Update II: No time to celebrate. I agree. And I feel for Miers. If this post comes off as an attack against her, that wasn’t my intent. Bush is either getting bad advice or no advice. He looks a bit haggard in the photo, doesn’t he? Running a country, especially one with free expression and a free press, can’t be easy.
———————————————————————————
Miers is gone.
But I predict George Bush will nominate another unqualified person. Perhaps his tailor. Or his dentist. Or his dog walker.
What did Bush learn? Maybe he learned that the people who put him in office actually expect him to be a conservative with common sense and choose someone qualified to sit on the highest court in the land, and not an unknown-quantity crony. We’ll see.
Other bloggers: SCOTUSblog, Michelle Malkin round-up, Captain Ed, Patterico, Pundit Guy (another round-up), The Buzz Blog, Jason Smith, The American Princess…
Dan Phillips says:
My fear now is that either W will nominate Gonzalez, for whom I have NO enthusiasm, but who is qualified, and pretty clearly NOT in our corner ideologically; OR he will nominate an excellent candidate, and our enemies will use the very weapons we just so thoughtfully handed them to oppose him.
Ugh! Read what I wrote about Alberto Gonzales last year. 
Dan adds: “To make sure I was clear, when I say Gonzales is “qualified,” I mean technically so — i.e. in the ways Miers’ critics complained that she was not.”
Mean Dean says:
It is my hope that Harriet Miers, by nobly putting her Nation and her President above her own personal ambition, would motivate George Bush to take this do-over opportunity to make a bold move to the right - and nominate a great thinker who understands the Constitution and is willing to forgoe the social fads of the day in favor of good law. Even if said nominee isn’t a long time pal of the Bush administration.
Important Update: Would Janice Rogers Brown, who has the proper judicial credentials, suffice? Will Bush dare?
If you’re bored with this topic, check out the Harry Potter post. Book 6 spoiler warning!
A Supreme Victory for All Republicans
Trackback by RightFaith — 10.27.05 @ 10:52 am
BREAKING NEWS
Astute in a political sense, but I think that he had this out for about a week or so….it was projected from several senators on the Committee that they would be asking for these documents, and that was a pretty obvious statement to POTUS. Now, he nee…
Trackback by Drumwaster's Rants — 10.27.05 @ 10:53 am
Miers Withraws
Ever since late last week, I think there was a growing feeling that this was coming…and this morning it did as Miers told the President she wanted to withdraw her nomination. From the story:WASHINGTON - Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination…
Trackback by Conservative Outpost — 10.27.05 @ 10:54 am
HARRIET MIERS WITHDRAWS: RELIEF
What a relief. Sad, pensive, what-a-waste relief. Not happy-joy-joy relief. First Breitbart/AP dispatch 858am EDT: Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination to be a Supreme Court justice Thursday in the face of stiff opposition and mounting criticism about…
Trackback by Michelle Malkin — 10.27.05 @ 10:57 am
Miers is gone.
AP: Miers Withdraws Under Mounting Criticism
Michelle Malkin: HARRIET MIERS WITHDRAWS: RELIEF
Other reactions:
Outside the Beltway
Captain’s Quarters
Red State
Powerline
La Shawn Barber
Now come the calls for Bush to nominate a conservative …
Trackback by The Buzz Blog — 10.27.05 @ 11:10 am
Icy Hot Judgaz Member Withdraws Nomination
Many bloggers and other media types will blather on and on why she finally threw in the towel. I happen to have the answer, the MSM was about to blow the cover off Harriet Miers and her role as a member of the super-secret conservative judicial group…
Trackback by Gop and the City — 10.27.05 @ 11:11 am
Harriet Miers Has Withdrawn Her Nomination
BREAKING: Fox and CNN are reporting that Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination. No online stories yet….
8:57 am EST UPDATE: CNN.com has a newsflash
President Bush “reluctantly” accepts Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers…
Trackback by Myopic Zeal — 10.27.05 @ 11:11 am
I finally caved in. I’m glad he withdrew the nomination. I hope your “maybe” comes true, and we aren’t disappointed. But…is it a big maybe? More than likely.
