I’m sure this diary doesn’t break any new ground, but what the hell–I can’t resist tossing a couple more cents into the pile of pennies concerning the Miers nomination.
There has been all manner of speculation, by minds much more politically astute than mine, over what sinister motives lie behind this move. Ultimately, though, we on the left appear to agree that the motives must be sinister. How could they be otherwise given Miers’s woefully obvious lack of qualifications?
I won’t even touch upon Harry Reid’s unfathomable backing of this nominee, other than to suggest that his stated rationale–that it would be good to have a practicing lawyer take a seat on the Supreme Court–is bogus as hell.
A career in corporate litigation in no way prepares a lawyer for a gig on the Court. One of my favorite law school professors, who pretty much invented close-corporations law, frequently told his classes that “Constitutional law is not important.” He was only half joking, as corporate lawyers spend negligible time wading in constitutional waters. Much of the meat of Supreme Court jurisprudence–such as the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments, where criminal cases play out–may as well, from the corporate lawyer’s standpoint, be part of the Constitution of Iraq.
Also, wouldn’t one expect the career of a Supreme Court Justice to be unblemished? Is that so much to ask? And isn’t at least a pimple on the ass for Miers’s firm, while she was co-managing partner, to have paid $22 million to settle allegations of assisting a client in defrauding investors?
There are over 1.1 million lawyers in this country. I posit that there are several who are familiar with constitutional law and untainted by sleaze. However, it could well be that Harriet Miers is the only one in 1.1 million who would ever say that George W. Bush is the most brilliant man she’s ever met.
That star-struck teenybopper loyalty is no doubt key to this nomination. Here, I think, are some of the things the Bushies expect her to help accomplish:
Put the kibosh on investigations. What the Burger court refused to do for Nixon–recognize a sweeping Executive privilege that would prevent release of the White House tapes–Bush must hope that the Roberts court will do for him and his. Once those Plame indictments come down, expect a piling on of defense motions to quash subpoenas and suppress evidence. The most secretive administration in history will want to hold on tight to its secrets.
Make the world safe for ginormous multinational corporations. During the early days of the New Deal, the Court’s restrictive interpretation of the Commerce Clause blocked several key pieces of legislation, leading a frustrated FDR to propose packing the court. Who better than a corporate lawyer to take on the task of dialing back the Commerce Clause, hamstringing the ability of Congress to regulate corporations? Environmental laws, wage and hour regulations, you name it–they hinge on the Commerce Clause.
Support the big power grab. If you’re going to continue to steal elections and establish an imperial presidency that can be passed from one Republican figurehead to another, you need a cowed (or sheeped) and intimidated populace. Ergo, the constant refrain that the solution to all (yes, all!) of our problems is to give good ol’ boy Dubya more power to send in the troops. 9/11 gave us the Iraq war, torture, the Patriot Act. Katrina? The Feds would have taken care of things if Blanco had signed Louisiana over to Bush. Avian flu on the horizon? We need troops imposing quarantines or else we’ll all die. Bush needs some window-dressing support from the Court for all these steps leading to the police state he wet-dreams about. I may be getting a little tinfoil-hatty here, but Dubbers is awfully damned slap-happy where use of the military is concerned.
Feed the theocrats. I think this appointment is mostly about securing money and power for Bush, his cronies, and his caste. But as a bonus, Harriet is a fundy. She’ll give the wingnuts the red meat they’re howling for on Roe v. Wade and other social issues.
Miers is disgustingly loyal to the Bush cadre. She’s built her career defending the powerful and privileged. She’s a church lady. To carry out Bush’s evil designs on our country, she does indeed appear to be the most qualified person for the job.
One caveat–Bush likely needs one more Court seat to carry out the most nefarious of the above schemes. But that’s too damn close for comfort.