For Miers it just got worse

(Welcome, After reading this post, please take a look at another post that describes how a major MSM paper took a story about possible spying in the White House, and turned it into a liberal spin "hit-Cheney" piece. It's here. JinC)


With respected conservative voices asking that her nomination be withdrawn and friends at her Texas church praising her readiness “to always help serve the coffee,” you may have wondered if things could get any worse for Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers.

Well, they just did.

Today's New York Times reports Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Arlen Specter (R- Penn.) says it’s become “more emphatic” in his mind the Miers needs “to bone up on constitutional law.”

Ouch.

And there’s more. The same Times story reports former Republican Senator Dan Coats, picked by the White House to help shepherd Miers’ nomination through the Senate, had this to say during a CNN interview:

"If great intellectual powerhouse is a qualification to be a member of the court and represent the American people and the wishes of the American people and to interpret the Constitution, then I think we have a court so skewed on the intellectual side that we may not be getting representation of America as a whole."

Double ouch.

The Times then adds:

Mr. Specter, asked about (Coats) remark, laughed and wondered if it was "another Hruska quote" - a reference to an oft-quoted comment by the late Roman Hruska, a Republican senator from Nebraska, who defended G. Harrold Carswell, a Supreme Court nominee who was rejected by the Senate. "Even if he is mediocre," Mr. Hruska said, "there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a little chance?"

If Senators Chuck Schumer and Ted Kennedy read The Times this morning, they’ll probably decide to take a few more days off and just let Specter and Coats continue digging.

You can survive attacks from political foes. But when the people you’re counting on to be your strong supporters are providing material comedy writers will use for jokes ridiculing you, your days are numbered.

Tom Maguire linked to The Times article and has more to say. I mentioned in a post here Steven Bainbridge’s reference to what we might call “the Hruska standard.” Today Bainbridge has a lengthy post aimed at persuading conservatives to fight Miers’ nomination.

Michelle Malkin and Betsy Newmark haven't posted on Miers yet today but look for both to have plenty to say worth reading.