Richard Brookhiser is perturbed:

If the Supreme Court has been behaving like a super legislature, then it is time for the court to take in sail. Congress could perhaps make it do so, by limiting its purview, but it won’t. That means Presidents have to appoint justices of modest inclination. That doesn’t mean justices of modest ability. In a better world, Harriet Miers’ appointment shouldn’t matter. Justice Miers wouldn’t bring that world about.

Read the whole thing, which includes references to Bushrod Washington (GW’s nephew) and Brockholst Livingston, who packed a pistol to lethal effect (apparently).