Fire on Miers

From today's American Progress Report:

SUPREME COURT -- JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ASKS MIERS TO RESUBMIT 'INADEQUATE, INSULTING' QUESTIONNAIRE
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), and ranking minority member Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), sent a return letter to Harriet Miers yesterday asking that she resubmit parts of her judicial questionnaire -- the first time many senators and aides could recall the committee sending a questionnaire back to a nominee. Various members found her answers to the first questionnaire to be "inadequate," "insufficient" and "insulting." As one example of Miers's questionable answers, she referred to the "proportional representation requirement of the Equal Protection Clause" as it relates to the Voting Rights Act. "There is no proportional representation requirement in the Equal Protection Clause," said Cass Sunstein, a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago. Leahy remarked, "If the questions are not answered or their answer is incomplete, as they have been, then it's going to be a long hearing indeed." The most recent setback led Specter to opine, "There's been more controversy before this nominee has uttered a formal word than I have ever heard."

Jesus. I've seen some bad job applications before, but holy cow - this goes well beyond a few typos or an impersonal cover letter! I sincerely hope, in my heart of hearts, that Bush tries to see that this locomotive is on fire. It'll be fun as hell to see it go off the rails.