Is That Legal?

The truth is that Miers knew she couldn't pass an oral con law exam, on TV, and without the support of Republicans on the Judiciary Committee. Let's give her credit: this is more than Bush knew.

and poorly written too!

"Repeatedly in the course of the process of confirmation for nominees for other positions, I have steadfastly maintained that the independence of the Executive Branch be preserved and its confidential documents and information not be released to further a confirmation process."

Classic Harriet Miers. Vague, wordy, imprecise, passive voice, overbroad, lack of agreement, six prepositions in one sentence, an overly long and confusing introductory phrase. Do you suppose the next nominee will be vetted for writing ability?

As bad as Miers was (lack of experience, too conservative, too fawning and protective of The Presidency, or maybe just The President), I shudder to think what the next nomination will bring. Gonzalez, as bad as he is, is obviously out. Will Bush cave to the Wingaban?

Neal,

It's been a while since I've diagrammed a sentence but isn't "I ... have maintained [object]" in the active voice? I realize that within the object there are phrases that sound passive. But on an either/or test, wouldn't the correct answer be "this sentence is in the active voice," and the incorrect answer "this sentence is in the passive voice."

And what exactly would you expect the Ms. Miers to say on her withdrawal? "I'm out because I'm too stupid?" I mean, it's one of those situations where absolutely everyone knows the real reason for the situation but we don't say it. Your post on the topic is somewhat akin to me commenting here that "the sky is blue".

Oh, let's take her at her word. (no, obviously, but just for fun)

Now we can subpoena her to find out what was so damned sensitive about the advice she was giving. If it wasn't national security related, then it's probably scandal defense; perhaps she knows the truth about Bush's National Guard record, or crony appointments. And, since she was in bad standing in the DC Bar, she probably wasn't bound by attorney-client privilege for some of the time she worked in the White House....

Grammarian:

To my understanding, the phrase "that the independence of the Executive Branch be preserved and its confidential documents and information not be released" is in the passive voice. Who should preserve the independence of the Executive Branch? Who should not release confidential documents and information?

poor grammarian,

I think Neal was referring to "be preserved" and "not be released."

Miers could have written, "Repeatedly in the course of the process of confirmation for nominees for other positions, I have steadfastly advised the president to preserve the independence of the Executive Branch and not to release confidential documents and information to further a confirmation process."

James,

There are a lot alternatives besides the unvarnished truth and a total lie. Miers could have talked about some of the problems facing the country -- war, terrorism, hurricanes, etc. -- and explained that she was withdrawing in order to prevent the president and congress from wasting too much time on a contentious nomination. That's just one of many ways she could avoided stating the real reason ("Nobody likes me!") without out-and-out lying.

There was really no reason for her to bring up executive privilege in this context except perhaps to lay the groundwork for an upcoming fight. There must be other potential nominees with records that could perhaps be hidden behind a wall of "executive privilege." Any bets on whether one of them will be Bush's next pick?

The whole passage Neal quotes is the direct object of the sentence. The sujbect is "I" and the predicate is "have maintained" and the other stuff is the object. It's an active sentence. Passive would be: "The independence of the E.B. [and so on] is something that has been maintained by me."

This gripping drama would have worked well as an exit strategy if Krauthammer had not written the script and others had not given away the plot.

Act II: Exeunt Rove and Libby.

etb39:
The sentence I quoted is an active-voice sentence in which certain verbs are used in the passive voice by Harriet Miers. Even if a person puts the independent verb in the main clause of a sentence in the active voice, other verbs can be put in the passive voice by that person.