Miers sailing through confirmation hearings

Miers sailing through confirmation hearings

Posted By Rachel Alexander On October 18, 2005 at 8:39 am

It appears that Miers is surpassing even the brilliant John Roberts at ducking controversial questions during Senate confirmation hearings. Liberal Chuck Schumer, D-NY, had this observation regarding the first round of hearings with Miers, “Let me say this, my first conversation with John Roberts was far more illuminating than this conversation was.” Critics are trying to find a flaw in her testimony, pointing out that she said she had no opinion on Griswold v. Connecticut <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griswold_v._Connecticut>, which found a right to privacy for married couples to use contraception.

Well, there’s nothing terribly surprising about that. Roberts indicated he had an opinion on Griswold during his confirmation hearings, “I agree with the Griswold court’s conclusion that marital privacy extends to contraception,” and went further, indicating he believes Griswold applies to unmarried couples. Would Miers’ conservative critics have preferred that Miers acquiesce with Roberts and support Griswold? Most likely, Miers is reluctant to support Griswold because it contravenes Catholic Church teachings on contraception. It is difficult even for Protestants to reconcile freedom with birth control (Miers is Protestant, Roberts is Catholic). Is birth control an abortifacient? Regardless, not a single Republican Senator has indicated they intend to vote against Miers (all 55 voted to confirm Roberts). Which if happens again will be pretty impressive, considering the speculation that some Senators, such as Democrat Patrick Leahy only voted for Roberts in order to make voting against Bush’s next nominee easier.

Source The Loft: http://www.gopusa.com/theloft

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