The Ignorant Investor

There will no doubt be a lot written about Bush's pick to fill Sandra Day O'Conner's slot. Mostly, it will be speculation. People like Harriet Miers don't tend to have a real long paper trail, and their friends and family and business associates know what the drill is when a reporter calls. We'll see a series of quotes on how bright she is, how hard she works, the respect that her colleagues have for her. Basically, the newspaper profiles will pick up as many warts about Miers as the average eulogy does about the deceased at a funeral.

What we do know about Harriet is that 1) she is a former big-firm corporate lawyer in Texas, 2) she is an elderly spinster, and 3) she is a close, long-term flunkie of Bush. In other words, if you wanted someone who represents the average American, this choice left you pretty damn disappointed. But c'mon- who really expected Bush to appoint anyone like that?

It's impossible to know how Harriet will rule when she's on the bench, and I doubt she's a huge radical (simply because those folks usually can't shut up long enough to fall under the radar the way Harriet has). But I'm willing to predict that: 1) she won't have a hard on for gay rights or social issues, and 2) she'll curtail Congress's rights to regulate business and she'll see a whole lot of involiate property rights sitting around every wealthy person's portfolio. Short version: She gets confirmed.

The question on everyone's lips: With an unmarried Harriet Miers sitting next to unmarried David Souter, can romance be far behind?