本月初，美国总统布什提名白宫女法律顾问哈里特·迈尔斯出任联邦最高法院大法官。就在国会和民众对布什颇多微词且抗议者接连群集在最高法院门外的情况下，一批由迈尔斯写给布什的私人信件又被曝光，信中内容表明了二人的不寻常关系。

    据《卫报》10月12日报道，这批信件是迈尔斯于上个世纪90年代末写给布什的。当时的布什为得克萨斯州州长，而迈尔斯为其私人律师兼得州彩票委员会主席。迈尔斯在一封信中写道：“您是迄今为止最应受到尊敬的州长。我所听到的一切都是大家称赞您和夫人所作出的成绩。得州人民祝福你们。”在提到布什为当地一名普通女孩签名留念时，迈尔斯更是“慷慨”地表达了对布什的崇拜：“您触动了孩子们的生活，您对他们产生的巨大影响让我深感震惊……您真的很‘酷’。”对于这样的赞美，布什热情地回信道：“很感激你的友好和率直。”

    这些信件日前由得州档案馆公开。就在布什对迈尔斯的提名引起民主党议员甚至部分共和党人的激烈反对后，这些信件的公开可谓是给四面楚歌的布什雪上加霜。

    《华盛顿时报》指出，参议院近半数议员对布什提名迈尔斯表示不满。虽然60岁的迈尔斯曾是布什的私人律师、第一个得州律师协会的女主席并最终成为白宫法律顾问，但她并没有担任法官的经历。而最高法院最近面临如堕胎、援助性自杀、死亡赔偿等大量有争议性的法案像迈尔斯这样一个在堕胎、同性恋等法律界争论不休的问题上没有表明过立场的“新人”，显然不是合适的大法官人选。据白宫官员安德鲁·卡德形容，迈尔斯是最受白宫青睐的人员之一。在过去的10年里，她一直与

    布什形影不离。布什曾强调迈尔斯的能力。他说：“当情况变得复杂时，她比劳拉更能帮我。” 也有人曾做过这样的形容：“迈尔斯掌管了总统桌上的每一份文件”，由此可见她与布什的关系。而面对提名迈尔斯遭来的诸多非议，以第一夫人劳拉为首的白宫人员在尽量提高迈尔斯的声望，力挺这位总统钟爱的“女将”。11日，劳拉为迈尔斯争辩道：“我们反对性别歧视。我认为她是如此的优秀，人们忽视了她是第一位被选举出来的得州律师协会女主席等这样的辉煌历史。”

    George Bush's already uphill struggle to put his nominee, Harriet Miers, in the supreme court got harder yesterday with the publication of personal correspondence that added weight to charges of cronyism. Notes that Ms Miers sent to Mr Bush in the late 1990s, when he was Texas governor and she was his personal lawyer and the head of the state lottery commission, range from deferential to fawning.

    In a typical example, she wrote: "You are the best governor ever - deserving of great respect. All I hear is how great you and Laura are doing. Texas is blessed."

    After an engagement at which Mr Bush signed an autograph for a girl, Ms Miers gushed: "I was struck by the tremendous impact you have on the children whose lives you touch." She said he was "cool".

    "I appreciate your friendship and candour," Mr Bush wrote back.

    The release of the private correspondence by the Texas archives came at the worst time for Mr Bush, as scepticism over Ms Miers spreads in Republican ranks. The Washington Times reported that nearly half the party's senators remained unconvinced about her suitability.

    Many doubters on the right believe she has not shown herself sufficiently committed to evangelical legal causes, such as a ban on abortions and gay marriage. Others are queasy about her lack of experience. Before coming to Washington as the president's staff secretary, and ultimately White House chief counsel, she was a corporate lawyer but never served as a judge.

    The White House is trying to shore up Ms Miers' credibility. Yesterday Laura Bush argued that sexism could be behind some resistance. "I think she is so accomplished, and I think people are not looking at her accomplishments and not realising that she was the first elected woman to be the head of the Texas Bar Association, for instance," the first lady said.

    In the same interview, Mr Bush defended her lack of experience. "I made a decision to put somebody on the court who hadn't been a part of what they call the judicial monastery," he said.