I hope and pray that “he will nominate an excellent candidate.” Like…hmmm…oh, just anybody who’s not moderate.
I’ll be optimistic, but only for one more nomination.
Comment by Agent Tim — 10.27.05 @ 11:15 am
BREAKING NEWS: Miers Withdraws
So, now, can we all kiss and make up?
AP reports: “Under withering attack from conservatives, President Bush ended his push to put loyalist Harriet Miers on the Supreme Court Thursday and promised a quick replacement. Democrats accused him of b…
Trackback by California Conservative — 10.27.05 @ 11:27 am
Miers Withdraws
Via MSNBC: WASHINGTON - Confronted with criticism from both liberals and conservatives, Harriet Miers on Thursday withdrew her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a statement, President Bush said he “reluctantly accepted” her decision to withdraw,…
Trackback by Blogs for Bush: The White House Of The Blogosphere — 10.27.05 @ 11:27 am
Our SCOTUS prediction: Edith Jones.
Comment by California Conservative — 10.27.05 @ 11:28 am
It “can’t” be Alberto Gonzales because he was the President’s counsel before Miers and is disqualified for the same “reasons” Miers withdrew.
Now, perhaps, if Specter and company want to go back to playing nice with Schumer and friends they could urge Bush to name Cindy Sheehan.
I favor a strong conservative black woman. (Who says politics isn’t a big part of the game?) And I want a hard nosed former Senator like Alan Simpson or Phil Graham or even Zell Miller to be her handler.
I also want Ruth Bader Ginsburg to be the yardstick against which “extreme” is measured.
However, I am prepared to discover that President Bush has nominated reruns of “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.”
Comment by Heliotrope — 10.27.05 @ 11:31 am
Harriet Miers Withdraws
Says it was the documents issue.
Maybe we can all get over this and come together for the next nominee.
In a letter to Bush released by the White House, Miers said she was concerned that the Senate confirmation process “presents a burden for th…
Trackback by Musing Minds — 10.27.05 @ 11:32 am
I still want to see Priscilla Owens or Janice Rogers Brown (Rogers Brown more so I can see the real hate from the left manifest itself against a double minority). I just love a fight sometimes.
Bush blew it. He had his chance to nominate either one of them but he was afraid of a fight and being a “team” player to those losers who have to worry about running next year and in ‘08.
SIGH!!!
Comment by Renee — 10.27.05 @ 11:36 am
Miers Withdraws From SCOTUS Nomination!
Hip-Hip-Hooray!!!
Harriet Miers withdraws her nomination for the Supreme Court!
Thank God, is all I have to say.
Now, Mr. President: nominate the most hard-core conservative you can find!!!
Others breathing a sigh of relief:
Stop The AC
Trackback by Iowa Voice — 10.27.05 @ 11:43 am
Vox Populi
The people have spoken, and they have been heard. Harriet Miers has withdrawn as a nominee to the Supreme Court, and President Bush has accepted her letter of withdrawal.
Trackback by Peace Like A River — 10.27.05 @ 11:52 am
Miers Withdraws!
As predicted Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination this morning. Her nomination was going no where and she was hurting President Bush. For the good of the President, herself and the country she graciously withdrew her name as a Supreme Court Justice….
Trackback by Oblogatory Anecdotes — 10.27.05 @ 11:54 am
Harriet Miers withdraws her nomination
UPDATE I: the wonderful La Shawn Barber is nice enough to link to this post and, in response, gives good reasons to be unenthusiastic about the prospect of an Alberto Gonzales nomination. To make sure I was clear….
Trackback by Biblical Christianity — 10.27.05 @ 12:02 pm
I don’t get how this would weaken the next nominee if the Prez picks a real conservative. The left is going to freak out whoever is picked. So what? The real problem is that maybe a quarter of Republicans are actually conservative (socially or fiscally, take your pick). To a libertarian leaning repub like me the shooting down of the Coburn amendment was the real kick in the guts(the Miers selection was pretty lame to). I completely understand La Shawn’s disillusionment with the Republican party.
