President Bush has nominated his White House Counsel Harriet Miers to replace Justice Sandra Day-O'Connor on the SCOTUS. I'm yet unsure if this was a good thing or a bad appointment.
On one hand, she was once a democrat and is now a republican, so the conventional wisdom is that she is a moderate. So this may be a one-for-one trade and the balance of the court will remain the same. Or so the theory goes. She seems smart, capable, and would provide another female to the court, which I believe was important.
I would have liked to have seen a female minority, preferrably an Hispanic, nominated, but we can't all win.
On the other hand, she is not, nor has been, a judge. Her experience is solely as a lawyer. This does not disqualify her of course, but it seems like it flies in the face of recent tradition. I heard Orrin Hatch earlier say this was another type of diversity on the court, providing another avenue of experience. I can be persuaded of that. But my real concern is that she got the nod because she is loyal to Bush. Was she the most qualified? Was she even the most qualified woman? I don't know the answers to those. But I would not want another example of political cronyism to result in a huge job promotion. Anyone remember FEMA's Mike Brown? Vince Foster? American government is littered with sweet political appointments that might be undeserved (from both parties, throughout time; this is nothing new). What does it matter if Bush likes Miers? Or that she has been loyal to him?
She once told David Frum that President Bush is the most brilliant man she has ever met. Exsquese me? I believe he is smarter than he gets credit for, and the perpetuates the assumption of his stupidity for low-political expectations, and we know he was smarter than John Kerry from their pretty-unimportant Yale grades, but I take great issue with Miers's classification of our president. She may be the only person in the world to have ever said such a thing.
5 comments:
I think Bush knows what's he doing. It looks like she's a righty with probably more of an agenda than Roberts. And the fact that Reid (D) suggested her means that he can't vote against her without looking like an idiot.
Good Chess Move. maybe a knight takes Queen move.
This country is going to hell either way. I hope Ralph Nader is elected president and the whole supreme court dies the next day.
jeff, saw this cartoon and thought of you:
http://jeffphilips2.blogspot.com/2006/10/blog-post.html
I'm losing my last shreds of hope again, so I tend to agree with Will's first sentence. I, however, hope that it goes slowly enough for me to make a bazillion dollars, buy an island and start the United States of America Number 2. You can all live there if you want.
One little problem, though. Some of you will not like that smoking in bars will be forever legal. It'll be written into the bill of rights.
Tommy, I can live with smoking in bars, if that's the trade-off....
As long as I also have the freedom to have my own, non-smoking bar, we're fine.
JG
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