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Jewish World Review Oct. 10, 2005 / 7 Tishrei, 5766 Knock it off: The conservatives whining about the Miers nomination are a petulant bunch By Jack Kelly
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The Washington Times reports that Karl Rove was "very involved" in President Bush's selection of Harriet Miers to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court. This should put to rest the notion that Mr. Rove is a political genius.
Bush compounded matters at his press conference last Tuesday, when he said Ms. Miers was the best qualified person, a statement breathtakingly at odds with reality.
He'd have been on firmer ground if he'd simply said Harriet Miers was the best qualified conservative who could win relatively easy Senate confirmation.
William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, said he was "disappointed, depressed and demoralized" by Bush's choice. That was my initial reaction, too.
I was proud of President Bush for eschewing gender and ethnic politics in selecting John Roberts to be chief justice. Justice Roberts was the most highly qualified nominee since Teddy Roosevelt plucked Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. from the Massachusetts Supreme court a century ago.
And I enjoyed watching Democrats on the Sen. Judiciary Committee make fools of themselves. The nation got to see why Sen. Biden's nickname is "Slow Joe"; to watch Chuck Schumer's runaway ego run away with him. I was looking forward to a sequel with Michael Luttig, Michael McConnell or Janice Rogers Brown in the role of Roberts.
I'm no happier about the Miers nomination now than when I first learned of it. But I'm more dismayed by the conservative over-reaction.
It's one thing to say there are many more qualified than Harriet Miers, and quite another to assert that she is not qualified to serve on the Supreme Court.
Because Ms. Miers has written little about the Constitution, those in the chattering classes assert she is incapable of thinking or expressing deep thoughts:
"The wisdom of presumptive opposition to Miers' confirmation flows from the fact that constitutional reasoning is a talent — a skill acquired, as intellectual skills are, by years of practice sustained by intense interest," wrote George Will.
The world is made up of doers and kibitzers. We in the chattering classes are kibitzers. Many, like Will, have convinced themselves that thinking and writing about what other people do is more important than actually doing stuff. It isn't.
Harriet Miers is a doer. She practiced law where it matters most, in the courtroom. She was managing partner of a mega Texas law firm. For the last five years she has been staff secretary at the White House, a more important job than most of her critics realize, and White House counsel, at the intersection between law and policy, and as good a preparation for serving on the Supreme Court as a year or two on an appellate court.
Some of the most profound philosophical discussions I've had were with military officers. (The imminent prospect of violent death enhances reflection on the meaning of life.) But they haven't written much because they were too busy doing things.
Harriet Miers may not be a deep thinker. We'll find out during her confirmation hearings. But to assume she is not simply because she's a doer is unfair, and almost certainly inaccurate.
President Bush has said Ms. Miers is bright, and a solid conservative. We should judge for ourselves in the hearings. But until then, conservatives owe him and her the benefit of the doubt.
Some conservatives say they can't trust Mr. Bush because he's never vetoed a spending bill; hasn't sealed the border with Mexico, and did sign the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill.
President Bush never promised to be a fiscal conservative or a hard-nose on illegal immigration. He did promise to appoint judges who would be faithful to the Constitution.
To date, he's kept that promise. Most of his nominees to appellate courts have been outstanding. It is because of him that John Roberts is on the Supreme Court. And the person responsible for vetting his judicial appointments was ... Harriet Miers.
I think it would have been wiser politically to seek battle with Senate Democrats with a Michael Luttig or a Janice Brown than to try to avoid one with Ms. Miers. But there is much to be said for the other course. Because Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid likes her, Ms. Miers could be on the court by Thanksgiving, voting with Justices Roberts and Scalia and Thomas.
I used to think conservatives were morally superior to the moonbats of the Left. But the reaction to the Miers nomination indicates we are just as petty, petulant, snobbish, short-sighted, self-destructive and unfair as they are.
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© 2005, Jack Kelly |
Mitch Albom | |||||||||||
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