If the President is smart he’ll pick a real conservative to rally the base for the upcoming Fitzmas indictments.
Comment by Shtetl G — 10.27.05 @ 12:43 pm
Miers moves on
After weeks of controversy, criticism, and sometimes out and out whining, a giant sigh of relief reverberates throughout DC. Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination to SCOTUS.
Trackback by Severe Writer's Block — 10.27.05 @ 12:44 pm
I can’t help but think of how much we may not know about Harriet Miers. How much we may have missed out on and how much is behind the scenes.
Comment by Mark La Roi — 10.27.05 @ 12:54 pm
I was on the Hill a week ago and heard a lot of rumors about her withdrawal. Heck you didn’t have to be on the Hill for that. What I was surprised to hear in the Halls of Congress is the true sadness this nomination caused between certain conservative folks and the President.
I think the whole situation was sad.
Comment by Randy — 10.27.05 @ 12:57 pm
Perhaps Janet Rogers Brown was really President Bush’ first choice and not Miers but used her as a fallback tactic should it not go through and get the Democrats to waste political ammo. Now, for them to attack on Brown’s nomination would make them, well, racist and hypocrites at the same time. They certainly don’t want to look like THAT!
Hmmmm….
Comment by mcconnell — 10.27.05 @ 1:05 pm
We have one more chance to get it right.
We should make it clear NOW that if President Bush puts forth a qualified, conservative nominee, we will back him 110%. The same blogswarm/blogstorm that derailed the Miers’ nomination can and will carry the day for Judge Brown or Owens or any of the…
Trackback by The Cassandra Page — 10.27.05 @ 1:09 pm
Don’t be so sure Bush won’t pick Gonzalez. First of all, Bush is no conservative, and neither is Gonzalez, so he might pick the AG for no better reason than to “get even” with the conservative base of the party. Unlike Ronald Reagan who observed that if you agreed with him 70% of the time, you were NOT his enemy, with Bush you’re his enemy if you disagree with him on ANYTHING.
Comment by Gary — 10.27.05 @ 1:30 pm
Ya know, there is life outside the beltway people. To some of us west of I-395, it is wrong to tar, feather, and practically boil in oil a candidate before she has had a chance to be heard. Well, now that it is done, I hope Bush picks a candidate so damn conservative that “she’d” make Ruth Ginsberg blush. Let the war begin.
Comment by Dianne Lavenburg — 10.27.05 @ 2:16 pm
Miers Out
BREAKING NEWS
Harriet Miers has pulled her nomination to the Supreme Court.
More news to come.
Trackback by Swap Blog — 10.27.05 @ 2:23 pm
The Next Nominee
I don’t envy the political environment and scrutiny the next nominee to the Supreme Court faces from both sides of the political aisle. Conservatives, however, appear ready to unite and get behind the President, relieved that Harriet Miers has stepped…
Trackback by ProLifeBlogs — 10.27.05 @ 2:34 pm
Miers retires
There really was no choice:
President George W. Bush’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, White House counsel Harriet Miers, abruptly withdrew from consideration on Thursday after fierce criticism from the right and the left about her credenti…
Trackback by Brutally Honest — 10.27.05 @ 2:58 pm
Calamity Averted
La Shawn Barber, for instance, has very low expectations:
But I predict George Bush will nominate another unqualified person. Perhaps his tailor. Or his dentist. Or his dog walker.
I don’t feel that way, but La Shawn may actually be doing h…
Trackback by The Noonz Wire — 10.27.05 @ 3:39 pm
Start Talking About Facial Hair and Meat! Now!
Harriet Miers has withdrawn her name from nomination to the Supreme Court. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the blogosphere can finally get back to talking about things important to us non-Americans. Like mustaches and, er, ham. You can read the re…
Trackback by Sortapundit — 10.27.05 @ 3:45 pm
Janice. Rogers. Brown.
