Bloomberg Columnists: "Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- What if former President Bill Clinton had nominated his White House counsel, Bernie Nussbaum, to the Supreme Court? I can hear Bill Frist now. What does Slick Willy think he's doing -- filling a job at FEMA?
At first glance, there seems to be no other reason for
Harriet Miers's nomination to the Supreme Court other than that
she is President George W. Bush's Bernie Nussbaum. The notion
that a careerist corporate lawyer would have risen to the top of
Bush's list if she weren't down the hall is preposterous.
Unlike famous self-selector Dick Cheney, no one suspects
the modest Miers looked in the mirror and saw the best
replacement for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor staring back at her.
Only Bush could see the ``heart'' and ``character'' in Miers
that made her the perfect selection. She's been his consigliore,
fixer and confidante for more than two decades, and she thinks
the way he does.
The fact that Miers is a woman helps enormously. It looks
as if Bush listened to wife Laura, who publicly suggested he
should replace a woman with a woman. It's far more likely that
Laura publicly suggested it because he already had decided to do
so. The choice prompts automatic praise from some liberals,
excites Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and
placates Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein."