Bruce Fein, with whom I rarely agree, recently said, “The tipping point in Washington is when you go from being a subject of caricature to the subject of laughter. [Harriet Miers is] in danger of becoming the subject of laughter.” Not only do I think this is true, I’m also wondering how much more it will take for her supporters to start laughing too.
If her fawning official correspondence to Bush didn’t do it, and the equally sycophantic speeches about Bush weren’t enough, how about her difficulty maintaining a law license in the District of Columbia where she was the White House counsel?
Miers … disclosed that she was briefly suspended by the District of Columbia Bar recently for not paying her annual dues.
Miers said she neglected to pay her dues, and “as a result my ability to practice law in D.C. had been suspended.”
Cynthia Kuhn, a spokeswoman for the D.C. bar, said Miers was nearly four months late in paying her 2004-05 dues to maintain her membership, which is required of all lawyers who practice in the District. Kuhn said that the $165 fee was due July 1, 2004, and that Miers was sent three bills and reminders before her membership was suspended on Sept. 30. Nearly a month after a suspension notice was sent, Miers mailed a check for her dues, a late fee and a reinstatement fee that the organization processed on Oct. 27.
Remember, this is a Supreme Court nominee who, the White House claims, is known for her attention to detail.
Not only did Miers ignore repeated warnings before having her license revoked, on her official response to the Senate questionnaire where this incident was acknowledged, Miers wrote that she was notified about her delinquent dues “earlier this year.” It actually happened in 2004.
Come to think of it, whether Miers is becoming the subject of laughter or the subject of misery may still be open for debate.
Post Script: As a side note, I wanted to add that practicing law without a license is, in the eyes of the White House, apparently a good thing. Earlier this year, Bush nominated (and the Senate confirmed) Thomas Griffith to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit — despite the fact that Griffith practiced law without a license in Utah for nearly five years, lost his D.C. law license, and passed up 10 opportunities to take the Utah bar exam.
When it comes to qualifications for the nation’s highest judicial seats, the Bush gang’s standards are almost comical.