Don't misunderestimate this president

I said it before and I'll say it again: Don't misunderestimate this president. He undersands well how to care for Number One. In one fell swoop he cuts his supporters off at the knees, strikes a mark in Washington that will live in the history books, protects whatever interests he may have from future problems that might land in the Supreme Court, and has Democrats eating out of his hand.

It's only been an hour, and already popcorn is filling the kettle.

I’d like to take a moment to coin a new phrase: Brownie Moment. A Brownie moment can be defined simply as the moment when a supporter of President Bush is smacked in the head by reality and loses any and all faith in the president from that moment forward. As you may have surmised the term comes from Bush’s recent comment regarding former FEMA head Michael Brown’s leadership in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”

This was my Brownie moment. I understand that in the world of politics leaders often have to say things they don’t mean, or shake hands with dictators and scumbags, and do a lot of morally repugnant stuff. But when Bush said that I realized that after surveying the impotent, incompetent response of the federal government he truly, honestly believed that Brownie was doing a heck of a job. That sealed it for me. I’d been turning sour on Bush for a while, but I was still generally supportive of him. When I heard him make that remark, however, that was it. That was my Brownie moment. Read the rest. H/T Sullivan.


I didn't get to know her well, but we sat next to each other for several hours at the last meeting she attended and I liked her. We only talked law, not politics, but she won me over - and I was pre-disposed not to like her, that being the year that Bush was running for President and knowing she was his personal lawyer.

The other members of that Board at that time, at least four of whom are former ABA Presidents (including Martha Barnett who is quite progressive on women's and social issues)know Ms. Miers from her ABA work and spoke very highly of her.

My opinion could change should additional information surface that she is a Thomas or Scalia, but I don't think that will be the case. Compared to some of those under consideration he might have chosen, like the ultra-conservative 4th Circuit judges or Priscilla Owen or Janice Rogers Brown, Ms. Miers is a far better choice. Jeralyn Merritt of Talk Left Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news (!!! Their words, not mine...)

As usual, Michelle Malkin has the most comprehensive roundup of reactions. I love how utterly unbiased and objective she is!

What Julie Myers is to the Department of Homeland Security, Harriet Miers is to the Supreme Court. (Video of the announcement here via NYT). It's not just that Miers has zero judicial experience. It's that she's so transparently a crony/"diversity" pick while so many other vastly more qualified and impressive candidates went to waste. If this is President Bush's bright idea to buck up his sagging popularity--among conservatives as well as the nation at large--one wonders whom he would have picked in rosier times. Shudder.

Another one for the file, this from Billmon.

Bottom line: The Demopublicans and the Republicrats are both hugely relieved that nuclear war has been avoided once again. These guys know that ideological zeal and moral clarity are for the rubes -- except in the summer and fall months of years divisible by two. And right now everybody is uncertain enough about what the next such year might bring to favor compromise over showdown. The Demopublicans sense an opportunity, but know deep down in their hearts that they will blow it, while the Republicrats smell danger, but aren't sure how to escape it. So they both want to play it safe. And now Shrub has given them the perfect opportunity to do so. Smart thinking, Karl.
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And if the price of peace is the elevation of a loyal mediocrity to fill Sandra Day O'Connor's undogmatic shoes, well the late Sen. Roman Hruska of Nebraska probably put it best when he defended Tricky Dick's nomination of the profoundly undistinguished G. Harrold Carswell to replace (just by coincidence) LBJ's partner in election fraud, Abe Fortas:

"Even if he [Carswell] is mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers," Hruska declared. "They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a little chance? We can't have all Brandeises and Cardozos and Frankfurters and stuff like that there."

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Personally, my own opinion is that with Shrub and Dick Cheney in the White House, the federal government already has all the mediocre people it can use -- and then some. But I guess there always room for one more.