Bush’s Circular Logic on Miers
Bush’s Circular Logic on Miers
During an interview this morning on “The Today Show,†President Bush touted Harriet Miers’ credentials:
I would remind those, one, that Harriet is an extraordinarily accomplished woman who’s done a lot. As a matter of fact, she’s consistently ranked as one of the top 50 women lawyers in the United States.
Actually, The National Law Journal ranked Miers among “The Fifty Most Influential Women Lawyers.†The specific designation is significant, because National Law Journal selected her as one of the “most influential” because of Miers’ close, personal relationship with Bush. From the National Law Journal:
1998: “Ms. Miers is a big wheel in the big state of Texas, where she is chair of the Texas Lottery Commission and the personal attorney of Gov. George W. Bush. She was general counsel to Gov. Bush’s transition team when he first became governor.†[“The Fifty Most Influential Women Lawyers In America,†The National Law Journal, 3/30/98]
In other words, the National Law Journal recognized that Miers’ benefited from her connections to Bush. Now, Bush uses that designation to argue that she is qualified apart from her relationship with him. It’s the beauty of circular reasoning.
(HT: Salon War Room )
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I was named one of the top 2 children in Minnesota by my mother. Where’s my Supreme Court nomination?
October 11th, 2005 at 1:21 pmDo you believe anything Bush says? I sure don’t.
October 11th, 2005 at 1:26 pmHey, at least he USED logic… :)
Seriously, this is just another moment of “Are you surprised?”
His thought processes would go like this (if he was so methodical)
1. I only choose the best.
2. It follows that any professional that I chose is the best in that profession.
3. I chose Harriet Miers as my lawyer.
4. Therefore, Harriet Miers is the best lawyer.
See, it’s simple… There is only one minor issue in this… The implicit assumption in step one might be flawed… And Karl Rove might have lied, and Tom DeLay might be corrupt…
Z.
October 11th, 2005 at 1:30 pmThat’s just sad.
October 11th, 2005 at 1:31 pmReminds me of O’Lielly claming he won
a Peabody rather than a Polk(?).
“But I’m the president!!! I get to choose the SCOTUS justice and the Senate has to vote for her!! That’s what Frist and Delay and all those guys at justice sunday said when I nominated all those other wackjobs — uh — lawyers!! Why are they so pissed off at me???”
October 11th, 2005 at 1:35 pmI think Zwack has tapped into Bush’s logic.
October 11th, 2005 at 1:43 pmI am the besttherefore,
I choose the best.
I chose “Harry,” therefore
she is the best.
“consistently” = “more than once.”
So was it by more than one outlet or more than one time in Nat’l Law Journal?
October 11th, 2005 at 1:43 pmDick Cheney is also one of the “Top 2 Living US Vice Presidents,” and Karl Rove has consistently ranked as “Most Influential White House Advisor” for 5 years running.
Nearness to Dubya just seems to breed greatness.
October 11th, 2005 at 1:45 pmHey, you live with the nominee you have, not the one you wish you had.
Same goes for POTUS and Sec Def.
October 11th, 2005 at 1:50 pmA judge is one who is supposed to be fair, rational, dispassionate, and objective.
October 11th, 2005 at 1:53 pmA lawyer is supposed to argue for a subjective viewpoint, representing a client in a biased manner.
Lengthy experience as a lawyer is not sufficient experience to be a good judge, and in fact is a detrimental ‘qualification’ (or should be).
But they are hoping she works as a double edged sword: if she gets in, then they have a ‘yes-woman’ on the bench who will continue to take her orders from the Lunatic Right. But if the Democrats pull out all stops and go after her, the Lunatic Right will then have a foundation to argue “partisan politics” (not that they have ever shown restraint in that warcry), and invoke their ‘nuclear option’ when a second (and far Lunatic Right) appointee is nominated. They are hoping that this is a “win/win” for them.
#8,
I wouldn’t rank Cheney that high. Mondale, George H.W. Bush, and Gore all rank higher in my mind. Despite his sons ineptitude, H.W. actually had some smarts.
October 11th, 2005 at 1:54 pmYou were actually able to use “Bush†and “logic†in the same sentence. Amazing!!
October 11th, 2005 at 1:54 pmmysticagent,
It’s quite possible that that was the idea behind nominating miers — but if so, they communicated that badly to their base. The wingnuts are going crazy and the dems aren’t going to have to do anything to stop her nomination. In fact, they are damning her with praise. This is a win/win for the dems and Rove must really be distracted.
October 11th, 2005 at 1:57 pmBush also called her “bright”. Coming from GWB, it means she has an IQ of 100.
October 11th, 2005 at 2:06 pmSome TRANSITIVE logic for you:
- God spoke to me directly. (A->B)
October 11th, 2005 at 2:17 pm- I bombed Iraq. (B->C)
- Whatever happened in Iraq or (anywhere else as a result of my policy) is God’s will. (A->B->C)
Jamie
October 11th, 2005 at 2:19 pmI agree with your assessment. Ideally, their own will run this aground. But I think that is why they are appealing to their base to “have faith”. I think the internal party resistance is confusing them: “Hey! You’re all just supposed to support whatever we do without question. Stop questioning!! You’re going to ruffle “The Agenda”!”
Oh, and Bush lied: She made the top 50 influential list only ONCE in 1998. Not “consistently”.
Ho-hum
October 11th, 2005 at 2:24 pmI said it many times, elsewhere (implied here),, but I’ll say it again: we have had a “black” seat on the court, a “Jewish” seat on the court, a “woman’s” seat (or 2) on the court; now we have a “Bush seat.”
Talk about affirmative action for rich white Republicans!
October 11th, 2005 at 2:24 pmAnd the invasion of Iraq is the top foreign policy decision of the century.
