All the wrong reasons
So Harriet Meyers withdrew from consideration for the Supreme Court. This is fine with me- I maintain that the person who should serve on the Supreme Court should be the person most qualified for the job. Entry-level positions are the place to put unknowns with little experience, not the highest court in the land where they will shape the political landscape for the next thirty years.
What troubles me is why Meyers stepped down. Reading the BBC article about the subject, Meyers stepped down rather than allow Senators acess to confidential White House documents. This past week Senators have requested acess to papers Meyers wrote while the cheif counsel to the White House in order to better judge her qualifications to the job- a request Bush refused point-blank.Bush praised Meyer's decision to step down (the man will put a game face on anything), saying in essence that it was wrong for Senators to even ask for Meyers' confidential writings.
This same line of thought bothered me about the John Robers hearings. If I am in an interview and the interviewer asks me questions that I refuse to answer, guess if I get the job or not. I understand the need to seperation of powers. But a Supreme Court Justice is in for life. These people need the highest level of scrutiny. I want anyone going for that job to be put through the wringer to ensure that they have the United States' best intrests in heart, not the intrests of some special intrest group. I also believe that open government is essential. Bush doesn't get that and people are getting increasingly fed up with all this secrecy at the White House. If Bush is going to continue to nominate his friends and refuse to let the Senate do their job of protecting America's intrests, then his next nominee is going to have the same tough time getting confirmed.
What troubles me is why Meyers stepped down. Reading the BBC article about the subject, Meyers stepped down rather than allow Senators acess to confidential White House documents. This past week Senators have requested acess to papers Meyers wrote while the cheif counsel to the White House in order to better judge her qualifications to the job- a request Bush refused point-blank.Bush praised Meyer's decision to step down (the man will put a game face on anything), saying in essence that it was wrong for Senators to even ask for Meyers' confidential writings.
This same line of thought bothered me about the John Robers hearings. If I am in an interview and the interviewer asks me questions that I refuse to answer, guess if I get the job or not. I understand the need to seperation of powers. But a Supreme Court Justice is in for life. These people need the highest level of scrutiny. I want anyone going for that job to be put through the wringer to ensure that they have the United States' best intrests in heart, not the intrests of some special intrest group. I also believe that open government is essential. Bush doesn't get that and people are getting increasingly fed up with all this secrecy at the White House. If Bush is going to continue to nominate his friends and refuse to let the Senate do their job of protecting America's intrests, then his next nominee is going to have the same tough time getting confirmed.