people talk about life, but seem to be interested in it once it's here. Pro-life conservatives are ALWAYS the first to complain about liberal social programs that take care of the unwanted children they insist be brought into the world!

I agree with Diane Feinstein, and as a Democrat, I'm still very willing to wait to pass judgement until I hear Ms. Meier's views. However, I also continue to be distrustful of the President...and now to hear that she was his personal lawyer?!

As a woman's health care nurse practitioner, I've been exposed to the harsh reality of an "unwanted pregnancy", and have learned that it is important to be more respectful of women and their right to choose. Many of you with such strong opinions against abortion, don't have a uterus, and should therefore, keep your negative opinions to yourself. And for those of you that do, that are opposed to other women choosing abortion, I would guess that you've had a pretty easy life and have not been faced with the choice between feeding yourself and your unborn child, or feeding your other children. Usually that mother will choose to feed her living children, and that unborn fetus, suffers the consequences, and becomes not only a financial/emotional burden on the mother, but on society as well.

Can we please stop being so judgemental and opinionated, and try to be more compassionate, especially in situations where we have not walked in someone else's shoes?

Alex: Quality of life is important. But quality of life must be experienced by all people at all stages of life. This includes the unborn and the aged. The disenfranchisement of people is a serious issue that must be address. But we've tried to improve education and its access. Its very difficult to get people to want it. We keep funding and funding to no avail. Universities (including mine) has sunk huge amounts of money into minority recruiting, only to see little achieved. Numbers increase but not at the rates anyone wants or expects.

What's the solution to that? Haven't heard anyone on Right or Left even try.

The President has made his choice, let the process get her to the bench and be done with it. We have a WAR to fight. I think that superceeds all of the pety political arguments and second guessing where she falls on the political scale.

George hit it right on the head. Interesting how so called "pro-lifers" cannot seem to advance these ridiculous abortion conversations to improving the "quality of life" and "life chances" to those who are disenfranchised on multiple levels...especially children. Perhaps if we improved education and access to basic needs for all people, abortion could become a non-issue for most people. Get your mind right!

Democrates from high places put in name in the hopper. She's been a loyal Republican for a number of years. She comes with higher degree of intellect on practicing the law of the land than any of the Senate committee members who will question her during the confirmation hearings and she doesn't carry any baggage regarding her written opinions from case law she has presided over as a sitting judge, since she hasn't been sitting on anybody's bench. She believes in upholding the Constitution, which is one of the things that the Supreme Court weighs in on from time-to-time. Combine all of this with the fact that over the course of our Nation's history somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty Justices on the Supreme Court had no prior experience as a sitting judge and you have the makings of a very good appointment. Please some, anger some and baffle many. Only time time will tell how she helps or hinders the shaping of the Court over the next decade or so.

T.Kennedy and O.J.Simpson got away with one, so whats so wrong with Mier?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Holy Moly, what a bunch of doofuses. Keep it coming.

Teresa

You are right on!

The appointment of Miers to the SCOTUS surprises me. I figure he'd go with Clement or a Hispanic female. She's in for a fight. However, with that said, she's not the first person to be on the court with little experience. Thurgood Marshall was a lawyer for the NAACP before becoming a Justice. Argued before the SCOTUS. Granted, he's got more experience than Miers, but he still was never a judge.

About the abortion issue. I hope it does get overturned. Ethically, abortion makes us nothing more than animals who "eat their young". Its barbaric and backwards. If we're supposed to be civilized and advanced, we wouldn't act like this. Morally and spiritually, it makes no sense to legalize murder.

To a previous post, yes, we're aware of children in the Third World. BTW, Third World is discriminatory. Its the developing world. And I agree, killing the innocent unborn is no way to control society. Abortion comes down to pushing someone else's ideas on a section of society that disagrees. You want the right to choose, we want the right to life. Stop pushing your beliefs down our throat. Then maybe we'd do the same.

