President Bush has nominated Samuel Alito to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court. Alito, whose radical right credentials are impeccable, promises to stir both sides into a vigorous debate.
Last week couldn't have gone much worse for the Bush White House: News came that the 2,000th American had died in Iraq, sparking vigils nationwide. Harriet Miers, feeling the heat from the radical right, withdrew her nomination to replace O'Connor. Scooter Libby was indicted, resigning amidst a growing scandal.
All in all, perhaps the worst week in Bush's sub-par presidency. His administration's key foreign policy initiative is under scrutiny. His administration's key nomination is dead. His administration's key officials are in hot water. Democrats hovered over the carnage, even as Republicans felt the heat.
You knew this was coming.
When I wrote last week that Bush's next nomination would
speak volumes about the current state of the administration - strong and calculating or weak and cowering - I made the mistake of offering an either/or choice:
Nominate an extremist and, all of a sudden, those Republicans criticizing Bush would be back on his side at perhaps the most important time in his tenure. Nominate an insider like Alberto Gonzales and we'll know for sure that not only does Bush not care about the base that helped elect him, but also that he's loyal to a fault and, when backed in a corner, will retreat further into his inner circle.
As today's news has proven, I should have realized that Bush would very likely operate from a weakened, calculating state. To be sure, the administration was on the ropes. But instead of surrounding itself further with its most trusted cronies, it reached out to the only group capable of pulling the party together - the extreme radical right. Already
in a froth over the fact that Bush had nominated Miers instead of the firebreathing ideologue they wanted, the religious right will surely fall back in line behind Dear Leader. That Bush has caved to this radical minority is no longer up for debate.
You knew this was coming.
If Alito has the credentials the right seems to think he has, that fact clearly points to the Miers-as-judicial-head-fake theory. Because, if he was so qualified, why was he overlooked for an obviously unqualified crony pick like Miers? Perhaps Bush and his handlers figured it would take all the Democrats had to turn back Miers, that the left would have had to filibuster the pick, leaving themselves spent this time around. That way, they wouldn't have the political capital to fight an extremist pick. Wrong
The right's indignation over Miers will prove that to be a gross miscalculation, a sign that the president's brain trust is on a feeding tube. Nobody on the left had a direct hand in blocking Miers, perhaps other than Sen. Harry Reid offering the tacit support that surely infuriated many conservatives. But no, the Democrats' powder remains dry and, knowing that Alito's philosophies lie far outside the American mainstream, appear poised for the mother of all Supreme Court nomination battles.
You knew this was coming.
It's also clear that this administration has lost every last shred of its credibility and respectability. So much for nominating a woman to replace a pioneer like O'Connor. Sorry, guys, but failied nominations don't count just the same as moral victories are still losses. So much for not having a judicial litmus test. Sorry, guys, but you do - Miers failed it; Alito passed it with flying colors. And so much for decrying judicial activists. Sorry guys, but when it comes to selecting judges who legislate from the bench, Republicans are the unquestioned leader. Don't even get me started if the right calls for an up-or-down vote on Alito. Why didn't they allow one for Miers?
And isn't it truly sick that the White House is trying to position a nominee who would allow race-based discrimination as someone friendly to minorities? This morning, the Associated Press reported, Sen. Bill Frist was to meet Alito and usher him through the Capitol to the Rotunda, where the nominee was to pay homage to civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, whose body is lying in state there. Truly shameful, indeed.
But you knew this was coming.
