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re: Nonetheless, some have criticized the president because he did not select an Ivy-League-credentialed)))

I am tired of this bogus reverse-snobbery used to brush away the disappointment conservatives feel over this appt. Maybe Miers will work out just great. Maybe she's the Common Sense judge I'm hoping for.

But I don't see, after all our faith and work...why do we have to "hope for the best"--

re: Nonetheless, some have criticized the president because he did not select an Ivy-League-credentialed)))

Some people don't go to ivy league or top 10 law schools because they simply can't afford it.

The truth is that the education you get at a top law school is that much better than what you get at a lesser school. Law schools really are considered more evaluative than educational by Firms. If you see someone got into Yale, that confirms to you they have brainpower and ability. Sort of the stamp of approval. The value is the name and screening process to get into the school -- not the education you get once inside.

If someone chooses to apply to a "lesser" school, that does not mean that they lack the qualifications to go to a top school. Miers went to a Texas school. Perhaps she wanted to be close to her family, or a boyfriend, or it was simply cheaper. That's the way it works sometimes in the real world.

Maybe this will help? Just keep repeating to yourself "I trust George W., I trust George W." After a few hours, your mind gets so numb, Harriet Miers looks so much better than Samuel Alito, Edith Jones, Priscilla Owens. After all, he knows and trust her, that should be enough. And she looks like she exercises, too. The one bright side to the last observation is that it means Ted Kennedy is probably disqualified from being appointed if Justice Stevens retires. He does fit the main qualifiers however: he isn't on record expressing conservative judicial opinions and he's watched a movie with the President.

As for Cornyn's article, it sounds very similar to the statement of Senator Roman Hruska in defense of Nixon nominee G. Harold Carswell who had a similar glaring lack of qualification for the Court: "Even if he is mediocre there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a little chance? We can't have all Brandeises, Cardozos, and Frankfurters, and stuff like that there."