Washington Times
by Nat Hentoff

10/24/05

The rebellion by prominent conservatives against the president's nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court has included charges of 'cronyism' and a now clearly mistaken desire to avoid a blistering confirmation fight in the Senate. Also at issue are not her qualifications as a lawyer but her track record, if any, of constitutional expertise. ... But syndicated columnist George Will, an independent conservative -- in his scathing column, 'Can This Nomination Be Justified?' -- cut to the core of the president's misjudgment: 'He has neither the inclination nor the ability to make sophisticated judgments about competing approaches to construing the Constitution. Few presidents acquire such abilities in the course of their pre-presidential careers, and this president particularly is not disposed to such reflections.' On the basis of the Bush administration's revisions of the Bill of Rights in the Patriot Act ... I think it is fair to say the president is not an engaged student of the Constitution...

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20051023-103413-7733r.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp