The Miers Pick

So it seems that Bush has nominated Harriett Miers, the current White House Counsel, to replace Sandra Day O'Connor. Well, it was a pretty huge surprise but it has reaffirmed my belief that Bush has never had any desire whatsoever to overturn Roe or turn the the US into a kind of Christian Iran. Bush could've easily nominated people aside from Roberts and Miers who would've furthered the conservative cause, but he chose not to. Why, you ask? Well, with the nomination of Roberts and Miers, it seems that Bush has decided to stake his political legacy on the War on Terror and what better, in his view, than to put two people on the Supreme Court who are hardcore Bush loyalists and are likely to uphold the Administration's point of view. Also, the main reason she was chossen was because she is a female and therefore Bush can say he's committeed to diversity. Unfortunately, it seems that a curious thing has happened, conservatives are revolting from Bush's pick in en masse, due in no large part to the fact that she has never been a judge, only a medicore corporate lawyer. Interestingly, Bush has said repeatedly that his preferred justice would be Scalia or Thomas, yet he picks an unknown? The "religious right" will not go quietly on this one. David Frum, former speechwriter for Bush, says:

In the White House that hero worshipped the president, Miers was distinguished by the intensity of her zeal: She once told me that the president was the most brilliant man she had ever met. She served Bush well, but she is not the person to lead the court in new directions - or to stand up under the criticism that a conservative justice must expect.

And the odd thing is that Senate Minority Leader for the Democrats, Harry Reid, was quoted as saying that he "likes Hariett Miers." This is pretty surprising because he voted against Roberts' confirmation the other day, someone who's infinitely more qualified to be a Justice than Mrs. Miers.

Also, I want to add that Bush could confirm anyone he wanted. He has 55 guaranteed votes and it's easy enough to get 5 Democrats to support it as well. He could have nominated the most conservative person ever and got them through confirmation. Yet he chooses one of the least qualified people in the legal profession for the job. Wow. I'm watching MSNBC now and the conservative panels are basically in deep despair. They say how they've waited over 20 years for a conservative president to have a SC vacancy and Bush has completely let them down. One guy said that this was the last straw and that he's done supporting the Bush administration. I should also quote something Bush said about her earlier today:

When I came to office as the governor of Texas, the Lottery Commission needed a leader of unquestioned integrity. I chose Harriet because I knew she would earn the confidence of the people of Texas. The Dallas Morning News said that Harriet insisted on a system that was fair and honest. She delivered results.

Whoa! Who knew all it took to be qualified to be a Justice on the United States Supreme Court was to be a fair and honest state Lottery Commissioner. God, this confirmation hearing will be really fun. Especially to watch and see if the Republicans remain loyal or turn on Miers and sink her confirmation themselves.

Ah politics, how I love thee.