Friday, October 28, 2005

Formerly Mired and Newly Tire-Tracked Miers Mapped

Mikaela says:
Washington Post has an EXCELLENT article on the Miers Supreme Court nomination debacle.
Chief points to consider (edited for length):

In the beginning:

Day after day, colleagues from the Bush administration grilled her ... in practice sessions meant to mimic Senate hearings. Her uncertain, underwhelming responses left her confirmation managers so disturbed they decided not to open up the sessions to the friendly outside lawyers they usually invite to participate in prepping key nominees.

When Bush floated the idea of her nomination to conservatives:

"All of us who were supporting the White House on this expressed that this isn't a cakewalk," said another lawyer advising the Bush team on the Miers nomination. Others flatly protested and warned against naming her. Miers had not been prominent on anyone's short list but Bush's.
When Rove was still focused on his job:

Recognizing that conservatives might not find Miers exciting, Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove tried to lock up a few important figures who would back her, mainly James C. Dobson, head of the evangelical Focus on the Family. As Dobson later recalled it, Rove assured him "that Harriet Miers is an evangelical Christian [and] that she is from a very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life." That was enough for Dobson, and Dobson's blessing was enough for Rove.
But Rove was distracted with his own legal troubles:

In the past, the White House had been able to tamp down conservative unrest over Bush policies on federal spending, Medicare and immigration. But Rove, the president's chief enforcer and ambassador to the right, was recalled to appear before the grand jury investigating the leaking of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name, and insiders differ over how involved he really was able to be.
The growing discomfort by conservatives coupled with the lack of leadership (embroiled in legal implications of national security breaches and obstruction of the Grand Jury investigation) from the White House led to more and more people jumping ship on Miers' nomination:

Usually, he said, "the White House rolls out the big guns and everyone pretty much falls in line." But a call from Rove left William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, unpersuaded this time.
Pop goes the weasel.

But here's my question: If the vetting & nomination process uncovered her basic ineptitude and lack of knowledge, clarity, or nuance surrounding the Constitution, doesn't that cast shadows of doubt on whether she's even qualified to be White House attorney, much less a Supreme Court Justice? Especially with the White House so deep in legal trouble?

I think as long as they're searching for a new Chief of Staff for the Vice President, they should fish around for a new White House attorney, too.

HINT: Find someone with some experience with the laws surrounding Secret Intelligence. Oh, while you're at it, find someone who knows a little something about the legalities of Presidential Conspiracy. Just a thought.