This will makethe liberal denizens of this site cringe, but Ann Coulter is a must-read this morning:
The only sexism involved in the Miers nomination is the administration’s claim that once they decided they wanted a woman, Miers was the best they could do. Let me just say, if the top male lawyer in the country is John Roberts and the top female lawyer is Harriet Miers, we may as well stop allowing girls to go to law school.
Ah, but perhaps you were unaware of Miers’ many other accomplishments. Apparently she was THE FIRST WOMAN in Dallas to have a swimming pool in her back yard! And she was THE FIRST WOMAN with a safety deposit box at the Dallas National Bank! And she was THE FIRST WOMAN to wear pants at her law firm! It’s simply amazing! And did you know she did all this while being a woman?
I don’t know when Republicans became the party that condescends to women, but I am not at all happy about this development. This isn’t the year 1880. And by the way, even in 1880, Miers would not have been the “most qualified” of all women lawyers in the U.S., of which there were 75.
By 1950, there were more than 6,000 women lawyers, three female partners at major law firms and three female federal judges. She may be a nut who belonged to a subversive organization, but Ruth Bader Ginsburg graduated first in her class from Columbia Law School – and that was before Harriet Miers was applying to law school…
Which brings us to the other enraging argument being made by the Bush administration and its few remaining defenders – the claim of “elitism.” I also don’t know when the Republican Party stopped being the party of merit and excellence and became the party of quotas and lying about test scores, but I don’t like that development, either.
The average LSAT score at SMU Law School is 155. The average LSAT at Harvard is 170. That’s a difference of approximately 1 1/2 standard deviations, a differential IQ experts routinely refer to as “big-ass” or “humongous.” Whatever else you think of them, the average Harvard Law School student is very smart. I gather I have just committed a hate crime by saying so.
Contrary to the Bush administration’s disingenuous arguments, it’s not simply that Miers did not attend a top law school that makes her unqualified for the Supreme Court. (But that’s a good start!) It’s that she did not go on to rack up any major accomplishments since then, either.
Read the whole thing. And just to clear up somethings from other comments threads, Attorney General Gonzalez has a much more impressive resume than Miers. He was also, as it should be pointed out, opposed by a great number on the left and the right.
And this correspondence between Bush and Miers, in light of the position he has now nominated her for, makes me cringe. (via Drudge)
Also in Miers news, John Fund describes the botched vetting process for Harriet Miers.
Krista
Oh my dear god…I’m actually agreeing with Ann Coulter.
That’s more disturbing than those “Real Dolls”.
DecidedFenceSitter
*Whimper* I agree with Ann Coulter.
Shygetz
I guess even an evil stopped clock is right twice a day.
Jim Allen
Even a blind squirrel stumbles across an acorn once in a while.
Slide
As a member in good standing of the aforementioned group, I am not cringing. Why would I? I actually agree with Ms. Coulter wholeheartedly (oh, is that why I should be cringing?). Actually, I am smiling ear to ear as I read Fund, Kristol, Buchanan, Coulter, Rush and various other wingnut denizens eviscerate Bush’s decision to nominate his latest crony of the month.
Oh, and just in general, I love Ann Coulter. All liberals should love her. She does more for our cause than a dozen Michale Moore’s does for your’s. The Coulters and Rushs of the world may be palatable when you are a minority party railing against the powers that be, entertaining rage, but when you ARE the powers that be, the vile nastiness of their comments don’t quite sit so well with most Americans. So keep it up Ann, Rush, Bill (abort all black babies) Bennett, Mike Savage, et al., us liberals heart you.
Krista
That clever bitch. When she was accusing liberals of everything from treason to baby-eating, we could just laugh at her and call her a psycho. She built up that reputation, and then…BAM!…said something reasonable, that liberals can agree with, and it’s sent us all into a tailspin of confusion and uncertainty.
Gray
No impressive resume? Hmm, let’s check:
Graduated with honors from Cornell University School of Arts & Sciences,
Ha! Arts and Sciences!
and received her J.D. from University of Michigan Law School, was an editor of The Michigan Law Review.
Michigan. That’s good? Like Harvard?