George, If only your last two sentences were correct, and Roe v. Wade was the only case that mattered. The concept you state is indeed the concept of Roe, a brilliant, though not universally accepted, solution to a divisive scientific, political and religious issue. Unfortunately, however, in the Georgia case of Doe vs. Bolton, decided the same day as Roe, the court stated that doctors may consider "all factors -- physical, emotional, psychological, familial and the woman's age -- relevant to the well-being of the patient" in deciding whether an abortion (after the first trimester) is necessary to protect the life or health of the mother. This provided the argument that currently allows mothers to abort their viable babies long past the second trimester. It is Doe, not Roe, that needs to be overturned, so that Roe can be clarified and stated in terms of competing rights to life (as in justifiable homicide for those already born) in order for your argument to make sense.

Almost all of Bush's appointments, no matter what office you look at have involved the highest degree of cronyism and at the same time a disturbing lack of qualifications for the appointees/nominees. From Brown to Ashcroft to Bolton to Bush's 1st FEMA apponitment the list goes on and on and on. This is a very scary time.

It seems as if GW has not learned anything from hte Fema/Katrina disaster. He appointed an experienced friend of his to head FEMA. Now he's appointing an inexperienced friend to be an Associcate Supreme Court Justice. Somebody get this Country a handbasket!! By the way, let's save a little money an not go through the "phony" Senate approval process. There are no independent thinkers there and the Senate will approve her with no problem!!

I don't get it. The Democrats recommend her and then complain when Bush appoints her. Someone explain this to me?

Abortion = BAD! Starting illegal wars in Iraq that kill tens of thousands of people already born for no good reason other than Bush's personal vendetta = GUD!

That's the whacko right mentaility plaguing much of todays political scene. Next thing they'll be telling us the earth is flat and God only loves Christians. Big joke!

PS - the same preachers who selectively used the Bible 100 years ago to promote hate against african americans are the a same exact guys only in differrent skins right now who selectively and incorrectly quote Leviticus to justify hatered against gays and lesbians. Same hate, just a different target group.

I see a lot of fear on this site, from both sides.

This may not be a very interesting line of inquiry for the "base". It may be more so for the opposition. Miers contributed to her firm's political action committee, the LOCKE LIDDELL & SAPP LLP PAC, which in turn funneled $324,900 to Republican party organizations and candidates from 1997 though the 2004 election, according to the FEC. She was co-managing council for her firm up until Bush's first election, suggesting that she was far more involved in the Bush/Delay/Texas revolution than her personal contributions might suggest.

Only one word applies: CRONYISM. Brownie whre art thou, I hardly knew ye.......

Only one word applies: CRONYISM. Brownie whre art thou, I hardly knew ye.......

Political oppointments of Supreme Court judges are fundamentally wrong. Being a judge on any level should be a career with appointments based on merit. Judges should not have any involment in politics - except the right to vote. The merit system should entail experience in the various branches of jurisprudence (e.g. criminal, corporate, constitutional, etc) and should reflect how often a judges rulings were overturned because of various judical errors.

We will stop obsessing about aborted fetuses when you stop aborting them. And we do ALREADY do something for the children that are already here. But killing the unborn is not the way to solve the problem of education, hunger and poverty. That is like saying we have to many people lets have a war and kill a few.

It still amazes me how most political discussions start out as something else but abortion becomes the discussion. So I thought I would add my 2 cents worth. Unwanted pregnancy is usually a major hardship for the parents. So I look at it from a "religious" and a "being responsible" outlook.
The woman misses her period. Get a pregnancy tester. If it's positive, schedule that abortion. If it's inconclusive, wait till you miss another period. At that point you are pregnant or something is awfully wrong with you, see your Doctor. Then you will know for sure if you're pregnant. Schedule that abortion. This whole process takes 10 to 12 weeks tops. Any longer than that and you should not be able to get an abortion. By that time you have had at least 2 months to make the decision. This timeline applies to rape and incest. I don't believe in abortion after three months even to save the life of the mother.

Just when you think that W can't foul things up any further, he picks someone who is clearly, at least in terms that most Americans would consider, unqualified. Aren't there enough intelligent and experienced appellate judges out there that he might find one. Regardless of her ideology, do any of us really want someone, male, female, black or white, "learning on the job" at this level? God bless America, all right.

"So prevention is the same as fixing the error. So if a doctor removes a bullet is that the same as not getting shot. Is rebuilding a burned house the same as not burning it. Preventing pregency is the same as terminating the life of the unborn child. Give me a break. "

Good grief! I share this world with some real morons!

