From Holden: The editors of The National Review on Miers: Being a Bush loyalist and friend is not a qualification for the Supreme Court. She may have been the best pick from within Bush’s inner circle. It seems impossible to maintain that she was the best pick from any larger field. It seems highly unlikely that she will be the kind of justice who, in combination with Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas, will attract additional votes by the sheer force of her arguments. This nomination was a missed opportunity. Continue reading The National Review is Not Impressed

From Holden: Complete surrender at The Corner: Post THE PICK [Ramesh Ponnuru] It’s an inspiring testament to the diversity of the president’s cronies. Wearing heels is not an impediment to being a presidential crony in this administration! I can only assume that the president felt that his support was slipping in this important bloc, and he had to do something to shore it up. Posted at 10:04 AM Counter-Post RE: THE PICK [Mark Levin] I am actually hoping there are no more vacancies during this presidency. Posted at 10:55 AM Continue reading Miers Attacks!

From Holden: I’m not talking about Ms. Miers’ appearance — who cares? I’m talking about the way Chimpy’s nominee for the Supreme Court has been immediately rejected by the wingnutoshpere. Maglalang: “UTTERLY UNDERWHELMED” Assrocket: “Disappointment” Volokh Conspiracy: “[M]y initial reaction is that it’s unfortunate (but not surprising) that for both Supreme Court nominations, the president has chosen well-connected insiders with ties to the executive branch, rather than individuals who are more likely to bring a more “independent” perspective to issues of government and especially presidential power.” Southern Appeal: “Harriet Miers? Are you freakin’ kidding me?!” Continue reading Harriet Miers: It Ain’t Pretty

From Holden: Iraq’s Kurdish President called on the country’s Shiite Prime Minister to step down. Continue reading More Progress

From Holden: Juan Cole gets all het-up over Stephie’s Sunday revelation. Rove and Libby were chosen as the hatchet men who would actually talk to the reporters and put the information around. But of course Bush and Cheney were part of the deliberations that set the plan in motion. It involved outing a career CIA operative (and likely getting her contacts in the third world killed). It was very serious business. Bush would have had to have signed off on it, at least orally. [snip] I have long been frustrated by the US press’s tendency to talk about Bush’s cabinet … Continue reading Cole Does Shrill

From Holden: Chimpy chooses cronyism over qualification with his nomination of of White House Counsel Harriet Miers to replace Sandra Day O’Connor. President Bush has chosen Harriet Miers, White House counsel and a loyal member of the president’s inner circle, to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court, a senior administration official said Monday. If confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate, Miers, 60, would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the nation’s highest court. Miers, who has never been a judge, was the first woman to serve as president of the Texas State Bar … Continue reading Supreme Cronyism

Well, one-thirdfourth of it live, anyway. Later this month, I’ll be doing a reading from my book Special Plans: The Blogs on Douglas Feith and the Faulty Intelligence that Led to War. When: Tuesday, Oct. 11, 7:30 p.m. Where: Barbara’s Bookstore, 1100 Lake Street, Oak Park, Illinois The book, as you probably know since I haven’t shut UP about it for the past month, collects writing from all over left blogtopia (yes, skippy, you coined the phrase) about Feith, PNAC, Larry Franklin, and the general up-screwing of everything involved in the planning for and the execution of the war in … Continue reading First Draft Live!

DeLay. Frist. The purchase of Armstrong Williams, now ruled illegal.. Bush’s response to Katrina. Hell, Bush’s response to just about everything. Bill Bennett’s public implosion (oh, and Matt? C’mon. He’s your enemy. Throw him an anvil). It’s a bad week to be a Republican. And unless the Democrats step it up, and I mean right the hell now, I agree with John whose post I cited below. It’s not gonna make a damn bit of difference what happens to them. And here’s why. The danger sign in America is not a hot national debate over the war in Iraq and … Continue reading Critical Thinking

From Holden: So, the GAO has determined that the Bush Assministration violated the law by secretly paying Armstrong Williams to promote No Child Left Behind (a contract that he may not have fulfilled) in addition to other illegal covert propaganda dissimenated by the Department of Education. So, who will prosecute the scofflaws at Education? Who will force former Secretary of Education Rod Paige to reimburse the American Taxpayer for the $100k illegally expended on the fake “Karen Ryan” ads, or the $186k given to Armstrong Williams. Where is the rule of law? Continue reading Where’s My Prosecution?

From Holden: Fewer capable Iraqi battalions is a sign of progress. President George W. Bush sought on Saturday to dispel concerns about the readiness of U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces, declaring himself “encouraged” even though his top generals say the number of battalions that can fight insurgents without help has dropped. “I’m encouraged by the increasing size and capability of the Iraqi security forces. Today they have more than 100 battalions operating throughout the country, and our commanders report that the Iraqi forces are serving with increasing effectiveness,” Bush said in his weekly radio address. [snip] One of the few measures … Continue reading President Close-Your-Eyes-And-Hope

Oliver: Stop worrying about being partisan. This is political corruption, not a hot button liberal/conservative issue like abortion, taxes, etc. Any damn Democrat can make the case that the Republican party embodies a Culture of Corruption that is making life harder for American citizens – from the mismanagement of FEMA to the indictment of Tom DeLay and the insider trading of Bill Frist, it’s clear now to America what happens when you vote for Republicans. John, who needs to be doing media strategy for, like, the entire party: And finally, what would the Republicans do if Clinton had short-changed our … Continue reading Oliver And John Call For The Chair