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Audacity of Truth
Spinsational:
"We were so busy just getting stuff done and dealing with the immediate crises that were in front of us that I think we lost some of that sense of speaking directly to the American people about what their core values are and why we have to make sure those institutions are matching up with those values."
-Obama, explaining recent Democrat losses, 1/20/10
Velvet Lair- The sexiness of winning the battle of good versus evil January 26, 2010
- Ever wonder why? January 12, 2010
- The decision to bench Peyton Manning: Right or wrong? December 28, 2009
- Is my dad turning into a metrosexual? November 24, 2009
- My “Things To Do For Christmas” list November 23, 2009
Harriet Miers has withdrawn
Hooray! Now Patterico can come back inside from being out on that ledge 
How much do you wanna bet Bush has already got in mind who he wants to pick to replace Miers as the nominee?
WASHINGTON – Confronted with criticism from both the left and right, 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, after weeks of insisting that he did not want her to step down.
Bush blamed her withdrawal on calls in the Senate for the release of internal White House documents that the administration has insisted were protected by executive privilege.
“My responsibility to fill this vacancy remains” he added. “I will do so in a timely manner.”
Back to the drawing board.
Here’s Ms. Miers letter to the President where she requested to be withdrawn.
Link roundup of blogger reax at Michelle Malkin’s blog.
More:
John Hawkins at Right Wing News: “Happy Harriet Miers Withdraws Day, Everyone!” (a must-read post)
California Conservative predicts Judge Edith Hollan Jones (5th Circuit United States Court of Appeals) will be W’s new pick.
Brian at Iowa Voice says: “Now, Mr. President: nominate the most hard-core conservative you can find!!!” Heh.
Bryan Preston at Junkyard Blog: “Now let’s get a real conservative nominated and get ready to rumble.”
Jay at Stop The ACLU has more links to blogger reax.
Jim at bRight and Early suggests Justice Karen Williams, currently serving on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Afternoon Update: Ed Whelan at NRO’s Bench Memos makes a good point:
Harriet Miers deserves the deep respect of all Americans for her courageous decision to withdraw her nomination. President Bush likewise deserves great credit for accepting her decision.
Indeed. I hope this post didn’t come across as gloating, either. Especially considering the fact that I was neutral for the first two weeks of the nomination. I came out a few days later in official opposition but this blog hasn’t devoted a good chunk of time to why she should have been opposed. Plenty of other fine blogs out there took care of that. So bottom line is no gloating is coming from this corner (and my “Hooray” at the beginning was because I knew Patterico was finally gonna come inside from that ledge 
.
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Party at my house! All are invited!
The only mistake he could make now is to nominate Gonzales. Pretty much anyone else will win the conservative vote.
But now he has a big opportunity. Name some ultra-constructionist like Brown or Luttig. Republican senators will have no choice but to fully back them, now that they have a clear indication of how the base reacts. It will be a chance to re-introduce a spine into our Senate majority.
All in all, it’s a great day for Bush.
I hope he decides to reach out to the base, which would happily support him, on a more conservative judge.
Even though, most of the Liberal US will now consider that “picking a fight”
p.s. I just started my stop watch
How long till the nutty left advances the idea that the withdrawal was timed to distract the world from indictments?
Time for W to nominate Janice Rogers Brown and let the white racist Democrats show themselves.
“Time for W to nominate Janice Rogers Brown and let the white racist Democrats show themselves.
Amen to that. She’s who I was hoping would be nominated from the git go. A strong constructionist who shows deep understanding of Constitutional law and who is a strong supporter of property rights. What’s not to like?
Plus the fact that it would make the liberals and Democrats who would try and trash her look like the racist hypocrites they are would only be an added bonus.
I really wanted JRB before Miers was chosen. When JRB wasn’t selected I was in the wait and see until the Senate hearings. I have great respect for Harriet Miers for stepping down. It was the best thing for all of us.
This is truly a sad day for many reasons. Quietly, the liberals and leftists find themselves unexpectedly in the same padded room with hard-right “conservatives” who are all rejoicing the character assassination and general viciousness of the attacks on Harriet Miers and by extenion the President himself.
There will be a big price to pay for this travesty, not the least of which is the new litmus test of ideology that now each new nominee will be expected to pass. All of you who are celebrating now will soon learn of all of the other prices we who support the President will have to pay now. And there will be no return on investment either.
Wanna know how bad it is and is going to be? Read this piece by DJ Drummond at Polipundit.
This is truly a sad and dark day. Darker days ahead for us on the right, brought about by us and our squabbling. The Democrats and the liberals are finding it difficult to contain their joy. I am disgusted.
Just to clarify, I wasn’t suggesting Williams, just mentioning that I know her slightly. I am curiously awaiting the next pick.
Sister: Be careful what you wish for.
So the “Barabas Conservatives” shouted louder than the majority of Bush voters who supported him and his decision to nominate Miers. There may be some long term damage to President Bush’s leadership on critical issues that will come back to haunt us all.
A few more thoughts from my post on the subject:
*In the Miers debacle Republicans have turned the old rallying cry: “Give them an up or down vote”upside down.
*Republicans in the Senate have overturned the principle of protecting Executive Branch documents. (Forget about Mike McConnell as a replacement nominee. His time in the Solicitor General’s Office means he will face a similar problem)
*After witnessing this latest episode can we know expect our GOP Senators to grow a spine and defend an even more controversial nominee?
*Chris Matthews summed it up this way: “Bush is lame duck with broken right wing.”
Bah. It’s all good news for conservatives.
-The ‘give em an up or down vote’ still holds. She would have gotten one if she did not withdraw before the hearings. No Republican was suggesting a filibuster on her.
-Republicans are not “…all rejoicing the character assassination and general viciousness of the attacks on Harriet Miers…”. We are rejoicing that an inadequate SCOTUS nominee has withdrawn. No one said she’s a bad lawyer. No one said she’s a bad advisor (many have said she’s very good in fact). Reasons were given that show she would not be a good Supreme Court justice.
-There is no new litmus test for a SCOTUS nominee from a Republican president. It’s the same litmus test that we’ve had for 30 years – Must previously demonstrate themselves as a strict constructionist. The only change is that our party is no longer willing to risk getting another Souter, even if the president is.
-”Republicans in the Senate have overturned the principle of protecting Executive Branch documents.” Simply not true. The president did not surrender those documents as you recall. This was just giving Miers an excuse to pull out. Nothing has changed here, since Democrats have long been using this tactic not to vote for nominees (Republicans may have too before they were majority).
-”Chris Matthews summed it up this way:” Sorry for the Ad Hominem, but listening to Chris Matthews views on Bush is like listening to Chuck Schumer’s views on anything. Not much stock should be put in what either one says.
We simply have to put in a court that will leave legislation to the legislative branch. Brilliant minds like Thomas Sowell, Bill Kristol, Charles Krauthammer, Robert Bork, and Ann Coulter deserve a lot of respect for keeping the ball in motion.
Lastly, Bush will not be affected in the least by this. All of us who opposed the nomination will gladly come back into the fold now that she’s withdrawn. The segment of our society who hate him will continue to hate him in the same quantity.