I'm still open to counter-evidence concerning Miers. The tidbits she wrote while heading the Texas Bar are unimpressive, but newsletter material of that sort is almost always fluffy. I'd like to see more of her writing. I read her deposition while she served on the Dallas City Council and didn't see any creeping liberalism there, but I'll intently watch the judiciary committee hearings.

 Her pro-life record is good, and in 1989 (when running for the city council), she said she favored a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. But no pre-appointment record guarantees Supreme Court votes -- and conservatives are making the same mistake as liberals if our primary question about a justice is, will she vote our way?

 I've asked anyone with negative impressions of her to come forward and either speak on the record or provide evidence to substantiate concerns. The magazine I edit, World, is stricter on that accord than some other publications are. For example, we tell our reporters not to give interviewees off-the-record status merely because they ask for it and proffer gossip. So far, we have received no negatives admissible in the magazine's pages.

 Let's reason together about this nomination, instead of calling each other names. It's not surprising to see bitterness emerge, since great expectations concerning Anthony Kennedy and David Souter quickly were dashed. But let's hope that conservatives will come out of the trenches by Thanksgiving and be thankful that we have Republican nominees to discuss. The alternative is the beginning of a long war among GOP factions that will decimate all of them and give Democrats the nomination power.