On Harriet Miers

Perhaps the single-best part of being a Democrat these days is that George W. Bush is a Republican. Between Katrina, Iraq, Afghanistan, bin Laden, the economy, jobs, fuel costs, and controversial "fixes" to programs that the public doesn't want, he's made a fine job of opening himself up to criticism.

Some people, mainly from the Right, say that the Democratic Party is not offering any legitimate solutions for people, only criticism of the current administration. I disagree with their argument, but the wisdom is there; if we on the left do not find ways to differentiate ourselves from the Republicans currently in power, and if we don't find a way to actually offer real alternatives, then the electorate at large will lose faith in both parties and won't come out to vote.

Fair enough.

But sometimes alternatives aren't called for. The case of Harriet Meirs is one of those times. She has not made a positive impression on the Senators who would confirm her, and today President Bush denied release of any papers related to his discussions with her (citing attorney-client privelege).

Story here.

It's not so much a bad thing that Bush didn't want to release notes of his discussions with his lawyer; that's fine. Attorney-client privelege must be protected today if Democrats hope to have it protected for their own future presidents.

The problem is that Bush had to make a public announcement that he wasn't going to offer the papers up to Republicans. His party, if he still had any control over it, wouldn't be asking for private papers because they'd have faith that she was the right candidate for the job, simply based on his own ability to lead a vetting process for candidates.

The fact that Republicans are asking for these documents tells everyone that they don't believe right now that she's the best candidate. They should never ask for protected documents otherwise. And now, knowing that they want to know everything they can, means that those Senators on the committee don't believe she's been totally forward with them in terms of answers or other documents they've requested.

Another notch in the President's cane of goofups and failures.