The Elitism of Achievement vs. the Elitism of Association

The thing that really disturbs me about the Miers nomination is the willful embrace of know-nothing populism by her defenders like Hugh Hewitt. In calling her detractors "elitist," they conflate the "elitism" of achievement, which is good, with the really negative connotation of the term, which refers to the -elitism- of association, cf. "noble" birth, nepotism, cronyism, etc.

It is the Miers defenders who are the real "elitists" in the second negative sense that they falsly impute to their opponents, since they contend that Bush by virtue of his position has the right to uncritically appoint anyone he associates with to any post he wants without criticism.