A Stitch in Haste

To me, the irony of the flawed and now failed nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court is that, from a strictly consequentialist perspective (which I dismiss utterly as a philosophical, jurisprudential or political approach), she might have done alright by libertarians, and perhaps even gays. To the extent that she would have done anything on the Court, I think she would have been far more moderate, far more eager to contribute to consensus building, and far less likely to default to "What would President Bush want?" than many people presumed.

I still suspect that the president will again seek to nominate a woman. A sitting circuit court judge is almost unavoidable given the Miers controversy.

I think the White House is too wounded, and too tired, to roll the dice with another lightning rod nomination such as Judge Janice Rogers Brown, let alone Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

I will remind my readers that Circuit Court Judge Edith Clement is from New Orleans.

Finally, while I experience no Schadenfreude over seeing my President embarrassed, I take some comfort in knowing that the Senate, the media, the blogosphere and the people are still willing, sometimes and when it matters, to remind our leaders that government is not a toy, that with power comes responsibility, and that the office is always more important than the officeholder.