Positive Track Record Broken with Miers

I'll go a little further than Radar and say that Miers is a ridiculous pick.

1) The most impressive thing about Justices Thomas and Scalia are *not* their opposition to abortion, but their principled and intellectual vision of the role of the federal government and the Supreme Court within the constitution. To me, John Roberts certainly fits this most important criteria; there's no indication whatsoever that Harriet Miers is the same caliber.

2) Let me say the first consideration of judicial nominees should not be gaining political leverage, but Harriet Miers will undoubtedly hurt Republican candidiates for Congress next fall. I have told many people that I respect this president for his proclivity to do what's right even in the face of immense political opposition: overhauling social security, reforming immigration, and steps to make our economy more competitive. Noone has accused this President of not acting boldly enough--until now. Republican voters wanted stalwart conservative, and Rush Limbaugh is right when he asked Dick Cheney why we have to wait 10 years to see if Miers is a good pick.

3) It's not necessarily bad to go outside of the judiciary to appoint an associate justice (10 of the past 34 have come from a position outside a court); however, Presdient Bush did not need to pick his chief counsel. Orrin Hatch, Jon Kyl or John Cornyn (who was on the Texas Supreme Court) would have been great picks, and those are just three from the Senate. It's disappointing that there are no letters to the editor from Miers' long-time acquaintances in the large newspapers today about her qualifications. He could have done much better.

We should all be praying that 85-year-old John Paul Stevens, who was appointed by President Ford, steps down in the next year. Michael Luttig, Samuel Alito and Edith Clement still need seats on the court.