She’s been my favorite since the beginning of all this. La Shawn Barber wonders if Bush will dare to nominate her, predicting he’ll appoint another ho-hum candidate. (Read La Shawn’s great analysis of Brown here.) I disagree. I don’t know…
Trackback by Democracy Project — 10.27.05 @ 4:50 pm
Harriet Miers Withdraws
Second, La Shawn Barber raises the very scary possibility that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales might be the next pick. I’m hopeful, however, that since he also would be asked to reveal internal Whitehouse papers, that he’ll be taken off the list; con…
Trackback by SmartHomeschool — 10.27.05 @ 5:13 pm
Genevieve Wood on Harriet Miers
I just watched my friend Genevieve Wood on Fox News explaining the “radical right†position on Harriet Miers and she pointed something out that I thought was perfect.
Trackback by RandyThomas.info — 10.27.05 @ 6:01 pm
Seacrest out. Now Miers out, too.
I hope conservatives will remember which side they’re on this time. A lot of us ran too many plays from the Liberal playbook on this one.
There are a lot of good, qualified candidates out there. Let’s hope Bush stumbles across one.
Trackback by reverse_vampyr — 10.27.05 @ 6:45 pm
JANICE ROGERS BROWN NOW ELIGIBLE FOR SCOTUS
Mr. President, three words.
Janice. Rogers. Brown.
Put on the brass knuckles. Quit playing patty-cake with these liberals and Democrats.
On behalf of conservative bloggers everywhere:
WE. WANT. TO. FIGHT!!
Trackback by THE CONQUEROR — 10.27.05 @ 7:17 pm
Miers’ withdrawal from nomination is probably…
Harriet Miers, who was a candidate for chief justice in the Supreme Court, has withdrawn from the nomination following severe criticism by the conservative movement.
Trackback by Tel-Chai Nation — 10.27.05 @ 7:35 pm
OPEN POST: Harriet Miers Withdraws Her Nomination
No big surprise there.
Breaking news
I’ll round up the links as they become available - as well as blogger reaction.
Bloggers, drop your link here! This is now an OPEN POST.
Trackback by euphoricreality.net — 10.27.05 @ 7:42 pm
Meirs withdrawal may blow up in Conservatives faces. Let me explain.
If the Democrats had filibustered against Meirs, they would have looked bad and possibly the Republican could have overode a filibuster by changing the rules. They probably would have had the support of the moderate Republicans in the gang of 14. .
Now, if Bush appoints a very conservative Justice in role of Scalia or Thomas, Democrats will Filibuster saying Bush has bowed to the “extreme right wing”. Republicans do not have the votes to stop a filibuster with certainty.
They do have the votes to excercise the “nuclear opiton” but ONLY if 5 of the 7 republican members of the “gang of 14 ” go along. They are the so-called moderate Republicans, and they may not support Bush with a very conservative Justice. So it may turn out that Democrats Filibuster and the Republicans cant stop them in the event of a very conservative Justice.
Bushes advisors will probably tell him to appoint someone “conservative” but not too “conservative”. And Bush will probably do it because after all he is not that conservative anyway.
If Bush appoints someone very conservative we may find out that Republicans dont have the votes to succeed. In other words, we may see that conservative are betrayed not by Democrats but by moderate Republicans in the gang of 14.
But, of course, Bush should appoint someone very conservative. And then we will see that our enemies are not only Democrates, but RHINO (Republican in name only) Republicans too. Which is what I have been saying all along.
Comment by Ted Wegener — 10.27.05 @ 8:15 pm
One Disaster Averted. Another One to Come?
MSNBC.com
I would not expect a true conservative like Scalia or Thomas. Bush is simply not politically conservative enough to do it. I figured this was bad news the instant I heard Schumer liked her.
The Captain notes this is not over yet.