Please Lord Jesus.....save me from your psychotic followers! Whether it's been disease, plague, war or famine, God has technically been 'aborting' lives since the beginning of time. Instead of obsessing about aborted fetuses, why don't you twits concentrate on real issues facing the well-being of children ALREADY here, like education, hunger and poverty. Considering all the suffering of children happening at this VERY minute in the Third World, that fact that you're obsessing over zygotes amazes me. Oh yeas, to my pro-choice friends too....partial birth abortion is barbaric! If you weren't smart enough to get an abortion in the first tri-mester, then you're stuck. On the other hand, my anti-choice friends, if a woman's life is in danger or there is a health concern, her life takes priotiry of the fetus. Sorry!

Here's a thought...I and my gay and lesbian friends will stay out of your churches, if you stay out of our doctors' office and bedrooms! As far as one imebcile wrote about incest and rape, these are the same people who think that a woman, should she fall victim and became impregnated, should carry that fetus to term, regardless of the heartache and anguish having a rapist's child would bring. Another thing....most of the civilized world knows the earth is round and NOT the center of the universe, a fact the church fought against for centuries. Wther you believe in Jesus, Buddha, Allah, Zues, Mercury, Athena or whatever, keep your magical belief systems out of public schools and away from my kids! Idiots!

So prevention is the same as fixing the error. So if a doctor removes a bullet is that the same as not getting shot. Is rebuilding a burned house the same as not burning it. Preventing pregency is the same as terminating the life of the unborn child. Give me a break.

Agree with you catfish

There is more to this nomination then meets the eye. The Dem will not allow this nomination to make it through the process and the President knows it. He is using Ms Miers as a fall guy to prevent losing a solid candidate on his short list. Once the Dem finish playing their games you will then see the Presidents real nomination. Standby

Todd your a fool, minorities get preference over whites with higher GPA's in schools, over more qulified workers in public jobs. Wake up and pay attention.

This is to Ron R., who thinks that a 6 month fetus is no more a "baby" than a hamster fetus. Ron, if you kept quiet, it would take longer for folks to find out that you either don't have a brain, or refuse to use the one God gave you.

Good God,

Stunning. If this blog represents a reasonably representative cross-section of the quality of political thought and analysis among the involved masses here in America, God help us. Most of the above comments sound like Ann Coulter or Al Franken invective responses to dirty predicated slant questions from Bill O'Reilly. Left, Right, Moderate... we are truly screwed. It appears that most of us (you) have grown significantly dumber than years past. I think my IQ is permanently damaged from reading this claptrap.

Ron R. I guess Abortion would have been a good choice for your Mother but she missed out. If we could just Abort the right babies we would all live so nice. Just abort the Hitler types. Using your logic we should just kill all the unwanted children, then crime would be so low. You are so smart, why don't you run for office on a platform of killing all the unwanted babies, childre, and adults.

If abortion is murder, so is contraceptive use. It's all a matter of where you define the start of life. Pro lifers pick a starting point for life which coincides with their view of the world. But the truth is life starts at contraception. So yes, if any pro lifers out there use contraceptive devices they are complete utter hypocrites to the nth degree, and they know it.

Comment about people already choosing when they have had sex - if what the above poster says is true, can he confirm that all pro lifers do NOT use any type of contraception?????? Because if they do, they are certainly not pro-life. Only pro-hypocrite.

To all of you who feel a woman's right to choose is "killing babies" and you simply can't allow anyone to have this right, consider this:

1) Illegal abortion will "kill babies" and their mothers, and will continue to do so far into the future.

2) The two highest indicators for crime in the US are a) being male--big surprise, and b) unwantedness. Unwanted babies grow up to commit crime. You can make a darn good argument that the unbelievable lowering of the crime rate in the US over the last 20 years has been due to the lowered number of UNWANTED babies due to Roe v. Wade.

Go ahead and fight abortion for yourself and in your family and in your church, but leave the rest of our society the hell alone. I don't believe that an undifferentiated mass of protoplasm at 3 or 6 months is any more a "baby" than a puppy fetus, a kitty fetus, or a hamster fetus. While I would treasure it myself and do everything possible to protect and sustain it, I cannot and would not force my will on anybody else.

