Miers: true believer, or Bush puppet? Thomas Oliphant

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Miers: true believer, or Bush puppet?
By Thomas Oliphant, Globe Columnist | October 6, 2005

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/10/06/miers_true_believer_or_bush_puppet/

The question progressive senators should want to pursue once Miers appears before the Judiciary Committee is not how a man and a dog can play with horseshoes but whether Bush's counsel is capable of the independence that is a basic qualification for a justice. The conservative dismay over the appointment reflects more than simple snobbery and goes to the fact that she has left no footprints indicating a formed judicial mind, much less a formed movement conservative judicial mind.

The progressive skepticism about her reflects more than a suspicion of cronyism; it involves the extraordinary degree of her identity with the president.


At confirmation, it will be interesting to see how Miers explains her boss's legalisms and whether she agreed, as it will be interesting to discover how closely she echoes Bush arguments on a host of issues she has dealt with.

Many conservatives are upset because they want a true believer on the court. Just as important will be the extent, if any, to which Harriet Miers is an independent person capable of independent thought on the Supreme Court.