Merit

I wish I could stop talking about the Harriet Miers nomination, but I can't. I'm just finding the whole thing way too fascinating. My latest fascination is with the claims that conservatives opposing the nomination are elitist. First, it is a non-sensical claim. I oppose it. I went to a division III school in a city smaller than the student bodies of many colleges. I'm an elitist? But that isn't what I find most interesting about the elitist claim. No, what I find most interesting is the way those making the claim of elitism are sweeping aside a typical conservative value-merit- by making it.

I can't count the number of times I've read some variation of "just because she isn't the most qualified doesn't mean she isn't qualified." What kind of liberal sounding namby-pamby is that? If I go for a job interview, I may be qualified for the job, but if I'm not the most qualified candidate, I'm not going to get the job, folks. Am I to believe that this doesn't apply for Supreme Court justices? And as for the whole schooling issue, that is coincidence to this debate, not a central point. The fact is that Miers has little or no record we can look at to decide if she is among the most qualified for the position. Does she have a nice resume? Yes. Does it give us any idea if she merits a position on the Supreme Court? No. Again, the only evidence we have that she may merit the position is President Bush's word, and too few of us are confident in that when it comes to this issue.