What They're Saying About The Miers Nomination

- MIERS BRIEFED BUSH ON BIN LADEN PDB: On its front page Tuesday, The New York Times published a photo of new U.S. Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers going over a briefing paper with President George W. Bush at his Crawford ranch “in August 2001,” the caption reads. USA Today and the Boston Globe carried the photo labeled simply “2001,” but many other newspapers ran the picture in print or on the Web with a more precise date: Aug. 6, 2001. Does that date sound familiar? Indeed, that was the date, a little over a month before 9/11, that President Bush was briefed on the now-famous “PDB” that declared that Osama Bin Laden was “determined” to attack the U.S. homeland, perhaps with hijacked planes. But does that mean that Miers had anything to do with that briefing?

- CRONYISM & THE COURT: She received her law degree in 1970 from Southern Methodist University, which is not even among the top 50 law schools in the nation. She then spent 30 years as a commercial litigator with a law firm in Dallas. Her most notable achievement before Bush retained her as his private lawyer in 1993 was a brief stint as president of the Texas State Bar. After she made her connection with then-Gov. Bush, he appointed her head of the Texas Lottery Commission. The president then brought her with him to Washington, and last year appointed her White House counsel. From there to the United States Supreme Court? Even nominees who have not been confirmed--Robert Bork, Douglas Ginsburg, Clement Haynesworth Jr., (even) G. Harrold Carswell--were far more qualified than Miers.

Let me be clear. I have no knowledge about Miers' views on the Constitution. I assume she's conservative but perhaps not. That's not the point. The point, rather, is that she appears to be unqualified for the position. There is nothing in her record that distinguishes her from tens of thousands of other lawyers in the United States, most of whom are undoubtedly fine lawyers, but few of whom have the background, experience or intellectual depth to serve successfully on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court decides fundamental questions of freedom of speech, equality, separation of power, federalism, religious liberty and privacy. The goal is not just to vote, but to bring a high level of wisdom, experience, principle and intellect to the process of judging. It is no place for rank amateurs, especially rank amateurs with no record of relevant achievement.

From all appearances, this is rank cronyism. Other presidents have appointed their friends to the Supreme Court. But even the cronies were far more experienced and better qualified than Miers. Justices like Abe Fortas, Byron White and Fred Vinson were close friends of Presidents Lyndon Johnson, John Kennedy and Harry Truman. But they were also individuals with impressive achievements in the law and government service. Miers' record pales by comparison.

- MIERS SAID TO BE ON EXTREME END OF PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT: As political activists rush to mine Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers' slender public record, a former campaign manager says she opposed abortion rights while running for Dallas City Council in 1989.

"She is on the extreme end of the anti-choice movement," said Lorlee Bartos, who managed Miers' first and only political campaign and said they discussed abortion once during the race.

"I think Harriet's belief was pretty strongly felt," Bartos said Monday. "I suspect she is of the same cloth as the president."

Bartos said Miers told her she was "pro-choice in her youth" but underwent "a born-again, profound experience" that caused her to oppose abortion.