Schumer: Miers Lacks Votes to Be Confirmed

[Eugene]

Schumer: Miers Lacks Votes to Be Confirmed

By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer

Sunday, October 23, 2005

(10-23) 07:36 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --

A Democrat on the Senate committee that will consider Harriet Miers'
nomination said Sunday that President Bush's Supreme Court choice
lacks the votes now to be confirmed, saying there are too many
questions about her qualifications.

"If you held the vote today, she would not get a majority either in
the Judiciary Committee or the floor," said Sen. Charles Schumer,
D-New York. On the 18-member GOP-controlled committee, "there are one
or two who said they'd support her as of now."

Miers, a longtime Bush confidante who has never been a judge, was
nominated to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The
nomination has troubled some conservatives who say it was a risky
choice because Miers was a blank slate on issues such as abortion and
gay rights.

Democrats, too, have expressed concerns about whether the current
White House counsel could sever her close ties to Bush and rule
independently once she were on the bench.

<snip>

More: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/10/23/national/w073620D97.DTL

[goclark]

1. What a waste!

[maddezmom]

2. if she's toast

I'm afraid of the other options...Owen? Rogers?

[hippiechick]

3. Ashcroft ???

:scared: :scared: :scared:

[maddezmom]

4. dear god, I hadn't even thought of that as an option

:scared: is right

[Ferret Annica]

23. If he was ever nominated

He should be opposed so strongly he leaves the confirmation hearings whimpering softly with a fresh, "I WAS BORKED!" hot branded into his fat rump.

[belle]

24. Edith Clement Brown? Edith Jones?

[belle]

25. Naw. i don't think there's any love lost between Ashcroft and *.

after all, he's no longer working for him, so you figure...

[global1]

5. He Also Just Boxed * In.....

by saying if * withdraws Miers it would be a (paraphrasing) stunning 'defeat' for * - he just boxed * in.

The extreme RW wants him to withdraw Miers and now if he does withdraw Miers - Shumer makes it look real bad for * and makes * look like a miserable failure - and you know how * doesn't like to admit failure.

[Cha]

18. It Will be a Collossal Failure

for ol' bush and pickles..afterall they chose miers all by themselves without input from anybody.

[belle]

26. If he withdraws her it'll look bad, if he doesn't w/draw and she fails...

he'll *really* look like a loser. What to do, what to *do.*

[OKNancy]

6. I've figured out how Bush can solve two of his big problems

Appoint Patrick Fitzgerald as his court nominee.

He gets rid of Meirs, and he gets rid of his #1 enemy in the Plame Affair.

:sarcasm:

[cassiepriam]

13. Yep, it is the repug way, threaten or bribe everyone into compliance.

The repug motto: resistance is futile, you will be assimilated.

[Straight Shooter]

7. If Fitzgerald issues indictments, with Miers withdraw as a distraction?

I would think she would withdraw at that time so bush can nominate another unholy warrior of his agenda, trying to distract from the looming perfect storm. This time, though, it won't work. The seams are unraveling.

[TahitiNut]

12. Scuttlebutt: Junior would refuse to accept her withdrawal

Never underestimate the Corporate Reich's ability to twist the arms that reach for wallets.

It's important to understand the degree to which Junior's pathological narcissism and Miers' skill at providing a narcissistic supply (she's his long-time enabler) have interlocked them in a to-the-death embrace. I'm certain that the biggest mistake Junior's handlers made was permitting Meirs to be the 'screener' for SCOTUS nominees. While Junior cannot deal with anyone who's not a sycophant, the obvious codependency between Junior and Miers-the-enabler had to be a warning flag. As soon as Junior fixated on her as the nominee, there would be no person with the leverage to dissuade him. At this point, Junior's malignant narcissism incapacitates him -- he's psychologically incapable of backing off. He's fixated - as though his very existence depends on "staying the course."

