Harriet's Handwriting: She's One Loopy Lady!

This New York Times article identifies the highlights of a trove of Harriet Miers-related documents that were recently released to the public by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. The opening paragraph of the piece contains some of the juiciest tidbits:

"You are the best governor ever -- deserving of great respect," Harriet E. Miers wrote to George W. Bush days after his 51st birthday in July 1997. She also found him "cool," said he and his wife, Laura, were "the greatest!" and told him: "Keep up the great work. Texas is blessed."

The article was accompanied by an 18-page packet (pdf) of selected correspondence and personal notes written by Harriet Miers. As a diligent dumpster diver, Article III Groupie printed out the packet and went through it herself, to see if she could find anything else that might be interesting. After all, there's nothing A3G enjoys more than reviewing Bates-stamped documents!

Alas, A3G didn't find much that hasn't already been covered in most of the mainstream news media reporting about the documents. Here are the few noteworthy items (with each page identified by Bates number):

--000022-23: Based on this letter to Governor and Mrs. Bush from Harriet Miers, inviting them to serve as Honorary Chairs of the Anti-Defamation League Jurisprudence Award Tribute, no one would mistake Miers for a brilliant prose stylist. For example, consider this somewhat awkward passage:

As I indicated to the Governor, I am respectful of both of your great many time commitments and I realize you receive many, many requests. Of course, I would be very pleased if either of you is able to participate. However, I will be pleased with your judgment about whether participating in this event fits your schedule whatever your decision.

Hmm... Let's just say that Harriet Miers is no Antonin Scalia.

--000045: A handwritten note, dated June 20, 1996, from Harriet Miers to Governor and Mrs. Bush. Harriet Miers has excellent handwriting; it's legible and elegant.

But a handwriting analyst might raise an eyebrow at her extraordinarily large loops. Consider this observation: "Do big loops mean a woman is easy? Big loops always signify a big imagination regarding sex.... Most people with big loops are very sexual..."

--000058: A belated birthday card from Harriet Miers to Governor Bush, from the "Expressions" line of greeting cards, by Hallmark. The card cost Harriet Miers $1.79. An odd-looking creature with a rather large nose appears on the front of the card. (It might be a dog, but one can't be sure; the image is overexposed and unclear.)

A3G's opinion: Harriet Miers's taste in greeting cards leaves something to be desired.

--000007: A letter to the Governor and Mrs. Bush, dated July 3, 1996. A3G does not know why Harriet Miers thought the word "astronaut" should be spelled with a capital "A."

Okay, that's about it; A3G apologies for not having more to say about these documents. But this enterprise hasn't been entirely fruitless. At least we've learned that Harriet Miers is a pretty kinky gal who isn't that great at spelling!

Comments

[Article III Groupie]

I didn't bother going into anything that had already been discussed in the mainstream news media accounts to which I linked in my post. The (bizarre and inexplicable) "public scatology" comment is one such item; it has already been discussed elsewhere, both in the news media and in various blogs (such as The Harriet Miers Blog.)

Uh...is it just me or did you neglect perhaps the juiciest tidbit of all? On pbage 000061, Bush scribbles the postcript: "No more public scatology." First of all, who knew the man was even aware of this word? Second, did he know what it meant? And third...WTF?!

[crazymonk]

a birthday gift from harriet miers to bush:

http://crazymonk.org/archives/2005_10_11/48