ConfirmThem

By DanCT Posted in SCOTUS — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

John Fund in today's OpinionJournal.com:

I have changed my mind about Harriet Miers. Last Thursday, I wrote in OpinionJournal's Political Diary that "while skepticism of Ms. Miers is justified, the time is fast approaching when such expressions should be muted until the Senate hearings begin. At that point, Ms. Miers will finally be able to speak for herself."

But that was before I interviewed more than a dozen of her friends and colleagues along with political players in Texas. I came away convinced that questions about Ms. Miers should be raised now--and loudly--because she has spent her entire life avoiding giving a clear picture of herself.

The longer it takes for the administration and HM supporters to come forth with strong arguments in support of the nominee, the more the skepticism grows. I started out stunned and angry at the choice but quickly slipped into wait-and-see mode. In the past week, though, I've seen very little besides abstract arguments such as "trust the President", "the President should be given deference", "she would bring diversity to the court", "Constitutional law is easy; the more you learn about it, the more you muck it up; therefore, we need someone who doesn't know very much about it." The concrete arguments in favor of her nomination have been weak: "she's a consensus builder", "she's a Christian", "Mr. X says she's pro-life", "she's compassionate."

By choosing someone with such close personal ties to him and with qualifications that are, at best, marginal, the deference to the President's choice and the presumption of confirmation are eroded, even to the degree that the burden of proof now shifts to the President to show that she is uniquely qualified for the bench and was not chosen simply out of personal loyalty. Without solid, concrete reasons to support her --- reasons that apply specifically to her qualifications and temperament and not simply abstract, general arguments --- she should be rejected.