Mind your own business, and don't tell me what to believe.

Does anyone truely trust decisions made by W (+Rove)? Ms Meirs seems benign on the surface based on current knowledge but is she a wolf in sheeps clothing. I'm trying to think back to the Thomas hearings and am not recalling major things beyond the inflamatory Hill and porn issues that could have Bork'd him. And yet he has become such a rubber stamp for extreme right wing positions. Most people focus on and fear the explosive social issues that will be heard in the courts. But perhaps W's strategy is to appease the corporatist wing of his base who will align with Roberts and create a business friendly court. Nothing is straight forward with the President and his staff - there's more hear than meets the eye.

Spence, I read that book about SLAPPs too. Best to get it from amazon, even used. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0972514104/qid=1128359771/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-7007951-7136861?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Well, Todd, if you're going write about racism at least understand the concept. It has nothing to do with majority and power. It's all about mindset. Try this, from the dictionary, Todd: racism--the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, esp. so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. Todd, that's all it is. If are going use a term, use it correctly. Think before you write. Thinking is pretty important, Todd.

Todd, to discriminate is "to make a difference in treatment or favor on a basis other than individual merit". Now that is Webster.

Read the reviews @ http://www.mobeta.com
Dirty judges are killing our country!

Todd, to discriminate is "to make a difference in treatment or favor on a basis other than individual merit". Now that is Webster.

She looks like Jan Hooks from SNL.

Todd, look it up in Webster. You are making up your own definitons.

"discriminate against whites"

Thats the funniest thing I have ever heard. As a white male I have never experienced discrimination, or "reverse racism" because it is IMPOSSIBLE.
The definition of racism is discrimination or prejudice FROM the dominant power group projected ONTO the minorities. Just because a minority gets into college and you don't makes me want to tell you to try harder. Bootstrap it, thats what America is all about. Isn't it?

Although it appears to be cronyism run amok, the Meirs pick is very much in the Roberts mold -- legal technician rather than ideologue -- and a woman to boot. But Meirs doesn't have the remarkable Roberts resume, and does not appear nearly as comfortable in front of the camera. Has she enough skill to confound the Democratic gasbags on the Judiciary Committee? Of course. Is she extreme enough to satisfy the noisy segment of the Bush-Rove base? That remains to be seen, but as we have seen these folks have no place to go but back Bush. Can the vaunted WH media machine, with the help of Rush and Fox, sell her, ala Roberts, as an extreme conservative with manners? Probably. Barring unforeseen disclosures, I think she will be confirmed with about 30 negative votes.

In response to a point made earlier by Thomas, David Souter definitely presided over many criminal cases as a Superior Court judge in NH, including the controversial Barney Seil case.

This is a set-up...There is no way any serious lawmakers can't see beyond this nomination. A Bush family lawyer that has sided with corporations most of her career. Stellar though her career may be, Ms. Miers lacks any diversity when it comes to poverty, race, or class. Why do we need a White house insider sitting on the Supreme Court? America the fox has been guarding the henhouse long enough...we need a nominee with experience in litigating cases other than those involving corporate license and greed...the same type of cases that should be forthcoming if there is any REAL justice in this country

I have lettle doubt that the two Bush nominees will turn out to be very conservative and decisions will push us back into the mid 20th century or earlier. Then the far right will find out personally how they will be affected with these back steps. What goes around, comes around and eventually when the other party takes over, in time, after these decisions tick off enough people, the pendulum will swing again toward human rights, dignity, privacy, compassion and stronger homeland security. Not to mention everyone paying their fair share of taxes to pay for wars that both parties are responsible for. As a middle class American or a poverty level American, can you think of how you are affected positively since this President and Carl Rove have taken power? Taxes, services, energy prices, cleaner environment, more jobs, higher pay, medical insurance premiums????? Just look at how much less we all have now than when they came to power. And finally, keep in mind how these states rightists from the far right majority party did not enen peep when the Supreme Court stepped all over the Florida courts in 2000 to elect a President. Nothing wrong with being conservative, bit stand up for what you believe in, not just what suits you.

