Liberal Talk Radio

Like most people inside my particular bubble, I wondered what on earth Bush was thinking by nominating Harriet Miers to replace Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court. The President’s own counsel on the court? Did they learn nothing with that whole FEMA thing? And I’m not an elitist — I swear, no! — but shouldn’t the Supreme Court have the best and brightest legal minds of our generation? Greta van Susteren seems smarter than Miers. Greta, after all, at least graduated from Georgetown. (You think I don’t factcheck? Well, suck it!)

When it came out that she was an Evangelical Christian, I thought I began to see the thinking here: a “bone,” some “red meat” for the “base.” And if you think about it some more, you realize that it makes all the sense in the world: People for whom Roe v. Wade marks the undoing of all of civilization consider those “activist judges” to blame for all society’s ills. And one of their own on the Supreme Court is a big score.

But something intriguing happened: a lot — or most! — conservative pundits came out against her (see the latest for example). How could Bush appoint a crony? A legal lightweight! And now all of them are upholding the integrity of the Supreme Court — Krauthammer! The National Review! The WSJ editorial board! Rush Freakin’ Limbaugh! — and the fact that the conservative movement now seems principled should scare the bejeezus out of the other side. (And what does this say about the Democrats who initially thought they could work with her? These guys think we don’t understand the Vice President Lumberg strategy . . . I’m offended!)

But go a little further with this — if Bush really wanted to serve up some juicy, bloody red meat, couldn’t he find someone a little better than Harriet Miers?

Someone very close to me often tells me that Maureen Dowd is proof that the New York Times is misogynistic. She says that if those in charge at the Times were truly concerned about diversity on the op-ed page then they wouldn’t put a woman on there who was that much of an idiot. Friends, Harriet Miers is George Bush’s Maureen Dowd; if he really cared about changing things so that evangelicals represented on the court, he’d pick someone who was a lot less of a dud.

The question is why — but I think Bush may be a lot more moderate than he gets credit for. And if I got a chance to talk to him on his deathbed years from now and he revealed to me that by nominating Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court he intended to co-opt, marginalize and delegitimize the Christian conservative base, thereby making the world safe for Republican moderates for years to come, I wouldn’t think it at all odd. Because as it stands right now, Bush can in good faith say, “Hey fellas, I tried, but look where the country is headed . . . maybe it’s time to finally hang it up.” (OK, I’ll admit, wishful thinking from within the bubble . . . but can’t a Contrarian dream?)

And if Karl Rove is really on his way out of the White House, this may be his last, great act.

I mean, it’s no different than baseless speculation like this! I’m just saying is all . . .