Harriet Miers Withdraws Nomination

On Thursday, Harriet Miers, withdrew her nomination to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor for a seat on the Bench of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Her decision was accepted with reluctance by the embattled President Bush.

Dallas News

"It's an astonishing spectacle," said Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way. "President Bush's complete capitulation to the far-right interest groups is astounding."

The Bush administration tried hard to sell Ms. Miers to its conservatives supporters – to the point that they had been accused of making improper assurances that, if confirmed, Ms. Miers would vote to their liking.
Both the White House and Ms. Miers denied making any such assurances, and, in absence of judicial experience, almost nothing seemed to convince conservatives that Ms. Miers was a nominee they could support wholeheartedly.

Yet, the confirmation process was still moving forward Wednesday. Just before midnight – hours after Ms. Miers' call to the president – the White House delivered eight boxes of requested documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee had asked Ms. Miers to resubmit her answers to questions concerning constitutional law, presidential power and potential conflicts of interest regarding her relationship to the president. The request was made by the committee, both Republicans and Democrats, who found her original answers unrevealing or incomplete.

The unusual request was emblematic of her ill-fated nomination, one that was criticized most heartily by some of the president's own supporters as ill-considered cronyism.

from The New York Times

President Bush finally dug himself out yesterday from the political rubble he created by choosing a Supreme Court nominee whose only known qualifications were his personal comfort with her and her personal loyalty to him.
A good nominee would understand the court's role in protecting rights and have a judicial approach within the broad mainstream on issues like the balance of federal and state powers, civil liberties, and the role of government - and be capable of filling out the Senate's questionnaire without a do-over.

*********************************

It will be interesting to see who the President selects for the next Nomination (or any High End position in the Government for that matter). Will he continue with his arrogance and indifference and continue with this cronyism or will he actually select a person with the right qualifications for the job?

Both the Articles were good reads, I especially liked the New York Times Op-Ed. piece. The (unnamed) author certainly didn't hold back. So, why did they go soft on so much previously? Surely they couldn't have believed all the previous lies? Have they finally had enough or was it that Harriet Mies was an easy and/or perhaps selected target? A deception of sorts?

I just hope that some of the Journalists in our respective country's grow some spine and start to point out such crimes and Misdemeanours.
Politicians and Governments get away with far to much and it needs to be said, not grudgingly accepted.