The Mahablog: --excellent overview of Miers commentary--I really

[Gloria]

like this blog in general....
http://www.mahablog.com/index.html

The Mahablog: Truth and the Bush Administration


Monday, october 3, 2005
Another Michael Brown?

Last week I wrote this about the Roberts confirmation:

To be fair, part of the Dems' problem with Roberts is that the television and newspaper political pundits tripped all over themselves praising Roberts and gushing about how supremely qualified he is to be a Supreme Court justice. And this happened because Roberts is a long-time Washington insider, and he and the pundits and the rest of The Powers That Be in Washington all go to the same parties. And he's such a nice guy, etc.

Remember what Peter Daou wrote about the power triangle of blogs, media, and the political establishment? If one side of the triangle caves, the other two don't have much of a chance.

Will Bush find someone equally charmed to be the next nominee? We'll see.

I believe we already have an answer--he didn't. No power triangle of steel will form around Miers the way it did around Roberts. A power triangle of tin, maybe. But it's interesting to me that Bush went with a candidate who is not only remarkably unimpressive but also disses his base. I'm sure he was trying to be politically cautious, but in the long run, this nomination may prove to be a misstep.

Atrios writes,

Wingnuttia is rather angry at the choice. I don't think this is because they're really concerned that she's not conservative enough for their tastes, although that's part of it. They're angry because this was supposed to be their nomination. This was their moment. They didn't just want a stealth victory, they wanted parades and fireworks. They wanted Bush to find the wingnuttiest wingnut on the planet, fully clothed and accessorized in all the latest wingnut fashions, not just to give them their desired Court rulings, but also to publicly validate their influence and power. They didn't just want substantive results, what they wanted even more were symbolic ones. They wanted Bush to extend a giant middle finger to everyone to the left of John Ashcroft. They wanted to watch Democrats howl and scream and then ultimately lose a nasty confirmation battle. They wanted this to be their "WE RUN THE COUNTRY AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT" moment.

Whatever kind of judge she would be, she doesn't provide them with that.


More excerpts from comments from across the spectrum

[Crunchy Frog]

1. I remember Maha.

She used to post on here. I wondered what happened to her. Maybe prefers her own blog to the lunacy over here.