Supreme Court Nominee

I haven't had time to write about the President's most recent nominee to the Supreme Court, Harriet Miers. I won't take too much time here, other than to admit to being disappointed. There are a number of pundits who have written quite extensively on the nomination. In general, conservatives are upset because noone knows who she is or what she stands for, and they can't understand why the President would select an unknown commodity (to almost everyone except the President, anyways), particularly considering the disaster that is David Souter, which was inflicted upon the nation by Bush the Elder. Liberals aren't creating too much commotion, apparently satisfied that the conservatives are doing all the howling.

A whole host of extremely qualified candidates were available that would have made excellent choices. Ms. Miers was not the best choice, by a longshot. This is especially disheartening because it will likely be the last opportunity for the President to influence the court's direction. But, it appears that the President did not have the stomach for a fight with Senate Democrats. The nomination has dispirited many conservatives who were ready to rally for a fight. President Bush missed an opportunity here. But, who knows. Maybe Ms. Mier's will turn out to be an excellent appointment (assuming she's confirmed). Here is a sampling of conservative opposition to the nomination compiled by Glenn Reynolds.

At the moment, the strongest criticism is coming from the right. Over at The Corner, Ramesh Ponnuru writes:

It's an inspiring testament to the diversity of the president's cronies. Wearing heels is not an impediment to being a presidential crony in this administration! I can only assume that the president felt that his support was slipping in this important bloc, and he had to do something to shore it up.

And Rich Lowry observes:

After the Roberts pick conservatives swooned and said Bush doesn't care about "diversity"; it's only high qualifications that matter to this bold, let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may leader, etc., etc. Don't we have to take all that back now?

John Hawkins at RightWingNews, meanwhile, is even more unhappy:

Miers is a Bush crony with no real conservative credentials, who leapfrogged legions of more deserving judges just because she was Bush's pal. She used to be Bush's staff secretary for God's sake and now she's going to the Supreme Court while people like Michael Luttig, Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown & Emilio Garza are being left on the sidelines. To merely describe Miers as a terrible pick is to underestimate her sheer awfulness as a selection.

Also, check out RedState and Confirm Them for other conservative points of view on the nomination.