Going Down

President George W. Bush's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, White House counsel Harriet Miers, abruptly withdrew from consideration on Thursday after fierce criticism from the right and the left about her credentials for the lifetime job.

Well, I wonder if it's now time to bring out the big dog.

Previously, I had discussed two possible operational scenarios for the Supreme Court appointment. So it looks like Plan 1 is in play. No one, at this point, should be surprised by a nomination of an extremely right wing jurist. Whether that nominee will also be a Bush loyalist will be entirely up to Bush because he now thinks he's running the show.

Mr. Bush thinks that his own ability and authority derives from his policies; that Rove is an extension of the president, not a puppet master

Bush's putative belief in his own "ability" maybe the reason for the less than advisable Miers nomination because it is clear the White House didn't have much of a backup plan when conservatives went wild.

And after tomorrow, who knows? Bush may actually be the one running the show. If the Miers fiasco is any indication of his abilities, that won't be pretty.

One really has to marvel at the "reason" Miers offered for her withdrawal when she claimed that process of Senate confirmation, as demanded by the US Constitution,

presents a burden for the White House and our staff that is not in the best interest of the country.

If that is any indication of Miers view on the Constitution and the structures of government prescribed therein, it is perhaps good that she bugged out when she did. I'm sure the Senate wouldn't have appreciated that position.

Of course, there is an unstated preamble to Miers' reasoning, something along these lines,

George is really pissed and he's not so cool right now, what with all hell breaking loose within the White House and any number of staffers about to be indicted, the confirmation process presents a burden for the White House and our staff that is not in the best interest of ... us.

That sounds about right.