That Harriet Miers is a joke, we have no reason to doubt. David Frum reports that Miers “once told me that the president was the most brilliant man she had ever met.” David — whatever you may think about his views; he’s a very swift guy — must have choked. I mean, it’s one thing to argue that Bush is the Right man, but I can’t imagine that David seriously considers him a Bright man. Either Miers doesn’t get out much, or — more likely — she’s a besotted groupie, and an intellectual lightweight. In fact, when David first floated her name, he admits, “I have to confess that at the time, I was mostly joking.”
So, where does this leave those of us who don’t want to see the court turned into a playground for hillbilly activists in constructionist drag? Well, for one thing, I’m not too happy about becoming a cheerleader for the bozocracy. And let’s not get too comfortable here: the last mediocrity appointed by the right was Clarence Thomas. It’s not entirely clear that liberals should be celebrating.
On the other hand, she’s sixty years old. So we’re only stuck with Harriet Miers for a while, and there’s a good chance the president who chooses her replacement will be a Democrat. (Republicans look as if they’re not likely to have a lock on power in the foreseeable future: I never would have expected it, but Americans seem to have at last overwhelmingly recognized their shameful error in voting for this administration.)
My advice? Let the GOP hang itself. This is hardly worth wasting a filibuster on: if Republicans choose to approve this non-entity, then that’s their funeral — further proof that this clan is about little more than cronyism and myopic allegiance. If they choose not to let his choice pass, then we can sit back and watch the right wing shoot their own buffoon in the foot: the last thing George needs is to be abandoned by his loony core at this precise moment in his decline.