ROE, ROE, ROE YOUR BOAT

HARRIET MIERS COOLS talk on Roe [story] Miers faces a tough task convinincing Senators face to face.

Trying to woo senators who will determine whether she is confirmed for the court, Miers aided the White House as it scrambled yesterday to quell controversy over a published report that two Texas judges said she opposes the 1973 decision that affirmed the right to an abortion in all 50 states. "She said, 'No one knows how I would rule on Roe v. Wade ,' " Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters after their private meeting.

NO ONE KNOWS?  While Miers may indicate no one knows what she knows, The Heretik hopes she knows what she knows.  Here we are asked to believe judges don't review other judges opinions and that they magically do not have opinions on important cases until they are argued before them.  The Heretik doesn't know how judges do that.  Judges may require a certain distance.

But as Miers sought to distance herself from the judges' assertions, her day on Capitol Hill ended in confusion over how far she went in telling senators that she believes there is a constitutional right to privacy -- the right that is the legal premise of Roe .

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) emerged from a 100-minute meeting with the nominee and said that she stated she believes that a right to privacy exists. Initially, Specter told reporters that Miers had said "she backs Griswold ," referring to a 1965 case that dealt with access to contraceptives on the basis of privacy considerations.

LANGUAGE, LIKE LAW is subject to intrepretation.  But from what Specter said, Miers gave an opinion on Griswold, like Roe a previous settled case, the sort of opinion successful nominees avoid.

But last night, a spokesman for Specter issued a statement saying that Miers had called him after his public comments "to say that he misunderstood her and that she had not taken a position on Griswold or the privacy issue."

NOW THAT'S CLEAR isn't it?  George Bush has said Harriet Miers will not change in twenty years.  If you believe  Specter's initial version of events, Miers change her mind in less than a day.  What is going on here?

MORE ON HARRIET 2.0 [Ed Morrisey/Captain's Quarters] According to Charles Schumer, Miers would not talk about specific cases like and (in his opinion) did not seem to know much about Supreme Court case law, in a conversation he called "unproductive" . . . the administration staff still shows signs that they simply are not up to effectively promoting this candidate, as Dana Milbank rather gleefully points out in today's Washington Post . . . Is this supposed to be an improvement over the past two weeks? 

THE HERETIK WONDERS when we will see Harriet 3.0?

THE MORE LIGHT IS SHINED ON MIERS, THE WORSE IT GETS [Steve Soto/ The Left Coaster] So what does she actually believe about Roe? Well, her Senate questionnaire was released this morning, and guess what? Back in 1989, she supported prohibiting abortions, except when the life of the mother is in danger. This means that she is willing to force women to deliver babies resulting from rape.

Yet she will not be pure enough for many conservatives, as it now appears that there will be an organized campaign against her from the right, led by former Bush speechwriter David Frum, in an effort to get her to withdraw.  And the Washington Times reports that conservative senators and representatives have been getting flamed by the base on Miers.

But at least, as we expected, she is a strong believer in an omnipotent executive branch, and she always shows how much of a hero-worshipper she is.

THE HERETIK FEELS the more heat, the less light we will see on Miers.  Yesterday was badly misplayed.  The clouding of what Miers said  to Specter who then rescinded his recollection is a clear point of ice stabbing true about the problems of this nomination.  Miers is all things to some audiences in one instant and nothing to all in the next.  What she believes (or why she is qualified) is voiced more clearly by others than it has been articulated by Miers herself so far.

MORE TO FOLLOW

Comments

[zencomix]

They're going to skip Harriet 3.0 and go staight to Harriet 4.0.

[Brother Kenya]

Damn, I wish I had come up with that title!