All kinds of wrong

There is a new Wall Street Journal opinion piece by John Fund that is all kinds of wrong. It's about how Bush screwed up nominating Harriet Miers, and while I can agree with the sentiment, the writing is maddening.

In Mr. Cheney's case, Mr. Bush was lucky. He picked someone who had previously been vetted for secretary of defense, someone who had a 30-year public record and a nationwide reservoir of respect. But mistakes were made. No one anticipated all the questions about Halliburton, the construction company he led as CEO. Columnist Robert Novak reported that no one had even checked Mr. Cheney's House voting record, which included votes against South African sanctions and funding for Head Start. "But in the end, Bush thought the Cheney pick worked out so well the seeds for the Miers decision were sown in that impulsive process," Mr. Novak told me.

Here are the mistakes I found:

1. In Mr. Cheney's case, Mr. Bush was lucky. Umm, how so? He was supposed to bring gravitas to the administration, and so far all he has brought is jokes about undisclosed locations, the baggage of Halliburton, and cardiac infarctions.

2. ... someone who had a 30-year public record and a nationwide reservoir of respect. A nationwide reservoir of respect? He was a nonentity as far as the electorate was concerned.

3. But mistakes were made. All by themselves? No one actively made the mistakes?

4. No one anticipated all the questions about Halliburton... This reminds me way too much of "No one predicted airplanes could be flown into buildings" .. Actually, any sentient being could have predicted the questions about Halliburton. Which unfortunately lets out anyone in the Bush Administration or the corporate media.

5. Columnist Robert Novak reported... Using Novak as a source? In my mind Novak resigned in disgrace long ago. He isn't fit to be mentioned in a family newspaper.