Why Miers? I Just Don't Get It

The title link is a George Will column, and this one is David Frum.

It is not important that she be confirmed because there is no evidence that she is among the leading lights of American jurisprudence, or that she possesses talents commensurate with the Supreme Court's tasks. The president's "argument" for her amounts to: Trust me. There is no reason to, for several reasons.

This is my chief qualm regarding Miers. Finding a person with good, or even great, judicial credentials I think is very important. Someone with history arguing before the SCOTUS or any level of arguing constitutional law would have been better.

Frum puts it a bit more harshly.

Those who object to the Miers nomination do not object to her lack of credentials. They object to her lack of what the credentials represent: some indication of outstanding ability.

The objection to Miers is not that she is not experienced enough or not expensively enough educated for the job. It is that she is not good enough for the job.

And she will remain not good enough even if she votes the right way on the court, or anyway starts out voting the right way. A Supreme Court justice is more than just a vote. A justice is also a voice.

This obviously has nothing to do with collegiate credentials. I keep hearing that and it just doesn't make any sense to me. Though I will say, from appearances, most constitutional lawyers come from mostly Ivy League schools.

When they called Roberts a 'stealth nominee' it was just funny. He had opinions and writings that were open to the public. He also stuck strictly to the rules of what is appropriate to answer that Schumer and his ilk laid down during the Ginsburg nomination. Miers on the other hand is really a stealth candidate. I have heard nothing of any case where she has argued constitutional law at an level.

I'd say having a candidate that isn't in the main-stream of constitutional law could be helpful in making the court more diverse. But, I don't think that is the case here. I wince at the thought of another mistake like Souter, or worse a silent member.