October 16, 2005

The Awful Defense of Miers

John Fund brought up an incident of then White House staff secretary Harriet Miers complaining about the 2001 Presidential Christmas message being too Christian. Ned Ryun, the author of the original message told Fund, "Miers purposefully sought to dilute the Christianity of the message, thus revealing to me at least a willingness to compromise unnecessarily without outside pressure."

Now, the story may or may not be accurate. This superficial attack on Miers works because the White House has offered nothing but "trust Bush," "Miers is an evangelical Christian," and "Miers has real-world experience." She's such a stealth candidate her defenders can't even offer up a real defense. I want to continue to give Miers the benefit of the doubt, The White House has been given plenty of time to dig through her past and find a document, a speech, or an example of Miers being in the Scalia or Thomas mold. They haven't which disturbs me.

"From Worse to 'Sweet Jesus!'" [via No Runny Eggs]

UPDATE: The White House wants to step into the Wayback Machine and try Miers relaunch:

Get ready for a whole new Harriet. After a disastrous two weeks, White House officials say they hope to relaunch the nomination of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court by moving from what they call a "biographical phase" to an "accomplishment phase." In other words, stop debating her religion and personality and start focusing on her résumé as a pioneering female lawyer of the Southwest. "We got a little wrapped around the axle," an exhausted White House official said. "As the focus becomes less on who she's not and more on who she is, that's a better place to be."

So, as the White House counsel begins her formal prep sessions this week for a confirmation hearing that's likely to start in early November, President Bush will hold a photo op with former chief justices of the Texas Supreme Court who will testify to Miers' qualifications and legal mind. The White House's 20-person "confirmation team" will line up news conferences, opinion pieces and letters to the editor by professors and former colleagues who can talk about Miers' experience dealing with such real-world issues as the Voting Rights Act when she was a Dallas city council member and Native American tribal sovereignty when she was chairwoman of the Texas Lottery Commission.

"Why They Can't Hit The Right Note" [via Captain Ed]