So it's not the Cox appointment the Times and Post object to but rather the judgment of the American people in choosing George W. Bush as their president. Given Cox's excellent qualifications for the job, which even the Post acknowledges, it requires an extra dose of overheated rhetoric to set up the filibuster. So, right on cue, the Times dredges up William Lerach - the predatory plaintiffs' securities lawyer who routinely pitches a tent on the courthouse steps so he can rush to file a lawsuit the minute a company's stock declines - who characterized the California congressman as "virulently anti-investor and unrestrained in his desire to gut the securities laws," and who said, "It's hard to think of a worse choice for the SEC."

The Times' and the Post's presidential candidate lost the election last November, and they will have another opportunity to promote another leftist in three years. But in the meantime, it subverts the democratic process for these venerable institutions of the Fourth Estate to throw in their weight to help embittered Democrats overturn the election by preventing Bush from putting his chosen appointments in place to implement the policies on which he ran and won.

Cox is an outstanding choice at a critical juncture in the history of our nation, and the Senate should confirm him with unanimity.