I oppose the Miers nomination

I oppose the Miers nomination.

At first my position was lukewarm support based in my trust of the President's judgment in terms of political machinations and his prior judicial nominations. The rhetoric of many early critics turned me off, and I searched for a reason to support this nominee, resulting in my post on Misunderestimation.

This was incorrect. While my reasoning may have been potentially valid, it appears now to have been completely misplaced. I was guilty of Misoverestimation, as was the President.

Over the last few weeks I have learned plenty about Ms. Miers' background that increasingly disturbs me. My support for her has eroded with each new fact. The White House, in the meantime, has been pathetically ineffective in making a substantial case for this nominee. By utilizing tired cliches about glass ceilings and quality personhood, the nomination has been undercut. Further damaging any remaining validity, the President chose to throw bones at the religious base with the nod-and-a-wink Roe implications.

And so many others were right about this long before I was. When Harry Reid is backing something, conservatives should immediately look elsewhere.

Although I do not share the Crony view, it is obvious the President thought he could slip a Stealth past the Senate Dems, soothe the jangled nerves of the conservatives, and move on to bombing Iran and Syria. Or gut the Mortgage Interest writeoff. Whatever.

President Bush appears to be suffering from 2nd-Term-itis. Convinced of his decisions (aided by an insular environment typical of 2nd-termers) as Absolutely Right, he cynically and arrogantly moved forward with a nomination that never should have been. The majority of his base was plainly against this nominee, and he would have known that and allowed it to enter his thoughts in a first term. He did not anticipate the backlash, believing that Our Side would follow in lockstep as long as We Knew The Dems Could Not or Would Not Stop It. He did not think about the long memory many conservatives have, and how long we have waited for this moment in time -- Control of the WH, Numeric control of the Senate, and open positions on the Court.

For whatever reasons, he has chosen to avoid the fight with Dems over this nomination. In doing so, he triggered one within our own ranks.

Assuming my original position is correct (which I no longer do), the President would appear to be a brilliant tactician. Alas, it now appears he is tired and out of touch, showing his true not-really-conservative side, and is ignoring those who brought him to the Presidency.

I wanted to buy into this nomination. I wanted to believe in my President. I wanted Ms. Miers to be the stealth Scalia.

Well, as the old saying goes, you can wish into one hand and s--- into the other. See which one fills up first.

I oppose the Miers nomination. I wish I did not.