I was inclined to wait until the hearings, helplessly hoping that some sort of lightening were to strike one way or the other. But after her meetings with US Senators so far, including her disastrous meeting with Arlen Specter, the one word answer standard questionnaire, the championing of mediocrity by her defenders, the whole use of identity politics to justify her nomination (evangelical Christian, woman), the smearing of her opponents as "sexists", now I oppose the Miers nomination.
By the way, when she met with Specter, I gotta ask, did she think he was referring to the Chevy Chase movies when he was talking about Griswold? How was there any chance of confusion?
Conservatives backing Bush for the White House have always understood he was for more government spending and had a much more expansive view of the role of government in our lives. But we thought we had a kindred spirit on three issues: national defense, taxes and federal judges. Indeed, we were promised judges in the mold of Scalia and Thomas. Up to and including the Appellate level, the president has delivered on this promise. However, at the US Supreme Court level, we were first given Roberts (a stealth candidate with impressive credentials) and now we're given Miers (a stealth candidate of dubious credentials). The warning signs on her nomination are there, and she promises to be a disaster.
Forget for a moment how much better the nomination could have been. How much this could have been a transformational moment in politics, changing the entire judiciary for years to come.
Miers is proving herself to be unqualified. From the needing of "crash courses" to prepare for her hearings to the almost daily revelation, we are seeing a nomination that never should have been made, and one undeserving of the traditional deference the president's nominee should enjoy.
The nomination should be withdrawn. Failing that, the US Senate should vote her down.
So now I find myself in the unenviable position of writing a letter to Senator Feingold (D-WI) and Senator Kohl (D-$$) asking them to oppose the nomination. How does one write such a letter? Would it read like something in Penthouse magazine? "I never thought I would be writing to you, but then I saw Harriet and I knew I just had to write..."
