But at Least We Know Where She Stands on Evolution

By Conrad Spencer

In defending Harriet Miers to the right wing of the right wing, President Bush said, "I know her well enough to be able to say that she's not going to change, that 20 years from now she'll be the same person with the same philosophy that she is today."

Forget, for a moment, that change is inevitable and that this is an absurd statement. What does it say about our expectations for our leaders that a static philosophy and a reluctance to change are considered virtuous?

Willingness to change, grow, and evolve should be considered the sign of an intelligent, curious and thoughtful person. Instead, it's become a mark of imperfection and weakness. The President means to say that his Supreme Court nominee will not be one of those damned flip-floppers and will not disappoint the radical fringe of his base. He's also, perhaps unintentionally, told us Ms. Miers will stubbornly refuse to change her preconceptions despite whatever new facts or circumstances are presented. She apparently has nothing left to learn.

This is not a new stance for the administration, which generally refuses to admit mistakes (the Katrina response being the exception) and continually tells us to "stay the course," regardless of the IEDs strewn along the way.

In the Bush lexicon, evolution is sinful, change means weakness, but to be born again ... that's something else entirely.