The blogosophere has been predictably ablaze since President Bush announced his nominee to replace the retiring Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. That nominee is Harriet Miers.
Strangely enough, the fire and brimstone hasn't been coming from the Center-Left camp. The Democratic netroots -by and large- seem to be eyeing Bush's pick ever so cautiously, definitely not joyously, but with what I would term 'healthy skepticism.'
Senators Reid and Schumer have already voiced support for Miers, understanding that she is far more favorable than some of the other names that had been bandied about. Our own magninmous patron, Markos Moulitsas has offered his qualified support for Miers as well.
With the Democratic leadership and netroots offering tacit/full support or merely watching closely without giving the appearance of dismay, it's our good friends on the other side of the aisle, those of the faith-based community that are squirming like a nightcrawler on a fishing line. They've even gone so far as to proclaim Bush "the real stealth candidate" and a "moderate," both of which require an awful lot of faith, but these folks have it. Or, at least they
had it.
Until now.
Harriet Miers is the textbook example of a stealth candidate; she has zero judicial experience--no paper trail whatsoever. I was upset that Roberts had only two years on the bench, but Bush has once again taken the cake. However, this time it won't be the Left telling him that he can't eat it too. It's the Wingnuts on the far-Right who stood with BushCo though thick and through thin who are most upset.
The uber conservative Republican base that blindly devoted itself to an illegal war in Iraq based upon lies but sought the impeachment of the extremely popular President Clinton for a blowjob and then ultimately shrugged when the White House finally admitted that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, mumbling something about 9-11 and the end of history/honesty.
This is the same base who watched Bush throw fiscal conservatism out the window as their beloved president squandered the Clinton surplus, ran up deficits that will never be matched in real dollars and ultimately found a way to outspend Lyndon Baines Johnson, the epitome of the tax and spend Liberal bogeyman whose Great Society actually addressed REAL problems facing the poor.
The rabid base that groaned but took it on the chin when instead of proposing the abolishment of the Department of Education, decided to expand the federal government's influence on schools with the No Child Left Behind Act which has failed miserably by any and all degrees.
This is the frothing and fearful base who laughed at the ACLU's protestations as the PATRIOT ACT was passed just as they laughed at the photos of the detainees in Abu Ghraib and giggled pondering the possibilites at Gitmo.
The very base that viewed their bumbling leader fumble the entire city of New Orleans, Louisiana out of his hands during the two minute warning as Katrina took home the cup and filled it with neary-toxic waste.
This is the base that now sees itself betrayed.
Sure the Democratic base and politicians note that Miers only got where she is because of cronyism, but few have yet as to my knowledge put it as blisteringly as former Bush speechwriter David Frum:
She rose to her present position by her absolute devotion to George Bush. I mentioned last week that she told me that the president was the most brilliant man she had ever met. To flatter on such a scale a person must either be an unscrupulous dissembler, which Miers most certainly is not, or a natural follower. And natural followers do not belong on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Frum is not alone. As mentioned, the right-wing blogosphere has almost solidly come out against Miers, expressing noted feelings of betrayal except for the predictably fellatial BlogsForBush.com who have urged patience and trust in their Great Leader and all that he does.
Another key gripe with Miers is that she donated to the Gore-Bentsen campaign of '88 and the Democratic National Committee. However this was '88 and both Senators were conservative with Al Gore at that time holding a pro-life stance. Still, those donations will undoubtedly plague the hard-right for some time to come.
They were expecting a Janice Rogers Brown or Priscilla Owen, the female equivalent of Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia. Instead they got another stealth candidate, who while being a loyal Bushwoman (infact his personal lawyer), is still not the kind of stalwart-absolutely-committed-to-destroying-the-federal-government-and-taking-over-the-world-in-the-
name-of-God-
and-capitalism-soldadera they had hoped for, indeed, that they felt they were owed by Bush. Instead they got a possible Souter or Kennedy or O'Connor.
To be on the Left this past week or so has been pretty fun. Frist was implicated in the kind of shit that sent Martha Stewart to jail. DeLay was indicted and lost his leadership position. It was revealed that Fitzgerald may be gunning higher than Libby and Rove. Rooney layed it down straight on Iraq. And now, it seems that the GOP just might tear itself to pieces.
Bush is no stealth candidate or moderate. He's an arch-conservative true-believer with a propensity for the ultimately destructive politics of cynicism cum colossal bungler. Miers is probably the best anyone on the Left could have hoped for from Bush. Miers is probably the best anyone on the Left could have hoped for from an administration that has exhibited such an unprecedented amount of hubris toward law, morality, intelligence, honesty and compromise. Indeed the cronyism inherent in the nomination of the unqualified Miers herself to the role of justice on the SCOTUS is proof-positive of Bush's never-ending supply of hubris toward institutions of justice, his disdain for the sanctity of our Constitution, but she's the best we can expect from this administration. And, she just might bring the whole house of cards down in flames.
Let's take Markos' advice: sit back and watch, but vigilantly.