Clerked for the Honorable Pasco Bowman II of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
A judge named Pasco?? Must be some commie immigrant
and was an attorney in the Department of Justice Honors Program for outstanding law school graduates. After practicing law in private practice in New York City, she worked for the Senate Judiciary Committee, handling crime and immigration issues for Senator Spencer Abraham of Michigan.
Well, ok…
From there, she became a litigator with the Center For Individual Rights in Washington, DC, a public interest law firm dedicated to the defense of individual rights with particular emphasis on freedom of speech, civil rights, and the free exercise of religion.
Civil rights? This smells like ACLU. brrr
Oops, that’s the bio of Ann Coulter!
Well, no Supreme qualitiy here, too, ok.
SomeCallMeTim
I don’t know when Republicans became the party that condescends to women
Gee, let me see if I can track that date down for you. I know it’s roughly contiguous the start of the modern women’s movement, but for Administrative simplicity, let’s say 1965.
Lee
That is an excellent column.
Going to take a shower now that I said that about an Ann Coulter column.
Synuclein
Clearly the Christian Fundamentalists have what they’ve been waiting for — this must be a sign of the end-times when Armando from Daily Kos and Ann Coulter agree on anything. Now I will just stay at home and wait for the giant StaPuft Marshmallow man.
Nikki
Best laugh I’ve had so far this morning.
Synuclein
John,
Just out of curiosity, why is this filed under “Republican Stupidity” — Hopefully this is more related to the nominee rather than to Ann’s comments (although I would suspect that most of us would agree that Ann’s comments would — generally — fall under this category)
Geek, Esq.
Before dismissing Miers’ accomplishments as a “trailblazer” given the times, one should revisit Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s reasons for leaving Harvard.
Shygetz
Ummm, because her husband graduated first and got a job in New York City? What’s your point, that Meirs is unmarried?
Cyrus
Wow, it turns out I have no problem with Ann Coulter when she’s telling the truth. I shouldn’t say that because it’s on the same pattern as the “I don’t care about the latest stupid/offensive thing some liberal did, because the right has been doing it for years” excuse we hear every other time John links to dailykos, but still. No one’s ever said that Coulter was stupid (just evil), and a well-turned phrase is a well-turned phrase…
I will join SCMT in correcting her on one point, though.
Um, if you change “lying about” to “not caring about,” I think I can pinpoint when that happened – when they nominated Bush. Whatever else you can say about McCain, I don’t see how anyone could claim that in 2000 he was less qualified than Bush.
Digital Amish
re. the Bush/Miers correspondence (page 2). “P.S. No more public scatology”. WTF is that about. Gotta be an interesting story there.
Cassidy
“Oops, that’s the bio of Ann Coulter!
Well, no Supreme qualitiy here, too, ok.”
She wasn’t nominated for the highest court. Nor has she claimed she is qualified. Heaven forbid, though.
demimondian
Ironically, Coulter is probably technically qualified to be a justice (although I’d like ot see her have a year or so of appellate experience first). But God help America if she ever gets to the SCOTUS bench…
Gray
“She wasn’t nominated for the highest court.” Cassidy
No, but even though I don’t like Miers I think Coulter’s critic isn’t honest:
“Apparently she was THE FIRST WOMAN in Dallas to have a swimming pool in her back yard! And she was THE FIRST WOMAN with a safety deposit box at the Dallas National Bank! And she was THE FIRST WOMAN to wear pants at her law firm!” AC
Maybe YOU could tell me if this is a serious consideration of Miers resume.
“By 1950, there were more than 6,000 women lawyers, three female partners at major law firms and three female federal judges.”AC
Guess what’s in Miers bio? “Before joining the President’s staff, she was Co-Managing Partner at Locke Liddell & Sapp, LLP from 1998-2000.”
“She may be a nut who belonged to a subversive organization, but Ruth Bader Ginsburg graduated first in her class from Columbia Law School – and that was before Harriet Miers was applying to law school.”
If Miers would have been in the same class as Ginsburg, she would really be to old to be nominated now. Besides, the nomination process is about qualification, not about the best qualificated candidate. We may don’t like it, but the president choses the judges.
