Don't Jump!

You can climb down off that ledge now, Patrick. Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination for the Supreme Court.

WASHINGTON - Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination to be a Supreme Court justice Thursday in the face of stiff opposition and mounting criticism about her qualifications.

Bush said he reluctantly accepted her decision to withdraw, after weeks of insisting that he did not want her to step down. He blamed her withdrawal on calls in the Senate for the release of internal White House documents that the administration has insisted were protected by executive privilege.

Perhaps that's the case. But the excuse sounds a little canned, a little pre-planned, I think. Strange how she had just re-submitted her answers to a questionnaire from the Senate Judicial Committee (they had forcefully rejected a previous set of answers last week, calling them 'incomplete to insulting').

It will be interesting to find out, ten or so years from now, whether I was right about this nomination or not.

Okay. Bring on the real candidate.

UPDATE: Perhaps the leadership has been listening.

Miers never overcame doubts among conservative opinion makers and within Bush's political base about her powers of intellectual leadership and reliability on such issues as abortion, affirmative action, gay rights and school prayer.

"The reaction to her nomination has been so intense and sustained that the White House couldn't ignore it any longer,'' said Roger Pilon, director of the Center for Constitutional Studies at the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, in an interview before the withdrawal. "Confirmation was doubtful."

Will the Senate GOP be willing to fight for a Janice Rogers Brown now? Hopefully, the president will allow us to see what they are truly made of.

(Thanks to Confirm Them)