The Opinionated Bastard

Count me in on supporting her.

Basically, it comes down to this: Two many queens on the court and not enough worker bees. I remember reading Volokh venting on some Supreme Court decision that the Court desperately needed an actual practicing lawyer on the bench, because they were writing decisions that were unintelligible. Ginsberg and others sitting on the court have said the same.

Hence, Meirs.

Cheney confirms it:

...we think it was important as well to have somebody like Harriet who's got a strong legal background, but who doesn't come off the bench.

I think that Volokh agrees:

During that era and before -- though not as much since the Stevens appointment in 1975 -- Justices were often drawn from among practicing lawyers who had made their reputations as lawyers; and, as lawyers, they were more often likely to have developed relationships with the President who appointed them, or at least the President's team. Chief Justice Roberts in some measure fits that profile as well, though of course he was an inside-the-Beltway lawyer as opposed to Miers, Powell, O'Connor, and to a smaller extent White, who built their careers in their own states. They were not academics or judges; but the current heavy loading of ex-academics and ex-judges is a relatively modern phenomenon, not a settled long-term tradition.

Volokh goes on to say:

My point is simply that when one is looking at Miers' career and credentials, it may be helpful to avoid comparing her to the current crop of Justices -- the natural tendency whenever one is considering a new nominee -- but rather to nominees who come from a different, but just as historically well established, mold.

So to all the people on the left and right who are whining, give it a rest. Harriet Meirs is obviously capable of doing some heavy lifting, and that's why she got nominated. The President isn't trying to establish a judicial legacy, he's trying to fix something that is broken in the court; namely that the justices have been a little too far removed from reality.

I think both the left and the right should be happy with that. Certainly things like Kelo and other decisions were absolute disasters.