The Borking of Harriet Miers

Harriet Miers has been borked!*

Just weeks ago when President Bush thrust judicial virgin Harriet Miers into the political grinder as his nominee to the Supreme Court, he seemed cocksure that he had made the right decision. But yesterday, he withdrew her nomination amidst withering criticism from intellectual snobs and Christian fundamentalists (in his own Party) whose passion for judicial jihad and craving for the nuclear option Miers could not satisfy.

Let the record show, however, that it was the President who suffered performance anxiety; not his ingenuous nominee who seemed perfectly willing to go all the way. Because the fact of the matter is that Bush simply could not get pumped-up to fight for the Miers nomination – with a critical mass of backbiting Republicans protesting about how Miers did not excite them intellectually and did not offer them adequate assurances that she would tow the Party line once confirmed to the Court (by joining other conservatives in overturning a woman’s right to an abortion, for example). And, his and Miers’ claim that the nomination was withdrawn to protect attorney (she) client (he) privilege over papers requested by the Senate Judiciary committee is patent rubbish.

But just as President Clinton’s failure to support his nomination of Lani Guinier (to head the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department) remains a stain on his presidential legacy; Bush’s failure to support his nomination of Miers will become a stain on his legacy as well. Next up: Janice Rogers Brown or Pricilla Owen…

Note: In the Wag the Dog article I published on Tuesday (see below), I wrote that Bush was having an annus horribilis. Well, he may no longer be mired in this nomination mess but he’s still in judicial peril as criminal indictments against key aides are imminent.

* The New York Times defines being “borked” as having a judicial nomination defeated by a concerted attack on the nominee’s character and background – having no regard for her fitness to serve.

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