Relativism

Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers' remark that she considers President Bush to be the most brilliant man she's ever met is a reminder that, as President Clinton made clear, even the most basic words can have infinite meanings. It is possible Miers has never met another man, or that she means something special by "met." Or perhaps "brilliant" refers to coloration, as in, all the other men she'd met before were duller or more pasty-looking.

Also worth considering is that she's one of those people who express superlative enthusiasm over everything--each slice of pizza, movie, or museum exhibit is the best, ever.

But what her remark really brings to mind is that everything is relative. For instance (and here I connect this post with the earlier, Proof posts) commenter Dylan complains about Gwyneth Paltrow's "strictly average body" and "thin hair." Well, her ordinary body is pretty much the goal of women these days, and as we all know from the discussion of Japanese hair-straightening, too much hair is not always a good thing. While thick hair and curvaceousness sound appealing in the abstract, not all who possess them are happy about it. Maybe, when Miers sees Bush as brilliant, she's merely pointing out that there are no absolute truths in this world, and "brilliance," like "good hair" or "a good body," is in the eye of the beholder. Sure, that must be it.