How Harriet Miers Slipped Through

news clipped by bunkie68 on October 13, 2005 - 1:50pm
The Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal
How She Slipped Through: Harriet Miers's nomination resulted from a failed vetting process

President Bush has told friends that he learned how to manage from three places: Harvard Business School, his experiences working in the Texas oilfields and with baseball teams, and from watching his father. In all three places he learned valuable skills: flexibility, the importance of team effort, discretion, how to delegate. The one thing he apparently didn't learn was that you never short-circuit the standard vetting process when filling an important job, even when doing so has worked out in the past.
The vetting of Harriet Miers leaves questions that demand answers, not more spin or allegations that critics are "sexist" or "elitist." It was so botched and riddled with conflicts of interest that it demands at a minimum an internal White House investigation to ensure it won't happen again.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110007398

I find it interesting that the only conservative legal foundation in Texas won't endorse Miers.


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( words about: )
If you need a laugh
Comment by DreamOfPeace posted October 13, 2005 - 2:21pm

Fafblog has a funny faux interview of Miers

And yet we know so much about her! Her name... her church... her name. You've been pretty generous with information so far, Mr. President.

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LOLOL
Comment by bunkie68 posted October 13, 2005 - 3:18pm

Thanks for sharing - I needed a laugh!

~*~Lisa~*~

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A reluctant defense of Harriet Miers
Comment by Ann Bartow posted October 14, 2005 - 2:28pm

Below is the text of a comment I posted elsewhere (the excellent Bitch Ph.D. blog), and no, I don't want Miers on the the Supreme Court, and yes, I know what is at stake. And yet:

I'm confused about why so many folks assumes Miers "isn't a great legal mind." I understand that her close friendly relationship with Bush makes us want to assume she is an idiot, and I understand that her complete lack of judicial experience is a concern, but I am not aware of any evidence that she was or is a bad lawyer or lacking in intelligence. In fact, quite the contrary, I have several (left leaning) friends who are practicing lawyers who worked with her, or are very familar with her work in private practice, and thought she was a very good lawyer, both smart and saavy. Her client base suggests she had a reputation for doing good work as well. I've avoided blogging about her because at many levels my instinct to rise to her defense confuses and at times disgusts me, but she is not a silver spooned slacker like Bush. She has guts and brains, and she's worked hard for her success. I doubt I'll like what she does on the Supreme Court, but this would be true of anyone Bush appoints. There are a lot of smart people on the Federal Bench, but that is a happy coincidence because generally intelligence is not what gets them there.

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