LaSha…
Trackback by HCS's and Gen's Place — 10.27.05 @ 8:22 pm
You might be right, Ted, but what else could we do? Why would Bush nominate someone with no judicial record? It might have helped her get past the Democrats, but for all we knew she could have been a Trojan horse for us. Why should we trust him to do right by his base at this point? I hope it doesn’t backfire. I hope Bush does whatever he can, including a nuclear option if necessary, to get a qualified, conservative jurist to sit on that court before he leaves the White House.
Comment by La Shawn — 10.27.05 @ 8:26 pm
There will never be another Rehnquist, unfortunately.
But, that doesn’t justify ruining someone’s career, and destroying her reputation, just because she doesn’t have a Harvard pedigree.
Comment by Glamchild — 10.27.05 @ 8:59 pm
Supreme Court: Miers Withdraws
Harriet Miers gives up and (almost every) Conservative breathes a sigh of relief. Now we’ll see if Bush understands how dangerous is to go against his own electoral base. In RealClearPolitics’ short-list, Camillo chooses Michael McConnell. We don’t …
Trackback by The Right Nation — 10.27.05 @ 10:21 pm
Who knows? Maybe Mr Bush will nominate another unqualified “friend”, after all he’ll be running for? in ‘06 or ‘08.
On the other hand if he goes for an extreme conservative and things then in turn go nuclear, well I can’t think of anything that appeals more to the American public at large than a government controlled on all levels by one party. And just in time for ‘06.
We can only hope.
Comment by fatima — 10.27.05 @ 10:41 pm
More on Miers
The truly said thing about today and what has happened the last 3 weeks is that the actions of some in the Republican Party have not just hurt their party, it has hurt the country. It has hurt every one of We The People. This has made the judicial appo…
Trackback by The Real Ugly American — 10.27.05 @ 11:01 pm
The truly said thing about today and what has happened the last 3 weeks is that the actions of some in the Republican Party have not just hurt their party, it has hurt the country. It has hurt every one of We The People. This has made the judicial appointment process harder and more partisan and more beholden to ideological litmus tests for every nominee in the foreseeable future.
Comment by The Ugly American — 10.27.05 @ 11:03 pm
Who says that Janice Rogers Brown is even willing?
Would *you* set yourself up for all that BS? Maybe she likes her present job very much thankyou.
The “thing” about Miers is that she was so *shocking*. Do we all remember our initial reactions? I honestly think she likely volunteered to be the fall gal (sorta like Rove volunteers to be the evil master-mind) after Roberts ordeal.
The process of Senatorial drama and extended BS is going to limit our Supreme Court to individuals who are primarily enamoured of power because no one else is going to be willing to put themselves through that when they could stay in the nice home they bought, in their influential job, near family, and retain the flexibility of doing something *else* if they feel like it someday.
Comment by Synova — 10.27.05 @ 11:58 pm
La Shawn
Personally, I was willing to trust Bush. Meirs said she had a “born again” experience, and its hard for me to believe that Bush would have nominated someone who would betray principle, especially considering the mistake his Dad made with Souter. If her religious experince was real (and I have no reason to doubt it) that would have been enough for me.
Once he nominated her I think he should have stuck to his guns. Bush seems to be easily influenced by pressure. I dont think thats a particularly good quality in a President. If he really believed in her, why not stick by her? In the end we may end up with someone worse.
Anyway, time will tell. Maybe we will end up with another Clarence Thomas, and that will be alright by me.
Comment by Ted Wegener — 10.28.05 @ 12:41 am
I would like to see a passionate pro-life nominee. But even more so, I want to see a gloves-off national abortion debate. As Ann Coulter has said in the past, the liberals will always lose in the arena of the abortion debate. I agree. But Bush from the beginning has been a moderate-centrist and is not up for a national debate on abortion. This is unfortunate.
It’s time for America to confront this issue head on with no longer looking the other way.