Richard F: you haven't been paying attention. Moderates are warming to Miers; it's the Scary Republicans who are tossing and turning in their sleep. Maybe the separation of Church and State is safe after all.

I have to agree with 'Moderate' on this one: Bush made a choice that reflects his personal beliefs (can't say the same about Roberts but at least he's a lot smarter than that fool Thomas). Good thing this conflagration of events happened during Bush's second term rather than his first. 'Spine' is a lot easier to come by when you're a lame duck.

Bet you a donut Bush has an abortion somewhere in his past. Of course, in typically hypocritical fashion, so do half the nut jobs who want to outlaw the procedure now that they are past their own child-bearing years.

My concern isn't that Miers never was a judge or that she's been plucked from the dark Republican cave of Bush's Whitehouse but rather that she's SIXTY and has never been married. Perhaps it's her Halloween-style make-up or that her face is more wrinkled than a Texan raisen, or perhaps it's somethign else. Maybe she's looking to date Souter? Or, more likely, with the way Bush's second term is going, Ruth Bader Ginsburg? Most Jewish women experiment with lesbianism at some point in their lives. Usually it's sophmore year after a bowl of Humbolt. But never say never and Ginsburg is kind of hot. I'm sure we'll learn more during the hearings...

Such commentary from the Washington Post is hardly surprising. All you can find out about her is her political giving in 1988. Yawn. I am not a conservative, being a professional journalist. The Post, the NY Times and the LA Times (plus others) have lost their professional sense. Folks, publishing is the only business protected by name in the U. S. Constitution. That gives us a unique and sacred trust. Since 1980 I have been ashamed of the political left and the leftest media. President Bush is far from perfect, but I would rather support an honest and fair conservative than a conniving leftist hack. I have kept by integrity. What about yours? I am the base for President Bush.

Sarah posted "I home she is pro-choice. I have no problem with conservative positions and stands on anything except the essential right for the woman to choose whether to have a baby or not. As a woman, I hope she understands the this right is vital and should be protected on the federal level to make sure that more conservative states don't curb women's rights."
Women have every right to have a baby or not, it's called 'counter-ceptives'. The only right that is 'vital' is to protect our unborn children from murderers like you. As long as abortion is legal, we might as well legalize rape and torture, since that's what abortion is to unborn children.
I hope Miers supports Roberts on the day he takes on Roe vs Wade. (which is inevitable.)

Having read the descriptions I believe that it is too early to decide whether Miers was the best choice as far as a replacement for O'Conner. Think in terms of balancing the court, Roberts replaced Reihnquist, no change in balance, and O'Conner was a moderate, so if Miers is really conservative, than we have a movement to the right. If she is a moderate, than the supreme court stays in balance. The current balance is the reason why the Religious right and the conservative base is upset.

As far as the issue of abortion goes, I do believe it to be generally wrong. However, who decides (I'm not talking about the bible) when the embryo becomes a baby? When it has more than 100 cells? When it "looks" like a baby? I think there should be a term limit on abortions, but there are cases where abortions are justified. Incest, rape, teen pregnancy. These "decisions" were not always made by the people involved. What we need is wider availability of condoms and morning after pills, and then watch as abortions decline and they will no longer be an issue. If you are conservative, answer this for me:
Would you rather give you daughter a method of birth control, and education or have her be pregnant at 15?

I can also tell you that abstinence only education does not work. We all know that abstinence IS the best method but without education and the availability of birth control the end result is teen pregnancy and STDs.

In conclusion, if you are so conservative that you are opposed to birth control and the morning after pill as well as education about sex, the YOU have to pay the piper. YOU are responsible for abortions.

I am a democrat, however I feel that as long as Ms. Mier is not controlled by any person, group or organization she will make a fine Justice. We need people who are able to think for themselves and do what's right for ALL AMERICANS!!

I hope that Harriet Miers is a good person who cares for people and their rights and our Constitution.

To be a good judge she must beleive in killing babies, discriminate against whites, tax the rich, give money to the lazy bums who won't work, release the murderers from prison, pay for everyones health care, control all the prices of goods and services and put down the christians and jews. Hope she lives up to our high liberal ideals.

