The Miers Cipher: Conservatives Are Right To Be Wary

John Fund asks around and finds that Miers is an enigma wrapped in a riddle shrouded by a mystery.

have changed my mind about Harriet Miers. Last Thursday, I wrote in OpinionJournal's Political Diary that "while skepticism of Ms. Miers is justified, the time is fast approaching when such expressions should be muted until the Senate hearings begin. At that point, Ms. Miers will finally be able to speak for herself."

But that was before I interviewed more than a dozen of her friends and colleagues along with political players in Texas. I came away convinced that questions about Ms. Miers should be raised now--and loudly--because she has spent her entire life avoiding giving a clear picture of herself. "She is unrevealing to the point that it's an obsession," says one of her close colleagues at her law firm.

White House aides who have worked with her for five years report she zealously advocated the president's views, but never gave any hint of her own. Indeed, when the Dallas Morning News once asked Ms. Miers to finish the sentence, "Behind my back, people say . . .," she responded, ". . . they can't figure me out."

Hugh Hewitt argued that opposing Miers would politically injure Bush. Maybe. But even if he winds up politically crippled, this seems too important. The tax cuts can be extended or rescinded at any time. Even if Bush made them "permanent," another Congress and another President could cancel them.

But here we're talking about someone who decide this country's most important cases of constitutional law for 10 or 15 years.

After the war on terrorism, this is the big issue of the Bush Administration, and his legacy. It's too big to gamble on "trusting Bush."

Meanwhile, of course, half of the Senate's Republicans doubt Miers.

posted by Ace at 01:58 PM

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