Cheers,
Alan Kurschner
Comment by Alan Kurschner — 10.28.05 @ 2:31 am
I have to ask, after all the “sexism” charges leveled at the anti-Miers crowd prior to the withdrawal, –
If there were nothing different about Miers other than that Miers was a male named Harry Miers with exactly the same qualifications and track record, would we be feeling sorry for him right now? Somehow I doubt it; call me cynical. I just hear a lot of people saying they “feel badly” for Miers because it wasn’t her fault Bush put her in this position. Bull - as someone involved in the vetting process for other nominees, she probably knew as well as anyone what she was getting into.
Anyway, I hope Bush finds another nominee close to Roberts’ stature.
Comment by Matthew M. — 10.28.05 @ 11:09 am
Bush needs to keep his promises. Or like his father he will crush the GOP in upcoming elections. The best thing for America and the GOP would be for him to name Janice Rogers Brown.
Comment by Rod Stanton — 10.28.05 @ 5:02 pm
La Shawn, I have a blog linked on mine that is called “The Asylum” and they are predicting Luttig or Alito. So far, they’ve been right about Miers. Their forte’ is judicial cases.
Comment by RepJ — 10.28.05 @ 6:38 pm
Neal Boortz’ site today offered readers the opportunity to choose from among a slate of possible candidates. When I looked, two-thirds of respondents wanted Janice Rogers Brown.
Comment by Rick B. — 10.28.05 @ 11:05 pm
>>>”There will never be another Rehnquist, unfortunately.”
Are you kidding me?
This William Rehnquist?
>>>”Lito Pena is sure of his memory. Thirty-six years ago he, then a Democratic Party poll watcher, got into a shoving match with a Republican who had spent the opening hours of the 1964 election doing his damnedest to keep people from voting in south Phoenix.
“He was holding up minority voters because he knew they were going to vote Democratic,” said Pena.
The guy called himself Bill. He knew the law and applied it with the precision of a swordsman. He sat at the table at the Bethune School, a polling place brimming with black citizens, and quizzed voters ad nauseam about where they were from, how long they’d lived there — every question in the book. A passage of the Constitution was read and people who spoke broken English were ordered to interpret it to prove they had the language skills to vote.
By the time Pena arrived at Bethune, he said, the line to vote was four abreast and a block long. People were giving up and going home.
Pena told the guy to leave. They got into an argument. Shoving followed. Arizona politics can be raw.
Finally, Pena said, the guy raised a fist as if he was fixing to throw a punch.
“I said ‘If that’s what you want, I’ll get someone to take you out of here’ ”
Party leaders told him not to get physical, but this was the second straight election in which Republicans had sent out people to intellectually rough up the voters. The project even had a name: Operation Eagle Eye.”
http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/20001202roddy.asp
And you want ANOTHER clown like that on the Supreme Court?
Hmmm….
Exactly what color robe do you want this next Justice to wear? Black or white?
–Cobra
Comment by Cobra — 10.29.05 @ 4:54 pm
It is amazing to hear so many people without judicial or legal experience talk about the importance of judicial philosophy and its impact. Although everyone has a right to opine about any issue, those opinions should be consistent to foster any real consideration. Many people waxed endlessly about the importance of deference to the President’s choice of judicial nominees when democrats threatened to filibuster certain nominees. Yet, those same persons gave the President no deference on the Meirs’ nomination. Such hypocrisy undermines the arguments of conservatives (democrats have the same problem).
If politicians and others are to be taken seriously, they must have consistent positions.
Moreover, there must be independent research to understand what our laws really mean, the way laws have been interpreted throughout history, and the importance of the all those historical decisions on society. For example, if you argue for the reversal of Roe v. Wade, you must also argue for the reversal of Brown v. Board of Education. I dare say that many conservatives would never advocate for the latter. But I suspect many have not done the research to understand the similarities.
Point being, independent thought and research (not thoughts of pundits or speaking points)should be required of all who seriously want to opine about matters that impact our society. This, I suspect, would limit the inconsistencies that abound.
Comment by Antonio — 10.30.05 @ 12:30 pm
Was she raped? and by who?
Comment by Fred Dawes — 10.31.05 @ 9:29 pm