I think it is hard to gage a person by their resume alone. I have watched Dubya closely because I voted for him twice. I have seen who he picks as advisers and spokesmen. He is better informed than I am, and I trust his judgment even though I disagree with his policy at times.
You are exactly right. Ann was way off base about Miers, and so were her 'cronies' and worshippers here on FR, but that's because they must believe at their core that President Bush lacks character and judgement. I don't think there's one bit of evidence to back that feeling up.
When Miers was nominated, I wondered, because so little was known of her (and like Rush I 'wanted the fight'), but at the same time I knew cognitively the history of the President in the judiciary, and I knew from reading and from gut instinct that he was going to do what he promised to do because changing the judiciary was and is a solid conservative core value of his.
Miers withdrew because she wasn't doing well with the Senators, and Alito was always on the short list of nominees, so was picked insantly to replace her. (One of the funniest, airheaded things I read on this forum is that Bush DIDN'T pick Alito, that the talk show hosts and screaming freepers DID......LOL! I'm pretty sure that it was President Bush I saw in those pictures with Alito, and not Sean Hannity or some Ann groupie from FR! :)
But Ann Coulter was elitist and ugly about Miers. On this forum, Miers was attacked personally and in ways that were beneath the dignity of any self-respecting conservative.
I will never regain my respect for Ann because she showed that her vitriol comes from an arrogance and elitism toward good, solid fellow conservatives, and not just empty headed, amoral liberals.
But at the same time, when Alito was sitting in the White House with the President waiting for the vote, HARRIET MIERS was right there with him, smiling and in support.
SHE is a fine woman. SHE is a woman of character and distinction. ANN is an attention grabbing, mouthy elitist, and the Miers incident made me lose all respect for her.
"Elistist" being the operative damning word.
It seemed to be borne from jealousy. Miers opened doors for women like Coulter.