If Miers enrages the ultra-right wing, then don't we want HER (instead of a justice who DOESN'T enrage them)?
There's a lot of speculation about Harriet Miers, our next potential Supreme Court justice. While she might appear, at first glance, to be an absolutely horrible pick (partial to dubya, no legal brilliance, questionable philosophy), and while we all watch in bemusement as conservatives try to figure out what to do with this ball (run with it? throw it overboard?), I can't help but wonder...
If not Harriet Miers, then who? My perception is that with her (and the seeming breadth of her positions - from feminism to evangelical christian coexisting within a decade) we might actually have a shot at another moderate justice.
On the other hand, if the right wing has their way - if she steps down or Bush (Rove) withdraws her nomination - then I only shudder at the thought of who we might get. Someone REALLY horrible - and, having just seen one potential justice go down in flames, an ultra-energized right-wing who'll pull no punches in getting their ideologue confirmed. So here's the question:
What's our strategy if Harriet Miers ends up NOT being the one? Who'd like to take a stab at analyzing the post-Miers political landscape for a little strategery guessing? In other words - how do we keep an even worse zealot off the bench?
One final note: One important question that Miers should be asked in her hearings is "How can we be assured that your radical religious beliefs will not influence your ability to rule without prejudice as a Supreme Court justice?"