October 11th, 2005 at 2:29 pmYet more data explaining why Miers fails the “Three Strikes Test.”
October 11th, 2005 at 2:31 pmKind of like starting a war and then running as a “war president”.
October 11th, 2005 at 2:32 pmBush uses circular logic — my head spins. Same sh*t, different day.
October 11th, 2005 at 2:39 pmMumon #18 -
Not splitting hairs here… but you seem to imply that we have had only one black and one Jewish Supreme Court Justice. Not so.
When you refer to a Bush seat, are you saying Roberts is a Bushie??? I doubt that. I think Roberts got sort of caught up with the Reagan/Bush people very young. And, then W continued that along.
Remember, a lot of these people have known each other for decades.
October 11th, 2005 at 2:50 pm#23 But isn’t Roberts the circuit court judge who upheld Bush’s torture policies? I think that makes him a Bushie.
October 11th, 2005 at 3:03 pm“Despite his sons ineptitude, H.W. actually had some smarts.”
Comment by Andy — October 11, 2005 @ 1:54 pm
Yeah, like pardoning those who might have been forced to reveal under oath that he wasn’t really “out of the loop” during Iran/Contra.
October 11th, 2005 at 3:24 pmBy whom I mean “total information awareness” Poindexter.
October 11th, 2005 at 3:28 pmThomNY:
No, I’m saying that Bush wants Miers for his own family & friends interests.
You know, a “legacy seat.”
Of course we have multiple women/Jewish people on the court now, but there was a time when there were seats commonly thought of as “reserved.”
October 11th, 2005 at 4:04 pm#13, “The wingnuts are going crazy and the dems aren’t going to have to do anything to stop her nomination. In fact, they are damning her with praise.”
Can you see how Rove is using reverse pyschology on the Meirs nomination?
The pugs say they don’t like her, thats a lie, they love her!
Because the pugs dislike her the dems love her. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb.
Do not confirm this Bushie loving nobody!
October 11th, 2005 at 5:32 pm#24 : Yes, Roberts is the one who who decided in favor of the torture policies, right after he interviewed for the SC nomination. So there’s two Bush seats if Miers gets through.
Personally, I think that Bush is nominating Miers simply because of the possible (probable) future cases that may come before the court that involve Bush and/or his inner circle. Do you seriously think that Miers would recuse herself if, say, a Gitmo torture case came up, or anything to do with Hot Karl Rove? Or do you think that she’d be allowed to testify if something comes up about Bush’s (lack of) Texas National Guard experience? There’s an awful lot of skeletons in the Bush administration’s closet that Miers is privy to! What price loyalty?
October 11th, 2005 at 6:04 pmBush has said that Miers had a “stellar record”. In Dubya’s manner of speaking, as staff secretary and chief gatekeeeper for Bush, Miers was indeed, more ‘Stella Street’ than ‘Perry Mason’ and that probably tipped the scales for him as to her selection. Her designated role in the Supreme Court, for the next 3 years, will be to continue that role under the supervision of John Roberts.
October 11th, 2005 at 7:33 pmDubya overheard in the shower:
October 11th, 2005 at 7:58 pmI’m just ‘wild’ about Harry
She’s just ‘wild’ about me
Harriet Miers is the best the left can hope for. If the Senate Dems defeat her, they will not like getting what they wish for!
October 11th, 2005 at 9:16 pmChoice Info for a Tuesday Evening
Just some additional blogs from the fine folks who bring you The WB42 5:30 Report with Doug Krile. And our daily look into the blogosphere.
October 11th, 2005 at 9:29 pm“Harriet Miers is the best the left can hope for. If the Senate Dems defeat her, they will not like getting what they wish for!
Comment by Blue State Red ”
I say filibuster you and the fascist bastards you rode in on!
October 11th, 2005 at 10:13 pmI love it. Bill Maher calls Brown and Miers, Goober and Aunt Bee. The idiot friends of the redneck president… How funny! And how appropriate!
October 12th, 2005 at 1:59 am>Miers benefited from her connections to Bush. Now, Bush uses that designation to argue that she is qualified
Like so many other nominations Bush has made, the number one qualification is that they are his cronies.
October 12th, 2005 at 10:19 amWhen you losers take back the federal government, you’ll get to pick replacements for any vacancies on the SC. Just hope those ooooollllldddd decrepit liberals stick around for you to replace!
October 12th, 2005 at 11:33 amBSR, the neocons are causing such an uproar about Miers that the Dems won’t be the only ones responsible for defeating her. Regardless of personal viewpoints, loyal-subject attitude, or any other weakness, SHE’S UNQUALIFIED.
MA, pretty soon you’ll be the loser. Not quite so mighty after all the indictments!
October 12th, 2005 at 12:05 pm#38…
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of Love, Beauty and Sexual Rapture…
Given that, why do you spout so much hate, ugliness… and it always seems to me that the right wing are opposed to Sexual Rapture… At least publically.
To answer your comment though, I would rather that those Young, Stressed-out Conservatives got over excited, had heart attacks and died of natural causes.
Z.
October 12th, 2005 at 12:59 pm[...] Source: ThinkProgress.org [...]
October 12th, 2005 at 1:33 pmJane,
That’s so true. My guess is that the reichwing uber extremists will have to FILIBUSTER to prevent her from being accepted. This of course will set up a GREAT case for the next nitwit bush is likely to choose to show that filibustering is both acceptable and righteous. How fun will that be?
Bahahaha, it’ll be funny if the stupid republicans actually step on their own toes and filibuster! Bahahaha, Miers, Bahahahaha!!!
October 12th, 2005 at 6:57 pmJohn Roberts is GAY!
October 13th, 2005 at 2:18 pmHarriet Miers is a Lesbian!
And Bush is lying, theiving, murdering bastard!
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