H Meirs, The End of Legal Abortion, My Proof

     Senator Brownback of Kansas is as much a "pro-life" candidate as any Senator.  This morning on Good Morning America (transcript not freely available), according to numerous sources, Brownback said that if H Meirs considers "Roe V Wade" "settled law" he will vote against her.

     JG Roberts, Jr had said, in order to distance himself from legal memos he had written, that Roe was "settled law," and yet the same Senator Brownback voted for Roberts.

     Meir's decades long born-again status, her closeness an ideological affinity with President Bush and his nomination of her, suggests to me there is no chance at all she is pro-Roe.

     Therefore, and perhaps I take some risk in suggesting this, Senator Brownback is plotting.  The most likely plot is "Let's take the most rabid pro-life person possible, and get them through the process by having rabid pro-lifers question her credentials."  This is what I think is true.  Less likely, but also possible, is that this is some sort of sacrificial nomination.  I do not believe this.

     I don't, in all likelihood, win or lose anything for being right or wrong.  I am, I suspect, better than half-a**ed at nosing out plots.  This will help prove, or disprove, that.  However, to avoid hurting the Bush administration, perhaps they are planning to defer until after his term is over? 

     Fight Meirs on Cronyism.  A right wing blog I have been dealing with lately, From the Bleachers, has the link to this helpful chart of non-Judge appointments to the Supreme Court, from FindLaw, Justice with No Prior Experience.  Many of these were Governors, Cabinet Secretaries, US Senators, Attorneys General, one co-drafter of the US Constitution, and one Chief of the SEC.  Eleven are less than that, and most seem more qualified than Meirs.  You can also notice that none of the great Presidents are on the list, except A Lincoln, who I think has an important place in history for his being on the right side of the Civil War, but was not, otherwise, a great President.

M Filmore	BR Curtis	Massachusetts Legislator
F Peirce	JA Campbell	Alabama Legislator
A Lincoln	SF Miller	Private Practice
US Grant	JP Bradley	Private Practice
SG Cleveland	M Fuller	Private Practice
B Harrison	G Shiras, Jr	Private Practice
W Wilson	L Brandeis	Private Practice
WG Harding	P Butler	County Attorney, Private Practice
LB Johnson	A Fortas	Private Practice
RM Nixon	L Powell	President of the American Bar Ass'n, Private Practice
RM Nixon	WJ Rehnquist	Asst. U.S. Attorney General