It'd be VERY interesting to get a better peek into how Miers was raised. She had to be raised in a dysfunctional family where she learned how to be an enabler for a parent with a severe personality disorder. Her teen-age years had to seem nightmarish for any well-balanced person. I'd say she was raised a lot like the Bushtard twins.

[LizW]

16. That's what one of the panelists on "This Week" said today

I didn't catch the name, but he said that even if Miers tried to withdraw, Bush wouldn't allow it. It puts the Republicans in the position of having to vote for a horribly unqualified person for SC in order to support Bush.

It would be funny if it wasn't so horrifying.

[TahitiNut]

17. I think the important thing is to understand 'why' -- it's *'s narcissism.

His pathology is a key to understanding this administration's behavior ... and their meltdown. Over the past five years, he's been fed, enabled, supplied, and handled to the point that malignancy of his personality is all-consuming. It's taking up more and more and more staff time (and away time) to feed his insatiable appetites. Junior is headed for a freakout. He's a loose cannon.

Miers is a textbook enabler for narcissism. All the gushing 'groupie' notes portray it in abundance. Not just a sycophant, she's wired to supply narcissists. Especially considerng this, she'd be a total disaster on the Court.

Why?

The biggest narcissist on the Court is Scalia. We'd be looking at Miers vying with Thomas for chief groupie. They'd become a triumvirate - eclipsing any control Roberts might exert in other directions.

Effectively, this means that Miers' current opinions and perspectives are meaningless. What she might say to the Judiciary Committee doesn't mean shit. She'd be an echo of Scalia - even worse than Thomas.

[chat_noir]

21. The DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder are:

1. a grandiose sense of self-importance
2. is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
3. believes that he or she is "special" and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
4. requires excessive admiration
5. has a sense of entitlement, ie unreasonable expectations of especially favourable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
6. is interpersonally exploitative, ie takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
7. lacks empathy and is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
8. is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her
9. shows arrogant, haughty behaviours or attitudes


Bingo!!

[belle]

27. google "inverted narcissism"

[ninkasi]

29. I agree...

Bush is simply not capable of admitting an error in judgment, or mistake of any kind. He takes it as a personal attack, and refuses to negotiate or withdraw. What the freepers and fundies see as his strengths are also his weaknesses. Unable to bend even a little, he will allow himself to be broken first.

I also agree that Ms. Miers has a screwed up personality, since there is no way any rational, half-way intelligent person would proclaim Bush to be the most brilliant man they had ever met. They apparently feed each other's psychoses. This has got to be one of the most insane administrations in history.

[0007]

30. The seams are all gone, it's just a matter of flattening junior

and the crime cabal out and getting the form of government to stabilize the country.

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. Bush won't be nominating anything

after next week. Looks like O'Connor gets to stay for a while longer.

[gristy]

10. Wow.

You just might be right.

[hippiechick]

15. Expound please ?

Enquiring minds want to know ... :hi:

[NYC Liberal]

19. O'Connor's resignation is effective when her replacement is confirmed.

She chose it to be that way, though she could have resigned immediately. So no replacement = she stays. Well, unless she just decides to step down now.

[Demeter]

9. Lord, I Should HOPE So!

Because confirming Harriet Miers would be like putting a moron in charge of a nuclear pile. Can anyone say chernobyl?

[fortyfeetunder]

11. After all, this is what Laura asked for

Remember Laura in an earlier interview, mentioned it would be nice if another woman was chosen to replace Justice O'Connor? Well....

[kurth]

14. Yeah, just because she's a woman...

"To give a woman a seat on a crowded bus because she is a woman is gallantry. To give a woman a seat on the Supreme Court because she is a woman is a dereliction of senatorial duty." - George Will

[truthisfreedom]

20. obvious stalking horse meant as a distraction for everything else going on

that's my take.

[wiley]

22. I agree.

This whole thing has been a distraction. At least half the Congress should be in jail by now.

[belle]

28. You give them far, far too much credit.