What’s up with the Harriet Miers pick for the Supreme Court? Did I miss something here?
President Bush has never really thrilled me, due to his arrogance. No, it’s not his attitude in general that is arrogant, it’s his assumption that he can get away with “it”, no matter what “it” is.
This mediocre nominee is one arrogant pick. Speaking as a lawyer, I look at Ms. Miers - a good woman and pretty fair attorney from all accounts - and I know that it could just as easily be me in her shoes, nominated for the Supreme Court.
That’s just plain wrong. Supreme Court nominees should be much smarter than me, with a coherent legal philosophy and the ability to foresee the way their decisions shape the law. In Ms. Miers, I see a successful, “everyman” attorney. A distinguished career, to be certain; but not the high level, critical thinking abilities necesary to make her Supreme Court material.
David Frum mentions that she was talking about Bush in his (Frum’s) presence one day, and referred to Bush as the smartest man she ever met. Well, Mr. Bush is a sharp cookie, but if he is the smartest man Ms. Miers ever met, then either she lacks discernment, or she doesn’t get out much.
She would be a good federal trial judge or magistrate nominee; and a defensible, if not strong, federal court of appeals nominee. She is not a tenable pick for the Supreme Court, however.
I have been disappointed by this President for a long time; I am exceptionally disappointed with this third rate pick. Bush seems to think that nothing he does could possibly alienate his conservative support. This pick was a bad miscalculation, and shows the major chink in Bush’s political armor, his arrogance. While legal conservatism is a pre-requisite in a Republican judicial nominee, and political conservatism is sometimes a nice perk, the sine qua non of these nominations should be legal intellectual excellence. That’s right, you should have to be an “A” student, or you don’t get in the door. While many great lawyers are less than brilliant within the stellar constellation of the legal profession, all successful appellate judges are at least minor stars in that universe. Ms. Miers isn’t even a white dwarf.
Conservatives and moderates should oppose this pick.
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