President Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court last week sparked a firestorm of criticism.

Did he find a qualified nominee in the woman he has referred to as a "pit bull in size-6 shoes"?

There is no doubt that Harriet Miers is a more than competent attorney. Perhaps she will make a great, Constitution-respecting associate justice on this nation's highest court.

But perhaps not. The very fact that Miers was a lawyer also prevents almost anything from being known about her (because of attorney-client privilege). [Read article]

President Bush and his new Supreme Court nominee, Harriet Miers, have extended the conservative rhetoric beyond the usual denunciation of activist judges and legislating from the bench.

Last week, Bush straightforwardly admitted that as a judge, Miers will "strictly apply the law and the Constitution;" in other words, that she is a strict constructionist. Miers, in her acceptance speech, said, "It is the responsibility of every generation to be true to the Founders' vision of the proper role of courts in our society." [Read article]

Defying conventional wisdom, Harriet Miers, a longtime friend of President Bush, has secured the nomination for Supreme Court justice to replace Sandra Day O'Connor. Yet, she has done this with waning support and zero experience.

This "pit bull in size-6 shoes," as Bush fondly calls Miers, epitomizes the impact of cronyism in the modern political process. Unlike its more positive counterpart, patronage, cronyism refers to politicians who appoint long-standing friends to high-level public positions with complete disregard for their qualifications. [Read article]

Wildcat wrong to caricature hate crimes in CatPoll

Students should take pride in their school newspaper, but Wednesday I was downright ashamed of the Arizona Daily Wildcat's CatPoll. How is it that a university newspaper can take something as serious as hate crimes and portray them as frivolous occurrences? Students had the option of choosing statements like "Naw, I'm just too liked to be hated on," and "Of course, I'm being hated right now." Being "hated on" and knowing others may not like you is nothing compared to real hate crimes, like the dragging of James Byrd and the killing of homosexual Matthew Sheppard. [Read article]