Harriet Miers Will Be Confirmed
Mark Obbie has an incisive an witty explanation on Slate of why the only two achievements George Bush musters as Harriet Miers' qualifications aren’t much to shout about.
“Throughout the public evisceration of Harriet Miers, even her critics have tended to concede one of President Bush's main claims: Miers couldn't have been a complete loser to rise to the top of the bar and of her law firm.
Wrong.
Well, to be fair, a complete loser would have had to stretch to win election as president of her local and state bar associations. And loser perhaps isn't the word for the typical law firm managing partner back in Miers' era.
Mediocrity—that's a better word for it.
The point non-lawyers may miss here is that these accomplishments don't necessarily signal astonishing professional achievement. Implicit in the president's loving assessment of Miers' résumé are these assumptions: that lawyers choose their leaders based on merit, and that leading a bar association or a law firm is a position of great respect and honor.”
They don’t and it isn’t.
Nevertheless, I predict that Miers will be confirmed. She will not withdraw her name from nomination. And when she persists, Republicans will fall into line and support her. And that‘s all it takes, since they hold a majority in the Senate.
“Throughout the public evisceration of Harriet Miers, even her critics have tended to concede one of President Bush's main claims: Miers couldn't have been a complete loser to rise to the top of the bar and of her law firm.
Wrong.
Well, to be fair, a complete loser would have had to stretch to win election as president of her local and state bar associations. And loser perhaps isn't the word for the typical law firm managing partner back in Miers' era.
Mediocrity—that's a better word for it.
The point non-lawyers may miss here is that these accomplishments don't necessarily signal astonishing professional achievement. Implicit in the president's loving assessment of Miers' résumé are these assumptions: that lawyers choose their leaders based on merit, and that leading a bar association or a law firm is a position of great respect and honor.”
They don’t and it isn’t.
Nevertheless, I predict that Miers will be confirmed. She will not withdraw her name from nomination. And when she persists, Republicans will fall into line and support her. And that‘s all it takes, since they hold a majority in the Senate.
posted by Peter L. Winkler | 8:35 PM
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