The Oligarchs have ideas for the Judicial Branch

David Frum, Bush’s “axis of evil” ex-speechwriter, didn’t bother to hide his scorn. “In the White House that hero worshipped the President, Miers was distinguished by the intensity of her zeal,” he wrote. “She once told me that the President was the most brilliant man she had ever met." Hendrik Hertzberg, The New Yorker, issue of 10-17-05


The Oligarchs selected GeorgeW as their boy for President. They got him elected once, with a great deal of help from the Supreme Court (who know the proper interests to protect when they see them). He delivered their tax cuts. He found the external bogeyman to blame for terrorism, and declared war (on the flimsiest of pretenses). He found plenty of work for them without bids. He protected their energy incomes by subsidizing their oil and gas works. And they delivered a second election for him by polarizing the nation with patriotic fervor.

Like a good oligarch, he has appointed a good buddy as a Supreme Court Justice. Keep it in the Texas family – but more importantly, keep it within his circle. Trust only those you know. The oligarchic way.

Harriet Miers appears to be a competent attorney. She has experience running a government agency, having pulled the Texas Lottery Commission out of the sewer. She is loyal. She managed the White House's daily briefing process. She is a workaholic. And she thinks GeorgeW is the smartest man she ever met.

But if her resume were in a stack of 1000 attorneys, would it even be in the top 750 for appointment to the highest jurist body in the country?