“The average LSAT score at SMU Law School is 155. The average LSAT at Harvard is 170.”AC
Does anybody else belief that you can be only as intelligent as the average student? Btw, where’s that LSAT for Michigan U?
“Despite the astonishing fact that Miers was THE FIRST WOMAN to head the Texas Bar Association – a dumping ground for losers, by the way – Miers has not had the sort of legal career that shouts out “Supreme Court material”!” AC
Maybe not. But this seems to be good enbough for attormey general: “In 1972, Ms. Miers became the first woman hired at Dallas’s Locke Purnell Rain Harrell. In March 1996, her colleagues elected her the first female President of Locke, Purnell, Rain & Harrell, at that time a firm of about 200 lawyers. She was the first woman to lead a Texas firm of that size.”
“This is like recommending a plumber by saying, “He’s a very professional guy, but he lacks experience in plumbing.” “AC
Btw, did you know that Rehnquist never sat on the bench before he became chief justice?
“Nor has she claimed she is qualified.” Cassidy
Hey, I thought so because of the headline she used: “Does this law degree make my resume look fat?”
Retief
I’d go back to 1912 for when Republicans became the party that condescends to women. Roosevelt and the Progressives reeached out to women and Republicans have been bitter ever since. Or possibly to the passage of the 14th amendment when women’s suffrage was ignored.
As for lying about test scores, Bush’s claims about the state of Texas schools come to mind.
Stopped being the party of merit and excellence – I believe this one dates to the Taft administration.
Robert Chavez
University of Michigan Law School is one of the top 10 law schools in the country(number 7, I believe, though that was a few years ago) with an average LSAT score of 167. I know, because my wife got in and I didn’t. So don’t attempt to slam UM-Law. It’s got cred.
ape
I don’t think there’s anything outrageous, inane, deranged, teeth-grindingly infantile or insane about that article.
are we sure dear Ann has not been kidnapped?
but who needs to read an op-ed to know that Bush’s most recent appointment is of an incompetent crony who won’t need to resign till the bodies start washing up on main street?
Lines
I have a hard time believing this was written by Coulter.
The writing is just not her style, not because its missing the epithets and vitriol against liberals, but because she has already written on the subject once and THIS article takes a huge turn to logical arguments rather than spurious charges and lame assumptions.
Gray
“University of Michigan Law School is one of the top 10 law schools in the country(number 7, I believe, though that was a few years ago) with an average LSAT score of 167. I know, because my wife got in and I didn’t. So don’t attempt to slam UM-Law. It’s got cred.”
Dang! I guess that’s why Coulter is against Miers. She can’t allow a woman to become Supreme if she isn’t as good as La Coulter herself.
Geek, Esq.
Try this on for size:
rafael
Damn!! Now, I hate Ann Coulter and her writings, but this is amazing stuff. I’ve always known she has talent, she knows what to say to her followers and the words that will bother democrats most.
I think this column is so good because it’s directed against her own party, which she doesnt totally despise. Thus, she turns the hate crank down just a notch and it’s even funny. ughh, so scary that I liked this column so much.
Mike
“Slide Says:
This will make the liberal denizens of this site cringe,
As a member in good standing of the aforementioned group, I am not cringing. Why would I? I actually agree with Ms. Coulter wholeheartedly (oh, is that why I should be cringing?). Actually, I am smiling ear to ear as I read Fund, Kristol, Buchanan, Coulter, Rush and various other wingnut denizens eviscerate Bush’s decision to nominate his latest crony of the month.
Oh, and just in general, I love Ann Coulter. All liberals should love her. She does more for our cause than a dozen Michale Moore’s does for your’s. The Coulters and Rushs of the world may be palatable when you are a minority party railing against the powers that be, entertaining rage, but when you ARE the powers that be, the vile nastiness of their comments don’t quite sit so well with most Americans. So keep it up Ann, Rush, Bill (abort all black babies) Bennett, Mike Savage, et al., us liberals heart you.”
