October 31, 2005

Get Ready for a Fight

Well, we here at CBN predicted it. I said in this space on Friday that Samuel Alito would be the President’s pick, and that was correct. Why? Well, a few ideas here. First, he’s right in the mold of an Antonin Scalia. He’s called “Scalito” for goodness sake. (He’s Italian- American just like Scalia not to mention his judicial philosophy is right in line as well). Also, he has ruled on the pro-life issue before. He was the judge who dissented in the 1991 Casey v. Planned Parenthood decision where he said a woman SHOULD notify her husband if she’s having an abortion. Finally, and this is really the most important point, Alito is not "in your face” like some other judges.

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October 28, 2005

Who Might be Next?

Not that the White House is calling me for advice, but I have some for them anyway. Go with Janice Rogers Brown. Listen, both sides want a fight. Republicans want to expose Democrats for the liberals they are, and Democrats want America to know that the Republicans are being run by the radical right of this country. So we might as well get on with it. Both sides have been gearing up for this fight for a long time. The reality is there is an ideological battle going on here and it’s about time both sides had that knock down drag out fight. Janice Rogers Brown would be the one to do it. So would a lot of other nominees like Pricilla Owen, Edith Jones and Michael Luttig. Here’s a prediction: I think the President will go with none of those: instead I think it’s going to be Samuel Alito. From what I’m hearing this seems to be a logical pick. Alito is Italian American and is strong on the pro-life issue.

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October 27, 2005

Harriet Miers- Exit Stage Right

Well, did we not predict this? In this space a few weeks ago, we talked about this scenario of Harriet Miers withdrawing, and now it has happened. A couple observations: This really seems like the best move for the White House at this point. Miers looks like the constitutional hero as she preserves executive privilege as it pertains to documents that the Senate wants and the White House won’t release. That gives the President the out he needed.

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October 25, 2005

It's Getting Ugly

Would anybody really have predicted this? Not only have conservatives turned on President Bush when it comes to his Harriet Miers pick, but now they are getting ready to run TV and radio ads against her!! So let me get this straight. Conservative groups wait years, raise money so they can come out with ads in support of the President’s Supreme Court Nominee, and instead they use that money to shoot the nominee down? Hollywood couldn’t even come up with a script like this. You wouldn’t even see a scenario like this on the "West Wing." But indeed it’s happening. Check out this link.

Also, there’s Web site out now called www.withdrawmiers.org. This is organized by the former head of the Family Research Council, Ken Connor. Speaking of the Family Research Council, there’s word that this major pro-family group is going to come out against Miers. That could happen real soon.

October 20, 2005

Digging in Dallas

Reporting from Dallas, Texas tonight, I'm on the road to do interviews on a Harriet Miers story that will air next week. I talked to Miers’ Pastor today. His name is Ron Key. He's a wonderful man, low key, and measured. Here's a little something he told me in the interview today. He was talking about how hard a worker Miers is.

“God has just given her extra strength to keep up, and I think that’s the reason because she’s a woman of prayer and that when she gets to the place where she needs that extra stamina to keep up, she just constantly prays and God provides that,” he said.

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October 17, 2005

Schumer Doesn't Seem Happy

I just finished taking in the Charles Schumer press conference on Harriet Miers, and the liberal democratic Senator from New York doesn’t seem happy. He met with Miers in his office Monday and afterwards he “didn’t learn answers to so many important questions.” He also said she offered very little information on her judicial philosophy. When it came to Roe v. Wade, she told him that she had not discussed her views on Roe v. Wade with anybody, and that no one knows her views on it. Also, as for whether or not she believed in a right to privacy as it pertains to Griswold v. Connecticut (which was the basis for the Roe decision), she told Schumer that she wasn’t ready to give an answer on that yet. You could tell by the end of the press conference that Schumer was feeling frustrated that he’s getting so little information from her.

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october 17, 2005

Going to Texas

I’m on my way to Texas this week to cover the Harriet Miers story. I’ll be talking to Judge Nathan Hecht, one of Miers closest friends. He is a sitting judge on the Texas Supreme Court. It’ll be interesting to hear what he has to say about all of this criticism that Miers has endured. Plus, now there’s this controversy about whether or not Judge Hecht told conservative leaders that she would overturn Roe. V. Wade. Was it a guarantee? Did he know for sure or was it just his opinion? I’ll blog about it after my interview with him, which takes place Tuesday afternoon in Austin, Texas.

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October 12, 2005

Is Miers Doomed?

In this space a few weeks ago, I predicted that Miers nomination would be in trouble. And so far that looks to be the case. There is still that steady drumbeat from Capitol Hill that this choice was not the best. As a matter of fact, many are telling me on the Hill that this is downright awful and that there are a lot of Senate staff lawyers who are simply not happy about it. Staff lawyers don’t have a vote but they can put some pressure on their Senators to reconsider their position.

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October 11, 2005

White House on Miers

I just finished an interview with Former Congressman Dan Coats. He’s the man the White House has picked to help shepherd Harriet Miers through the Senate confirmation process. Coats was in rare form, ready to go with the White House talking points. Here are some excerpts from the interview. You can watch the full piece either today (Tuesday) on our Newswatch show or on the 700 Club Wednesday morning.

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october 10, 2005

More Concern about Miers?

It appears Supreme Court Nominee Harriet Miers played some sort of role in setting up a liberal women’s lecture series at Southern Methodist University. The following comes from The Chronicle of Higher Education. This will probably makes social conservatives go “hmmm”. Miers may have played an indirect role in bringing certain ultra feminists and pro-abortion speakers in to speak to college kids. Have a look at this link.

october 7, 2005

Miers in Trouble

It really seems like the Harriet Miers nomination is in deep trouble. There are just too many conservatives complaining. Then throw in some Democrats and you have a recipe for a Bush White House disaster. And now this. I just got an email from the Hill newspaper that has this nugget that raises more questions on Miers.

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October 5, 2005

New Information on Miers

I’ve been doing a little digging and here are a couple nuggets I’ve come up with on Harriet Miers. She filled out a questionnaire in 1991 and listed some qualities about herself. Her favorite movie is “The Sound of Music”. Now clearly that is controversial because… just kidding. Also in the questionnaire she says that behind her back people say that “They can’t figure me out”. Yikes! That may not bode well to Senator Brownback and other social conservatives.

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october 4, 2005

Could Miers be a Problem?

This is not the way the Bush White House drew up the Harriet Miers nomination. It appears the thinking here was to thread the needle and not give Democrats any paper trail, so they wouldn’t be able to go hard after her and at the same time conservatives would be able to trust Bush that he would be nominating a reliable conservative. But some conservatives balked. And what I’m hearing on Capitol Hill from Senate aides on the judiciary committee is that there is “supreme frustration” on this pick. It’s not just that Miers has no track record. That’s scary enough for conservatives who want a reliable vote on the high court.

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