Well, for those of us who voted for Bush specifically for his pro-life stance, we'll all be very dissapointed and feel betrayed if this new nominee ends up being pro-abortion. :(

Where is Ann Coulter when you need her. That would have been a choice. And she is a Constitutional Attorney. But sad to say, I do not know where this lady (Harriet Miers) fits in. Time will tell. But since Bsuh carried 81% of the counties he should have given those voters a choice they would have understood and like. Sorry you liberals out there....this is another female conservative that can think

Bush is very mindful of his father's mistakes, including appointing kennedy to the supremem court. My guess is that he was very careful to make sure miers and roberts would be reliable conservatives, and if he wasn't, Rove would be, because he is at least as concervative as Bush

just like when W selected Roberts, The far right and far left didnt approve.

So maybe W is the guenus in disguise.

I could have called this one coming. Bush was never planning on packing the SCOTUS with super-conservative people; I don't even think that's his personal view. He is the one, after all, who couched his opposition to same-sex marriage in the fact that he disagreed with the process (legislation from the bench) and not the idea (equal benefits). John Roberts and Harriet Miers may very well both turn out to be liberals in disguise, and there is nothing wrong with that. They're both certainly unusually intelligent, hard-working, and level-headed people--they know what they are doing. The Supreme Court isn't about politics, and whatever it decides it decides.

Wolf in sheep's clothing...just like Roberts.

If President George W's nomination of Ms. Miers makes the left toss and turn in their sleep, then he made a good choice. I love to watch the spineless left throw out the lies regarding "pillaging" and "cronyism" ... never a solution to a problem or positive agenda for our country, but only name calling and lies give the left satisfaction. George W. Bush will make a selection that is best for our country ... that is where his heart is, and, thank God, he is the one in the White House today.

No matter who the President would have picked, it's still going to be a battle. I'm glad it's a woman and someone who can balance things out.

Miers,My first prefrence,of course not,I am nervous and cautious about miers but am confident in Dubya that he knows more about her than I do,and I like Dubya's views on social issues,v.imp to me,hopefully she is a dumbo(no experience),who would have no opinion and vote like Scalia and Thomas.

I'm not too sure about Miers, but I'm still baffled by one thing. Pro-choice people say that it's a woman's right to choose whther or not to have a baby, yet fail to recognize that they chose to risk pregnancy when they decided to have sex. Does this make sense? They already chose, they just don't want to endure the consequences. I don't want to seem without compassion to girls who get pregnant and are unable to care for their child, but htere's definately a better way than killing the life in your womb. It's also proven that there are mental,emotional, and pysical effects to the women who have abortions, so it's obviously not healthy for them either.

Talk of abortion as a woman's right is crazy. What if the baby being killed is a girl, what about that womans rights. Abortion is nothing more than killing babies and should be ruled that way in the courts. Any one giving money to that fool Al Gore can't have much going on upstairs.

I'm not too sure about Miers, but I'm still baffled by one thing. Pro-choice people say that it's a woman's right to choose whther or not to have a baby, yet fail to recognize that they chose to risk pregnancy when they decided to have sex. Does this make sense? They already chose, they just don't want to endure the consequences. I don't want to seem without compassion to girls who get pregnant and are unable to care for their child, but htere's definately a better way than killing the life in your womb. It's also proven that there are mental,emotional, and pysical effects to the women who have abortions, so it's obviously not healthy for them either.

it's hard to characterize dubya's choice when so little is known about this nominee. But , as one observed elswhere, the corporations will have a new advocate. And it's them, the corporations, who have usurped the rights of the people.

Bush seem to have thrown another dark horse in the ring. It is hard to imagine someone so close to the Whitehouse to be at the supreme court without knowing anything about her.

Come off it! She is as blind a partisan hack as we've seen for the Supreme Court. Like a lot of Boll-Weevil Conservatives, she used to vote Democrat (a legacy from when Democrat Party was split, and Southern Democrats were racists). She changed parties in 1990 and has donated only to Republicans since then, to Bush Jr., to Kay Bailey Hutchison, etc.

"At one point, Ms. Miers was Mr. Bush's personal lawyer."