If all we had to throw at you was Michael Moore, I can see where you might gloat. But hell, you’ve got an entire STABLE of fuckups saying stupid things that piss moderates off. Hollywood, College Professors, Ted Kennedy, the other liberal idiots in Congress, The Foreign Press, Kos Klowns, The NATION, etc., etc.
ape
oh my god.. here we go again. What madness possesses anyone that they think Michael Moore is equivalent in hate-filled-bile terms to Ann Coulter & Michael Savage.
Michael Moore: we went to war based on lies. it wasn’t a good idea. the ‘right to bear arms’ has not proved wise.
Coulter: All liberals are traitors. They [insert Goebbels speech here, with the word ‘juden’ crossed out and replaced by ‘liberals’].. stab in the back.. Vietnam.. hate america. All liberal women are ugly. And they are all murderers.
Andrei
Uhh… wait wait! Let me guess!
When you power mongers voted for a candidate like Bush in the first place?
Steve S
Hey, when did Ann Coulter become a Liberal?
This is just bizarre. Or is she just a Liberal on issues dealing with Feminism?
ape
yup Mike.. Ted Kennedy; Michael Savage. If you drew a line write down the middle you’d get Joe Schmo:
“the Republican right is an army of the living dead. They live in a world of death and try to impose it on we the living.. ..What is difficult for we the living to comprehend is the reason they can engage in such abominations is because they have no souls.” Ted Kennedy, speaking perfect sense yesterday.
“Clinton’s budget fails to recognize that strong schools are as important to our future as a strong defense.. ..Parents and communities are fighting every day for better schools with high standards for their children, and they expect the federal government to do its part.” Professional moron Michael Savage foaming at the mouth back in the 90s.
Or have I got something wrong?
Kimmitt
Coulter’s not a liberal or a conservative. She’s an angry rhetoritician. I successfully argued for the inferiority of the female gender in a class on the Enlightenment, because it was fun to do so. If I could get paid a great deal of money to argue random positions the way Coulter does, I would.
Lines
Coulter continues to support her position that women shouldn’t be allowed to vote and they should stay home more and raise babies. Hardly a liberal position on women. Thats why I still don’t think this article is really her writing.
Zifnab
I have to admit, I like Coulter alot better when she’s less of an angry Republican bitch and more just an angry bitch. If only she could just drop the titles and the bullshit and the partisanship and dive into this thing whole-hog, she’d be totally hot. Seriously, give her a show on Comedy Central and let the shit fly. The beautiful thing about not being pinned down by politics is that you get so much more material.
scs
I posted this is another thread below in repsonse to Tractarian but I thought it would have relevance here as well. This is how many female judges there are in Federal Courts today. Any of you legal people, please correct me if I got it wrong.
So WHERE are all these female judges Bush can pick from?
Gray
Yup, where are they? And how many of these 8 are Democrats or moderate repubs? Also, there may be some who wouldn’t resettle to Washington to play for the Supremes…
scs
Well I did a search on Republican appointees so safe to assume they are Republicans. But I guess you never know.
scs
And I also submit, since SMU wasn’t good enough for Coulter, let’s give Miers an IQ test and an LSAT and settle this question on her intelligence once and for all. Maybe we can match them up with Coutler’s too. If Coutler wins, she gets nominated.
Gray
I just tried a LSAT training test at a site I found thru google. Only about 60-70% right answers. The mathematical/logical tests were at 90%, but those reading tests…I got totally lost in translation. And some questions aren’t very carefully worded. Grrr..
What’s the max points at those LSATs? 200?
Pug
I’m sure Coulter is smart. She’s just lacking in social graces. And humanity.
I think the Democrats should unite behind Harriet Miers. The Wingers wanted a fight over this Supreme Court nomination. Hell, give ’em one.
If she goes down in flames you know the next nominee will be a certifiable, whack job wingnut from Hell. Probably Janice Rogers Brown.
That way the Repbulicans could smugly point out they have the two most conservative (read that idealogically rigid right-wing) black people in the country on the Supreme Court.
Gray
“Well I did a search on Republican appointees so safe to assume they are Republicans. But I guess you never know.”
Hmm, 1995-2000 are Clinton nominees…
scs
And another thing. About the Sullivan link that John linked to. I noticed this is the second time Sullivan kind of stretches the truth (the first was on Posse Comitatus) It’s hardly a night and day comparison like Sullivan wants you to believe.
