Who Is Harriet Miers

Harriet Miers is a woman of great achievement in the world of law on one hand. But on the other hand, who is she?

This 60 year old, never married former head of the Texas Bar no doubt is a top attorney. And Harry Reid, the prolife Democratic leader in the Senate even suggested her as a possible choice. Miers even was a former democrat, and even contributed to Al Gore before.

But the Pastor of Harriet Miers paints an image of a "born again" Christian, who is certainly prolife. This choice will certainly be more prolife than Sandra Day O'Connor who allowed the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973 to hang together by a thread. The vote of Miers on the bench will almost certainly overturn Roe v. Wade when an important case challenges legal abortion in the nation. This will satisfy the prolife community in America, but will will also create an angry divided response among the prochoice community. However some countries such as Ireland and Germany have long had antiabortion prolife laws on the books.

And in other areas, Miers may well be more of a social conservative than even Roberts. On issues such as Gay Marriage, Freedom Of Speech, Assisted Suicide, and other areas, she will no doubt be less flexible in her opinion than the procorporate lobbyist attorney Roberts is.

Roberts represents a form of procorporate conservatism, while Miers is more of a social conservative.

Just like progressives come in different shades as well, Miers is the type of conservative that will more than satisfy the goals of social conservatives who feel that imposing their will on others is very important. Simply living a life according to certain values is not merely enough for them, it is important to them that all of society reflects their vision as well.

It is a funny thing that despite the major influence of books, music, movies, and culture, as well even beloved Gay entertainers such as Ellen or Rosie, that social conservatives actually wield so much power to impose their social vision on others. Social conservatives are convinced that those they disagree with are either immoral, Godless, or stupid. Yet there is so much of a spirit of latter-day phariseeism in this spirit. Social liberald don't seek to impose their view of cu;ture on others, only to have the right to enjoy a culture they create and enjoy. A social conservative is much like if a person likes vanilla ice cream, and seeks to ban chocolate ice cream because it's different than vanilla. There is nothing inherently immoral with chocolate, it's only a different choice. And some such Jimmy Swaggart and John Hagee still continue to attack rock music for example, misaligning all of it with the worst of evils.

How far Harriet Miers will walk down this cultural conservatism path is not known. But she's certainly an ally to social conservatives. Those who are merely prolife, but support cultural openess may find that Harriet Miers will not be their favorite justice on the bench. And those full blown progressives, may be deeply upset at her role on the court. Why some conservatives are so critical of her at this point doesn't seem to make too much sense. She's certainly more of a cultural conservative than Sandra Day O'Connor, and will be a great ally in their vision to rubber stamp their views as the law of the land.