November 30, 2005
Slower, Please
Michael Leeden has an excellent piece on the Bush Administration’s strange drift into appeasement. The Harriet Miers debacle was not a one-off, but a part of a larger trend.
Posted by Richard Miniter at 01:00 PM
November 18, 2005
Inside Bush’s NSC
Okay, it is the usually snarky Washington Post piece on a Bush appointee. But the man in question, Michael Doron, runs the Middle East section of the National Security Council, so this entertaining diversion is also worth a read. Note that Doron, an Irish Catholic whose parents did not go to college, is described as a "neo-con." Whatever.
Posted by Richard Miniter at 09:00 AM
October 06, 2005
For A Laugh
Here is a light piece I wrote for National Review, which is on its web site today. For those of you who have asked, yes, I sometimes write about things other than terrorism—when I think I have something original to contribute.
Posted by Richard Miniter at 12:37 PM
October 04, 2005
Most Qualified?
So who knew that the former Texas Lottery commisioner was one with the winning number for the U.S. Supreme Court?
The Left is crying cronyism and it hard to say that they are wrong. Bush could have thrown darts at the D.C. Yellow Pages and found a more qualified woman attorney. In fact, woman lawyers should feel insulted; does the president honestly think the Miers is the most qualified American woman with a law degree? Just for fun, let's compare Miers' résumé with that of radio talk show host Laura Ingraham.
| Compare | Miers | Ingraham |
|---|---|---|
| Sources and methods: | For items, not listed on Laura Ingraham's bio, I consulted her producer, Lee Habeeb.For items not listed on Miers's bio, I phoned the White House and relied on wire reports. | |
| Undergraduate college | Southern Methodist University | Dartmouth College |
| Campus conservative? | No | Yes, Dartmouth Review editor |
| Law school | Southern Methodist University | University of Virgina Law School |
| Federalist Society Member? | No | Yes |
| Law review? | No | Yes, Notes Editor |
| Clerked for federal judge? | Yes, for U.S. District Judge Joe Estes (Dallas) | Yes, Ralph K. Winter, U.S. Court of Appeals (second circuit) |
| Clerked for U.S. Supreme Court? | No | Yes, Clarence Thomas |
| Watched Supreme Court proceedings at least once? | No | Yes |
| Published law review articles? | No | No |
| Age | 60 | 42 (roughly) |
| Attorney at top 20 national law firm? | No, even after a merger between Mier's firm (Locke, Purnell, Rain & Harrell), the new firm known as Locke, Liddell & Sapp was ranked 94th by National Law Journal in 2003 | Yes, Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom (ranked no. 3 by National Law Journal in 2003) |
| White House Experience? | Yes, Deputy Chief of Staff (Bush) (one year). Also, Staff Secretary. |
Yes, Speechwriter (Reagan) (two years). |
| Other government experience? | Texas Lottery Commision (5 years) | U.S. Dept. of Transportation (Reagan) U.S. Dept. of Education (Reagan) |
| Papertrail? | No | Yes, two books, including one bestseller. Many bylined articles in national outlets. |
| First woman president of fill-in-the-blank? | Yes. Who cares? It is a Supreme Court appointment, not a pitch for cover story in Ms. magazine. | |
| Known by millions of Americans? | No | Yes. Laura hosts the fourth most-popular radio show in the nation. |
Posted by Richard Miniter at 09:07 AM