Did you get that?

BUSH IS TRYING TO APPOINT HIS FORMER PERSONAL LAWYER TO THE SUPREME COURT!!!

Bush seem to have thrown another dark horse in the ring. It is hard to imagine someone so close to the Whitehouse to be at the supreme court without knowing anything about her.

Well, Looks like the right was getting ready to fight...or setting expectations there of, I am neither thrilled nor dismayed. Proof is in the pudding...I will wait...as long as it is not another thomas...I can live with it!

This is a really interesting pick. Definately not what W's base expected. As many people have already mentioned, groups such as "Operation Rescue" and the Christian Coalition were packing their warchests in preparation for a knock out drag out fight. In response to those people who say that a nominee should have judicial experience, I would like to politely point out that a vast majority of people who have been on the Supreme Court were never judges. Elevating a judge to the Supreme Court is a recent phenomenom that began with Reagan.

$20 bucks says both roberts and miers turn out to be more conservative that anyone thinks right now. maybe bush took care of his base after all. i wouldn't be surprised if in private conversatiosn he was assured by both these 2 of their fundamental religious beliefs, and that bush subsequently reassured the religious right of the same. maybe bush is a political genious...picking religious conservatives without a visible track record that could spark a national debate and put in jeopardy their confimrmation. i think the court just took a quiet, subtle 2-step to the right.

On top of being a Bush crony, Miers is a corporate
lawyer. In the end, the Bush Gang has co-opted the
idiotic "base" only top serve the interests of those
who really pull their strings and line their
pockets: the corporations. So Miers' selection is in
line with the Bush program of pillaging this country
for every buck they can get their hands on.

I home she is pro-choice. I have no problem with conservative positions and stands on anything except the essential right for the woman to choose whether to have a baby or not. As a woman, I hope she understands the this right is vital and should be protected on the federal level to make sure that more conservative states don't curb women's rights.

Clearly, W doesn't mind his chronic cronyism. Everyone else was practically a fraternity brother, why not a Supreme Court nominee. Three words: Michael Brownie Brown.

Is this really a great political moment for Bush to nominate a crony? Did he enjoy the beating he took over Michael Brown and decide he wanted more?

The Atlantic recently had an article illustrating how almost none of the current justices have ever presided over a criminal case. I believe Kennedy was the only one.

So under the test of "judicial experience," it seems that almost no one on the court is qualified.

And who is Bush's "base," who would he have preferred to undercut - dogmatic Pat Robertsons or pragmatic John Danforths (yet again)? The neocon followup to Bush is already in trouble from both sides: "Ten Commandments Judge" Roy Moore and Giuliani.

I am not sure what to think myself. I am not at all a Bush supporter and fully expected him to stack the court with far right-wingers as a reward to his base. I can't say that I am thrilled with his choice since we have no background on her other then campain contributions which don't tell us much. On the other hand anything that pisses off the far right makes me somewhat happy. I just can't figure Bush out, he seems to think for himself every once in a while and it throws us all threw a loop.

I am so glad that you are writing The Fix. A talented journalist like yourself is a treasure to the pack journalists that roam this town.

Ms. Miers appears to have a great deal of legal experience. I know that the Constitution does not even state that the person has to be a lawyer. However, if we follow precedent most if not all Justices of the Supreme Court have been. I think that a President should not choose nor should the Senate confirm any person to be a Justice of the Supreme Court who has not had at least some judicial experience. This in and of its self should disquilify and individual from setting on the Court.

it also moves democrats off kilter a bit.. I know some of them for hoping to "fight" *) this nomination (and not fight Rehnquist replacmeent) to show their own base that they actually have a spine

It seems as if Bush really blew it. He totally undercut the last group that was hanging with him - his base.

His base was spoiling for a fight in the Senate. They were ready to go to war in support of Luttig, Owen, Brown, etc. Instead Bush nominates a candidate pre-approved by Harry Reid. The nuclear option is shelved yet again.

The pushback has already started on the rightwing blogs. I remains to be seen if Tony Perkins or James Dobson can keep their faithful in line. With stories coming out detailing campaign cash to democrats, I doubt it.

Miers may be the crony to end all cronies for Bush.