A legacy called "My Buddy"

Harriet Miers appears to be nothing more than a crony appointment to the Supreme Court. Despite her lawyerly background, she has zero judicial experience, leaving Bush to offer this assertion of her qualifications: "I've seen into her heart."

Quin Hillyer of Newshouse points out how this is one dumb political move:

Now the Ted Kennedy left will have a field day portraying Miers as an unqualified crony while the political right remains unenthused and silent -- because they, too, consider her an unqualified crony.

George Will is scathing:

There is no reason to believe that Miers' nomination resulted from the president's careful consultation with people capable of [sophisticated] judgments [about competing interpretations of the Constitution]. If 100 such people had been asked to list 100 individuals who have given evidence of the reflectiveness and excellence requisite in a justice, Miers' name probably would not have appeared in any of the 10,000 places on those lists.

Even the conservative blog Powerline could say nothing better than this:

Prior experience doing the same work is universally considered important for almost every job that requires skill...It's important to note, however, that while prior judicial experience is a valuable qualification, its absence doesn't necessarily make a nominee unqualified.

If the unenthusiastic reception of conservative pundits isn't enough, Bush should perhaps be concerned by this news note from FOX News:

Anti-abortion group Operation: Rescue on Tuesday promised an active campaign to get Bush to withdraw her nomination.

So the far right campaigns against her, mainstream conservatives are unenthusiastic, liberals are disgusted, and the President "knows her heart." How touching. President Bush should be considering his legacy, if nothing else. Teapot Dome, anyone?