Mensch tracht, und Gott lacht

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

No Fear of Miers

I haven't yet weighed in with my personal assessment of President Bush's appointment of Harriet Miers to the the U.S. Supreme Court. Judging from the reaction here and elsewhere, everyone to the right of Harry Reid is appalled by the choice.

I guess that I must be preternaturally sanguine, then, because I just have not been able to see this appointment as troubling at all. Yes, I have heard that Miers gave money to Al Gore's 1988 presidential campaign (and that since then she has given mostly to Republicans). And I understand that the public knows little about her judicial philosophy. But Bush must most certainly know what she thinks about how justices should assess constitutionality, and he has said that he does know and is extremely confident of her conformity with his views on the matter. Hence it appears to me that she must have precisely the kind of judicial philosophy for which Republicans have been asking. Furthermore, we have been given no evidence for reasons to think her less likely to retain her current philosophy than, say, Chief Justice Roberts is. Plus, she's almost certain to be confirmed by the Senate. If all those things are true, what's the problem?

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