Gonzales went to Rice University undergrad. Don’t know much about Rice, but I know it’s not Ivy League or probably even top rank either. Miers paid her way through school, I heard and perhaps was limited to a local school. Did Gonzales pay his way through Harvard? I don’t think he did and so he wasn’t as limited. I heard Miers graduated near the top or at the top of her law school class. Don’t know if Gonzales did.
Both were successful lawyers. Meirs was head of the Texas Bar Association. Bush APPOINTED Miers to the Lotto, and then APPOINTED Gonzales to the Texas court. Should Miers be punished and ridiculed because Bush gave her a different and very important assignment? Bush could just have easily appointed her to the Texas court. Gonzales was only a judge for only exactly two years when Bush pulled him out. Is TWO years that big of a deal? Bush then put them in different positions at the White House. Gonzales was being talked about being a Justice even BEFORE he was confirmed as Attorney General I remember and again when he was only AG for a few MONTHS, and always with the greatest respect.
Still pretty similar to me. Yet I never remember once Gonzales being ridiculed as a light weight. I’m not saying Miers is or isn’t that qualified. I’m saying she is being held to a standard that others weren’t. And small arbitrary differences in qualifications are being blown up into these huge issues. She is being RIDICULED while Gonzales was given deference, on a scale disproportionate to the small differences in their resume. That, to me is an example of sexism, pure and simple
DougJ
Rice *is* top rank. It may as well be Ivy League. It ranks two notches below Brown at #17 in the US News and World Reports list.
You clearly know nothing about universities.
scs
Sorry I don’t have a ranking of all schools in my head. I am from the North East and am more familiar with NE schools. No one I know went there. Always thought it was a decent school, but I never heard much about it.
scs
…
Well here’s the site http://www.fjc.gov/public/home.nsf/hisj – you can check on it yourself. I did a search on “confirmation” date, not nomination date. Could they have been nominated in 1992 by Bush 1? Not sure how that works.
pleonastic piranha
ann coulter is still just an attention whore. and this article is as dishonest and unfair to its subject as most of her claptrap. *yawn*. i’m not in favour of the miers nomination, but the average IQ of students at her law school (from when are those numbers anyway?) says nothing about her IQ, and her accomplishments are quite on a different level than coulter pretends. ghod, coulter’s rhetoric is pitiful. link to something substantive if you want me to “read the whole thing”, willya?
Tractarian
scs, you are correct that there have been only 8 female judges appointed by Republican presidents and confirmed between 1/1/1995 and 1/1/2002.
But this is really only counting the period between 1/20/2001 and 1/1/2002, since between 1/1/95 and 1/20/01 there were no Republican presidents appointing anyone.
And you are only counting those who were confirmed prior to 1/1/2002, which means you are basically counting only a few months of Bush nominations.
So your statistics are pretty misleading.
But all this is really beside the point, isn’t it? I, for one, am not terribly disturbed by Miers’ educational or professional qualifications. What disturbs me about her is exactly what the White House is promoting as her greatest quality – her closeness, both personally and professionally, to the President.
And this is not a knee-jerk anti-Bush sentiment (such as “any close friend of Bush must be crazy”). It’s just that I think a SCOTUS nomination should theoretically be based on merit, which is, for the most part, an objective measure. No matter how good Miers’ qualifications are, it is clear that no other President – of either party – would have even considered nominating her. That tells me that this was not a pick based on objective measures.
It’s like with Clinton appointing his wife health care czar. Bill’s relationship with Hillary prohibited him from evaluating her objectively. W’s relationship with Miers isn’t quite the same (though there has apparently been a similar amount of kissing up) but the same idea holds. He could not possibly have evaluated Miers solely on the objective basis of her merit.
DougJ
I’ve said this before about Ann Coulter: anyone who hates the New York Times that much can’t be all bad.
DougJ
Scs, fair enough, but that is more the attitude of a coastal lefty than a hard right like you. One of the most annoying this about northeasterers is their tendency to thing that nothing intellectual takes place in flyover country.
goonie bird
How many affairs has bill clinton had how many affairs has ted kennedy had? why dont they ever indite them for their affairs?