Darn!
Just when I was looking forward to the Miers hearings to provide a tasty treat in between the Fitzgerald indictments and the DeLay trial, she goes and withdraws.
I was so looking forward to having the real story of what happened at the Texas Lottery revealed before Congress and the American people. I had such lovely fantasies of her saying something really stupid about the Constitution during the hearings. And it was so much fun the other day to watch Republican senators poking holes in the White House's silly assertion that essentially any document or issue ever touched by the Executive was off limits, even though the nominee's major qualification was her work in the White House. Man, that was fun.
Still, she was unworthy of the job, so I'm glad we can stop worrying about her maybe accidentally being confirmed. I admit it feels vaguely unclean to be happy about an event that Ann Coulter is also happy about. But there may be a silver lining in the triumphalism of the extreme right wing. In a political version of those excessive NFL endzone displays, the dependence of Bush on people far to the right of the mainstream will be obvious as they do their victory dance.
It appears the Democratic leadership had prepared for this moment. Both Senators Schumer and Reid have already made comments pointing at the radical right wing.
What will W. do now? The chickens are coming home to roost: Iraq is a shambles, his staff is in chaos and legal jeopardy, his hold on Congress is weakening, and now it's absolutely clear that the right-wing extremists are no longer willing to defer payment on the IOUs Bush has been writing.
Will he go with his desire to reward cronies, and pick Gonzales? Will he acknowledge his debt and pick a flaming activist judge pledged to overturn decades of Supreme Court precedent? Will better angels prevail upon him to pick a well-qualified moderate that can get confirmed without a fight?
Will he act from petulance, angered that he couldn't succeed in nominating anyone he wanted? It seems like a lot of people are saying "no" to W. these days, and that's got to be pretty annoying for someone who's been surrounded by yes-men. And we know that he's got a temper. He's even begun to take it out on audiences during speeches.
The fall from most powerful man on the planet to lamest duck has gotta hurt. It should be interesting to see how he handles it.
I was so looking forward to having the real story of what happened at the Texas Lottery revealed before Congress and the American people. I had such lovely fantasies of her saying something really stupid about the Constitution during the hearings. And it was so much fun the other day to watch Republican senators poking holes in the White House's silly assertion that essentially any document or issue ever touched by the Executive was off limits, even though the nominee's major qualification was her work in the White House. Man, that was fun.
Still, she was unworthy of the job, so I'm glad we can stop worrying about her maybe accidentally being confirmed. I admit it feels vaguely unclean to be happy about an event that Ann Coulter is also happy about. But there may be a silver lining in the triumphalism of the extreme right wing. In a political version of those excessive NFL endzone displays, the dependence of Bush on people far to the right of the mainstream will be obvious as they do their victory dance.
It appears the Democratic leadership had prepared for this moment. Both Senators Schumer and Reid have already made comments pointing at the radical right wing.
What will W. do now? The chickens are coming home to roost: Iraq is a shambles, his staff is in chaos and legal jeopardy, his hold on Congress is weakening, and now it's absolutely clear that the right-wing extremists are no longer willing to defer payment on the IOUs Bush has been writing.
Will he go with his desire to reward cronies, and pick Gonzales? Will he acknowledge his debt and pick a flaming activist judge pledged to overturn decades of Supreme Court precedent? Will better angels prevail upon him to pick a well-qualified moderate that can get confirmed without a fight?
Will he act from petulance, angered that he couldn't succeed in nominating anyone he wanted? It seems like a lot of people are saying "no" to W. these days, and that's got to be pretty annoying for someone who's been surrounded by yes-men. And we know that he's got a temper. He's even begun to take it out on audiences during speeches.
The fall from most powerful man on the planet to lamest duck has gotta hurt. It should be interesting to see how he handles it.
posted by Paul at 8:02 AM |
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