Bush picked a fight with Democrats today with his choice of Samuel Alito for Associate Justice. In an attempt to get back on track, Bush is pitting his version of the Republican Party against the Democratic Party, and he thinks he can win. The problem is, the Miers nomination demonstrated America’s disgust with the influence […]

The far right was responsible for blocking Harriet Miers’ nomination, putting their political weight into opposing an unqualified crony who failed to meet their regressive litmus test. The right filibustered Miers and they put forth a standard of acceptable judicial philosophy that Miers failed to measure up to. The religious right vetoed Miers — and […]

Paul Begala explains why this Bush administration’s treason is far worse than anything the Republicans ever accused Bill Clinton and his staffers of.
The plain fact is that after a seven year non-stop investigato-rama, no senior Clinton White House official was ever even charged with wrongdoing. Much less indicted. Much less convicted. In fact, the highest-ranking […]

Scooter Libby was indicted on five counts today: 1 count obstruction of justice, 2 counts false statements, 2 counts of perjury (see the indictments at The Smoking Gun). Ehem… BOOO-YAH!
I watched the entirety of Fitzgerald’s press conference and the one thing that struck was that this guy is as cool as a cucumber. He stayed […]

To take full advantage of the Miers withdrawal, the Democrats should step up and define the criteria for Bush’s next nominee. We may have lost the ability to nominate a liberal justice when Bush was reelected, but Bush has lost a tremendous amount of political freedom in recent weeks.
Miers’ shortfalls brought three of Bush’s major […]

John Aravosis has a great play-by-play prediction for how the third nominee to replace O’Connor will unfold. He highlights a couple important points about where Bush stands now in light of the religious right putting the kybash on Miers.
2. The GOP just lost all of their Supreme Court talking points. Who in the GOP is […]

Why would Miers withdraw today of all days? Fitzmas Eve, after all, promises more bad news for the White House. I think the White House is trying to reclaim the news cycle, and this is step one.
Miers withdrawal today takes much of the attention off of the impending indictments of White House staffers. Plamegate is […]

Heard thus far on CNN & MSNBC this morning:
Edith Brown Clement, Paul Clement, Theodore Olson, Janice Rogers Brown, Michael Luttig, Samuel Alito, Michael McConnell, Edith Jones, and Priscilla Owen.
Bold names have been given much more than passing mention by Chris Matthews and Pat Buchanan.
Philo

Miers withdrew her name from consideration for Sandra Day O’Connor’s seat on the Supreme Court. After numerous meetings that failed to impress either Democratic or Republican senators. She had no experience as a jurist and no legal credentials that would convince anyone of her intellectual prowess. Further, the Bush administration and Miers refused to release […]

The White House is scrambling to develop a strategy to salvage the President’s second term. According to the Washington Post, Bush and his advisors–some of whom could be serving their final days in that capacity–are looking to the Reagan and (gasp) the Clinton administrations for guidance.
The strategy? Confront and shift. Expect big speeches by Bush […]