In Harriet's defense.

There was something hideous about much of the criticism leveled at Harriet Miers. Her competence to be a judge was, to be sure, a legitimate target. But the concerns expressed about her hair, clothes, and makeup by The Washington Post's Robin Givhan were embarrassingly absurd. Even worse was the failure to fred out what kind of human being she is, because we do want our judges to be good people. But this was an issue that only the Post's Dale Russakoff and Marcia Davis attempted to explore. And what they found was a very good woman indeed--the kind of conservative Christian who not only talks the talk, but also walks the walk, performing laudable deeds of private charity.

Her concern for troubled clients is legendary in Dallas. Consider the case of one pro bono client, a nurse's aide named Caroline Ware. When Ware was wrongly arrested, "Miers came to a Dallas jail in the middle of the night to bail her out and get the charge dropped" Miers then paid $700 of her own money to keep Ware and her children from being evicted. When Ware was hospitalized, Miers hired a registered nurse. She also brought clothes and coats for the children at Christmas. I like that a lot.