OK, Miers is out. Now that we've determined that she's a terrible writer, a sloppy thinker, a sycophant and a bad manager ... Am I the only one that's troubled that she's still White House Counsel? (Is she? I assume so.)
As WH Counsel, her writing is less important but hardly irrelevant; she still has to communicate ideas. And I have precious little reason to think she can handle the issues the thinly-staffed WH Counsel's office faces. Or to think she will appropriately advise the President. And GWB et al need good legal advice these days.
From the point of view of protecting the well-being of the country, I'd almost rather see Miers on the Court and Roberts as WH Counsel than the other way around. On the Supreme Court, Miers' mistakes would be checked by the clerks and the other Justices. Inside the White House, her mistakes might actually matter more, especially if she's giving off-the-cuff advice in conversation without the help of deputies.
My hope is that Miers rarely acts alone; I also suspect that deputies in the WH Counsel's office have considerably more autonomy than Supreme Court clerks. So I'm troubled but not horrified by the knowledge that the WH Counsel's office is a ship without a captain.
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1. Posted by Gordon Smith on October 27, 2005 @ 17:35 | Permalink
So, will she help pick the next nominee? That would be strange.
2. Posted by Vic Fleischer on October 27, 2005 @ 18:15 | Permalink
Rumor has it the next one has already been picked, announcement to come tomorrow or Monday -- they probably had someone in mind a week ago, but had to plan out and play out the documents excuse.
3. Posted by Cathy on October 28, 2005 @ 4:15 | Permalink
It always struck me as a bit of a conflict of interest that Miers accepted the nomination. (And more than a bit if she'd suggested or encouraged it.) How could it be in her client's best interest to cease representing him? I don't mean to suggest that she should forever be indentured to him, but we aren't talking about a winding-down while she prepares to switch firms or something.
Unless, of course, something is going on where it might actually BE a good idea for Bush to have given up his lawyer. The whole mess makes me wonder if that's not the case, and just what might be at the root of it.
4. Posted by Christine on October 28, 2005 @ 9:17 | Permalink
At the Chicago Faculty Blog, Lior Strahilevitz suggests that she will be appointed to fill a vacant spot on the Fifth Circuit.
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